The Desire to Leave Japan

I recently received a message from a former colleague who is currently based in Korea. He’s Korean but had been in Japan for a few years before returning to join a start-up a couple of months ago. The reason for his message was that his company is looking to hire and the position is similar to what I had done previously at Google, so he asked if I was interested in it.

The position is based in Seoul and frankly, I really feel like trying for the position. Mainly because it’s based in Korea. Not that I’m a fan of Korea or K-pop, but more so that I get to experience another country, another culture. If anything, I didn’t enjoy my trip to Seoul last May. Largely because I hardly got the chance to interact with the locals. When I visit a place, I don’t care so much about great food or great scenery; I care more about being able to interact with the local people. In Seoul, it’s like every other shop has a foreign staff who can speak either English, Mandarin or Japanese, I barely got the chance to feel I’m in Korea.

It’s been 7 years since I first set foot in Japan and I no longer feel like I’m overseas. Occasionally, I’d imagine myself on a holiday here, and that hearing Japanese on TV is something new. That makes everything fresh. But the metaphysics consultant in my family (my sister) told me that the water element is too strong in me, that I constantly desire to try new things and this instability causes people around me (mainly girls) feel insecure (visit tulipaxanadu.com if you’re interested getting your fengshui or life read). And if I continue pursuing things like that, I may never get married. But since this potential move also means I’m trying to avoid getting into a relationship as well, perhaps my sister is right. I may never get married.

My contract with the current company is about to end but it is most likely going to be extended, and there are also plans to get something else started with a friend, but the Korea opportunity remains very attractive to me. The other option for me is to request for a 3-month break from work to further my Korean language classes in Korea, which might satisfy my desire to live in a different country and experience something new. We’ll see how things work out.

If I do move, my readers might change to a group of Korea-lovers. But I enjoy my relationship with the current existing group of readers who never make offensive comments or try to stir up trouble on this site. Thank you for being nice.

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