one year.
Today I am officially one year here in Japan.
One year feels like a year. Doesn't feel like yesterday, and doesn't feel like forever. My Japanese has drastically improved, but since it's such a shit-ass difficult language, I still suck at business-level Japanese and kanji. I'm also half a year of waiting tables now, which is a humbling experience, but which is also something I feel I need to get out of soon.
I've started looking for jobs again, reconsidering English teaching (but failing), Starbucks (been rejected thrice; I never know when to give up), and my latest plan of action: livehouse stints. I've thought of applying at livehouses as backstage staff, be a PA, or maybe help out with lighting and sounds. Having graduated from a degree that always had stage productions, I could say that I have at least some idea about it, even if I've never had any real experience with it. I'll be inquiring with several more livehouses here in Nagoya, preferably those with visual kei gigs, because I'm basically doing this for the connections. Seems like a far shot, but I believe that once I get into the industry, even if I'm at the very bottom of the food chain, I can make my way from there somehow. I would feel better and somehow more assured that way, knowing I already have at least one foot (toe?) in the door.
I'll be talking with my manager by the end of this month. I can only take 7-4 shifts now, because I need the late afternoons and evenings for possible livehouse stints. Also, the number of overtimes I've been having is crazy. I actually work more hours than the full-time employees, and that means something >_> My parents and my folks had flipped out when I told them I wanted to quit the waiting job, and flipped even more when I mentioned the livehouse thing. I know it seems reckless, but if I wanted to play my life safe, I never should've come here to Japan in the first place.
I still have a pending interview with (another) Starbucks chain. Hopefully it turns out well. If I get that job I'm quitting the waitress thing, because a barista wins over a waitress any day. My parents think waiting tables is better than "serving coffee", but they only say that because I work at a hotel and it makes everything seem more fancy. A barista, in my opinion, is far better off because all I have to do is make coffee, and that's it. I don't have to clear plates or fill up glasses. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, I need a month and a half's notice before I can completely quit the waiting job, so I'll see how things go for the following weeks. angelicoma and siberianclaws are coming here to Nagoya to visit this Thursday, so I'm really excited :D It's my first time having friends from the Philippines visit me here in Japan. I'm so happy~
Will try to post about happenings more often. I have a feeling some pretty big things are going to happen soon :)
One year feels like a year. Doesn't feel like yesterday, and doesn't feel like forever. My Japanese has drastically improved, but since it's such a shit-ass difficult language, I still suck at business-level Japanese and kanji. I'm also half a year of waiting tables now, which is a humbling experience, but which is also something I feel I need to get out of soon.
I've started looking for jobs again, reconsidering English teaching (but failing), Starbucks (been rejected thrice; I never know when to give up), and my latest plan of action: livehouse stints. I've thought of applying at livehouses as backstage staff, be a PA, or maybe help out with lighting and sounds. Having graduated from a degree that always had stage productions, I could say that I have at least some idea about it, even if I've never had any real experience with it. I'll be inquiring with several more livehouses here in Nagoya, preferably those with visual kei gigs, because I'm basically doing this for the connections. Seems like a far shot, but I believe that once I get into the industry, even if I'm at the very bottom of the food chain, I can make my way from there somehow. I would feel better and somehow more assured that way, knowing I already have at least one foot (toe?) in the door.
I'll be talking with my manager by the end of this month. I can only take 7-4 shifts now, because I need the late afternoons and evenings for possible livehouse stints. Also, the number of overtimes I've been having is crazy. I actually work more hours than the full-time employees, and that means something >_> My parents and my folks had flipped out when I told them I wanted to quit the waiting job, and flipped even more when I mentioned the livehouse thing. I know it seems reckless, but if I wanted to play my life safe, I never should've come here to Japan in the first place.
I still have a pending interview with (another) Starbucks chain. Hopefully it turns out well. If I get that job I'm quitting the waitress thing, because a barista wins over a waitress any day. My parents think waiting tables is better than "serving coffee", but they only say that because I work at a hotel and it makes everything seem more fancy. A barista, in my opinion, is far better off because all I have to do is make coffee, and that's it. I don't have to clear plates or fill up glasses. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, I need a month and a half's notice before I can completely quit the waiting job, so I'll see how things go for the following weeks. angelicoma and siberianclaws are coming here to Nagoya to visit this Thursday, so I'm really excited :D It's my first time having friends from the Philippines visit me here in Japan. I'm so happy~
Will try to post about happenings more often. I have a feeling some pretty big things are going to happen soon :)