Update: Leaving Japan for the US
My last blog post was summer of 2020, when I was still working remotely from my 200 square foot (19 sq meter) apartment in Tokyo. Currently, I'm writing this update from a Hyatt in Northern Virginia, where I am training remotely for a new job.
Before I get into the job change, a bit about my last few months in Japan:
My original work contract was scheduled to finish at the end of August 2020, which marked my one year mark at Mizuho Leasing. Due to the pandemic, however, my replacement couldn't get a visa to come to Japan, so I decided to extend my contract through the end of the year. I did that because I was waiting on another job offer to come through--back in the US--but the onboarding process was taking longer than expected.
By October, I still had no word from my pending new job, so I began discussions with my bosses and HR at Mizuho to stay on even longer. In my first contact I was only officially an intern. I was paid--not much, but enough to live frugally in Tokyo. With my new contract, I expected a better title and a pay increase. After a lot of back in forth with HR (via my boss), they gave me a one year offer as an Economic Analyst. The raise was less than I had hoped for, but they did meet me half way with two bonuses, paid out once I made it to the six and then 12 month mark.
In the meantime, I had been job searching--in the US, Japan, and anywhere I could find leads. Unfortunately, the leads were few and far between. Many US companies had put their hiring on hold, and without business level Japanese, I was largely shut out of the non-English teaching job market in Tokyo.
In mid-November, I accepted the new contract with Mizuho. One week later, I got an email out of the blue with an offer to start training for the job I was waiting on back in the US (with the State Department). Training would start in mid-January. Breaking the news to my managers at Mizuho was awkward; fortunately they were understanding (even before I accepted the initial internship offer in 2019, I told them about my pending State Department application, so it wasn't totally unexpected).
The turnaround was rapid. In late October and early November I was negotiating a new contract with Mizuho and preparing for the likelihood that I would end up staying in Japan well beyond December. A few weeks later, I only had a month left in Tokyo until I moved out of my apartment and went back to the US. Unfortunately, due to covid-19, I didn't get a chance to travel around Japan as much as I would have liked during my 16 months there. Before leaving, however, I did take a trip with friends to Kanazawa, had a weekend away from Tokyo in nearby Ito, and just before flying home, spent some of my remaining vacation time in Okinawa and Ishigaki. I will do separate posts for those trips soon!
I flew back to Ohio on the 29th of December, spent two and a half weeks with my parents, and then moved to Washington, DC, to begin training. My first six weeks were at an apartment in DC. Compared to my place in Tokyo, I had more room then I knew what to do with. The building was finished earlier in 2020, and I was the first person to live in my unit!
Last week, everyone from my training group moved to a hotel in northern Virginia. We'll stay here until late April, and then continue with more training in several locations over the following six months. Right now, my schedule is pretty light, so I'll try and bust out more updates from my last few months in Japan; check back soon!
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