BABY STEPS

Well, we've been hired. An eikaiwa in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan has been kind enough to offer Jessica and I jobs teaching English. As we understand it, we will be instructing students aged six through adulthood. Jessica and I have been working on this for quite some time, and we are elated to finally get employment offers and begin our adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun!

From what we've learned, we know that Tsukuba was built specifically with scientific research in mind, making this relatively small town a super concentrated hub of progress and technology. Because so many researchers travel to Tsukuba from outside of Japan, there are more western accommodations than your average Japanese city. Jessica and I expect this will facilitate our transition to a Japanese lifestyle, which is paramount to our success in teaching and living abroad.

In preparation for this new venture, I have personally gone Japan-mad. Having memorized the entirety of hiragana and about 30 or so kanji in the past two weeks, my mind yet yearns to learn more. I just can't get enough of Japan right now, and I'm not even in the country yet! I've filled my Netflix instant queue with films spanning the entirety of Japanese cinema history, and I've discovered quite a few bands and artists that have already usurped some of my favorite musicians of all time, which I'll talk about in greater detail in a future post.

The transition is long and slow moving but necessary. We are currently preparing documents for our certificates of eligibility, which we will provide to the Japanese Consulate-General in Nashville in exchange for our work visas. In case you are interested in pursuing a similar path, there will be a future post detailing the entire process (from our experience, of course).

For the time being, we are moving back to our parents' homes in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. While there, we will work to save a bit more money, spend time with our families, and make the final preparations for our departure. We expect to say farewell to the U.S.A. in the first week or so of September.

The goal of this blog is mainly to keep our friends and loved ones privy to our exploits in Japan. We hope to cover many different topics ranging from Japanese entertainment (books, movies, music, video games, television) to informative articles on how you can follow in our footsteps and make the move to a fascinating new world!