Its Kendrra here.
Today potentially starts a new journey for Kris and I. Today I was invited to an interview for Interac- a company that sources English teachers in Japan. They say that simply attending the in-person interview you are almost guaranteed a job with Interac.
At this point in time this opportunity is really just one of many for Kris and I. Aside from moving all the way to Japan, we could also: 1) move to LA for Kris to attend school, 2) stay in the Bay Area for Kris to attend school in San Francisco, or 3) move to Oregon- because why not??
Why move to Japan? After I graduated SJSU I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I guess I still don't. But many people had suggestions! One of those was to look for jobs overseas- mostly because its so much easier to travel around the world when you're young with no obligations. At first I didn't put much thought into this option because I didn't know where to go or what to do- and they don't really offer visa's for artists. However, something snapped in my brain recently and I had the oddest idea to try Japan. I had heard you could easily get a job as an English teacher.
After applying for the first job postings I found, I soon got a call back from Interac setting up an interview over the phone. After doing some more research I discovered that Interac is one of the biggest ALT companies in Japan and would actually be a very good job (in my opinion). I did ridiculous amounts of research at this point to both learn everything I could about the job and to prepare for my phone interview.
A week and a half after first hearing back from Interac I had my phone interview. I didnt even tell Kris I was applying for a job in Japan until literally an hour before my phone interview! I was afraid he'd say it was a bad idea. But he was (of course) super supportive! So finally my phone interview came, I read my prepared answers to the questions I knew they'd ask, and I thought I nailed it. In all my research I had read that they will invite you to the in-person interview at the end of the phone interview and if they didn't, you basically failed. Unfortunately, at the end of my phone interview my interviewer simply said that she'd email me to let me know. I was HORRIFIED. I immediately dove even deeper into the internet to find out if it was possible I still had a chance. ONE online account mentioned that they waited a week between the phone interview and being invited to the in-person interview. I set my eyes on Thursday of the next week as my one week last chance mark.
As Wednesday wound down, I sat at a computer at work checking my email nearly every minute. By now I had a long list of reasons I possibly failed. But lo! Minutes before I left work I received a holy email from my interviewer! It had come! My email inviting me to attend the in-person interview! Finally.
Anyways, that was today. Knowing that about 80% of people make it through the in-person interview, I figure its time to officially see "moving to Japan" as a serious possibility for our future. For now I have a whole new level of research to embark on in preparation for my interview. Kris and I have also started learning Japanese and brushing up on our hiragana. Obviously Kris is way better.
For a while, though, there's just going to be lots of waiting. If I am hired, I probably will not know until January and I probably will not getting a placement until February and then we wouldn't move until the end of March. Gah! Oh well. More time to save all the money we'll need! And in the meantime, I have my Expo to work on! Woo hoo!!!
K+K