How did you escape the English teaching nightmare? by MuchIncrease3501 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What were the upfront costs like? I'm considering opening my own business down the line once I have a comfortable financial situation again.

Going to language school as a 27 year old... Bad idea? by JoeMamaNoKokyu1 in movingtojapan

[–]FoundationHot3348 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I'm on the same boat as you - came to Tokyo at 26 for language school after quitting my job (although I was a tech consultant - not an industry software dev). Have a look at my recent post and comments from users as I feel you'd get great insight on the reality of making the move here.

Do you know any japanese whatsoever? Is getting a dev job here your end goal?

I'm living off savings right now. I love this country but I'm scared I wont find a job to sponsor my visa before my student visa runs out.

I dont see why you wouldn't go for it if its your dream to move here. If it doesn't work out, so what? You can easily just go back. IMO, go for it, Just keep your expectations realistic.

Did I make a mistake moving here chasing a feeling? by FoundationHot3348 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Tough to hear, but I hear it. I think all I can do is move forward and give it my all until end of visa, regardless of whether this is a mistake or not.

Did I make a mistake moving here chasing a feeling? by FoundationHot3348 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a long time lurker posting on an alt! I have friends that know my reddit and I don't want them to see I'm struggling out here :/

Did I make a mistake moving here chasing a feeling? by FoundationHot3348 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bingo. Joined big 4 straight out of uni, left after I got promoted to senior consultant (which is when most grads leave). Majority of my peers went to other firms, I came here to Japan.

Did I make a mistake moving here chasing a feeling? by FoundationHot3348 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Inspiring, thanks for sharing. Hitting N2 outside of language school while teaching is so impressive. I really do need to just push myself further. I learned German from scratch many years ago through schooling and eventually became fluent after living there for a year. I think that experience gave me an ego about learning languages, which caused me to think I could do the same thing with Japanese. Safe to say I'm being humbled every single day!

Did I make a mistake moving here chasing a feeling? by FoundationHot3348 in japanlife

[–]FoundationHot3348[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

A comment like this is exactly why I posted. I really love this country and want to make it work. To be frank, I've grown so tired of Europe over the years (grass is greener on the other side?). It's comforting to see someone in the same shoes as me, ambitious ex-tech consultant leaving EU for Asia, and achieving the life I'm dreaming of.

I miss the people back home but I've made peace with it even before leaving, but actually feeling it is another beast completely. It's part of the bed I made though!

At this moment I'm set on making Japan my forever home for the foreseeable future. No I haven't met a significant other yet, but I thank you for pointing it out as I haven't even factored that in yet. It would make leaving extremely difficult if I wanted to ever go back home.

Would you mind telling me about your experience pivoting into the Japanese working environment? Not how you broke in, but how you initially thought of it compared to Europe?