Japan and Me

After 5 years on the JET program in Kanazawa, I decided to take a leap of faith and make the move to the big city of Tokyo. I left behind my friends and colleagues, my job and my apartment, stored my 4 boxes with belongings at a friend’s house and left with 1 suitcase for Chiba. A befriended Japanese family kindly invited me to stay with them while I looked for a job in the capital. So from the quiet city that was Kanazawa I ended up at the even quieter city of Noda, mainly known for its Kikkoman soy sauce factory.

Job hunting in Japan is as tough as anywhere else: I’ve been to a ton of interviews, some in English, most in Japanese, some very short and disappointing, some really intense with 3-hour exams and multiple interviews. For weeks I was on a regime of updating my resume, meticulously checking out jobsites, visiting recruiting companies, going to Hello Work (Japanese version of VDAB/Forem) to receive unemployment fund, writing application letters, preparing for interviews, going to interviews and waiting like an eternity to get a reply. But eventually the hard work paid off: I was offered the position of President’s Secretary at a Japanese IT company in Shinjuku! As the only foreigner amongst 400 Japanese, I was in charge of English communication, translating the website and giving English lessons to my boss. It was a comfortable job, with nice and enthusiastic people, and surprisingly never any overwork for me.

Since I worked in Shinjuku, I had to look for an apartment in the city. The search brought me to some horrifying apartments, some nice ones that turned out unaffordable or too far away, there was always something until, after 2 weeks and 20 places, I finally found the perfect one. Only thing left to do: going through tons of Japanese administration, looking for a guarantor and eventually paying a huge amount of money (5 months of rent!) to get the keys to my very own place in Tokyo. I settled for a comfortable 2DK apartment near Ikebukuro, so every morning I had the great privilege (sense the irony) of taking the overflowing barely-able-to-breathe Yamanote train line with thousands of other commuters.

All in all life in Tokyo started out good, but I had to admit, the job was not what I was looking for. So when I heard about a position at the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BLCCJ), I took my chances, went for the interview and signed my new contract the very next day. Which led me to a next professional first: resigning from a job. Luckily for me the IT boss understood what a great opportunity it would be for me not only to run an office, but also to be connected with my home country while living in Japan. So here we are today: already 9 months as General Manager of the BLCCJ!

The job has been challenging in many ways: planning loads of events including high-level business seminars and a gala ball, getting familiar with running an office, learning how to do accounting, apply for subsidies, updating the website and SNS, etc etc etc When I joined in May I was thrown into the job right away with the bi-annual Young Executive Stay program during which we accommodate Belgian and Luxembourg executives that want to explore the Japanese market. And only a few days later we welcomed the first economic mission since 2005 headed by HRH Prince Philippe of Belgium. This year the BLCCJ is celebrating its 35th anniversary, so 2013 will surely see many more interesting activities. For more information about the BLCCJ, please check out our website: http://www.blccj.or.jp/en/ and facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/BLCCJ

In the meanwhile I have already left my flat in Ikebukuro and live in a slightly bigger one at the opposite side of Tokyo on the much less crowded Yurakucho line. The reason of moving this time: falling in love! After coming to Tokyo I stayed in close contact with another ex-JET who spent 5 years in Kanazawa, and one thing led to another. So even though I left JET and Kanazawa, both will forever stay close to my heart, as they gave me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of coming to Japan, getting great work experience, but above all, meeting the most wonderful people. And in the meanwhile my Japanese adventure continues!