Happy New Year!

My name is Dan. I was born in the year of the dog. So It’s 2008 now - the year of the rat. I have no resolutions. Nothing new that I haven’t already been working on. This year I plan on taking Level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). I took level 2 on December 2nd of 2007, but I don’t know the results yet. I have to wait until I go back to Japan.

I’ve heard about several job offers since I’ve come back home. On the plane ride home from Narita Airport in Tokyo I heard from a kind old lady that there are job oppurtunities teaching at the military bases in Japan for the Department of Defense Education. The pay would be at least double or triple what I make now, plus with many more benefits like cost of living expenses paid, a free apartment, free utilities, and a pension plan. The other job I heard from my sister’s brother-in-law. He told me about working for the Defense Language Institute. I think those jobs are located in the U.S. My cousin told me about a job opening at the port authority. He said they are looking for managers that speak German, Polish, or Chinese. I don’t speak any of those languages, but I’m working on Chinese – that is to say I will when I get back home to Japan. 

So I told my parents I’d like to move to Hawaii and try to get my master’s in Japanese or Asian languages. They’re all for it. They want me to move there tomorrow, but I’m hesitant because I have a lot of things I want to finish in Japan before I move back to the States. I would love Hawaii from what I’ve seen on TV and in pictures, but I don’t know how I’d support myself until I can become a resident. If I become a resident of Hawaii then I wouldn’t have to pay higher tuition prices. Plus I still have to take the GRE and 3 letters of reference to apply. If I could make my online store into a profitable business I wouldn’t worry about supporting myself in Hawaii. I’d like to stay in the U.S., but I have many things I need to finish in Japan first.

-Dan