Since I'm just a high schooler, fully dependant on my parents, I have only a vague notion of taxes, health care, and all the other things that go along with "adult life". It's something I ought to have a better idea about since I'm headed to that stage in life pretty soon.
But since last summer, I've envisioned myself going back to live in Japan - as I'm sure a lot of people have before me and will after me. Not immediately after college - well actually yes.
My minerature gameplan (likely to change since I'm young): 1. College, finish with double major in East Asian Studies and Chemical Engineering (or Chemistry, depending on the school). 2. Head to Japan to teach English for two or three years, most likely with the JET program (during this time, since I'll be in Japan; I would take advantage in order to improve my Japanese to a more proficient level). 3. Return back to the States, go to University of Washington and get master's degree (or.... double master's degree?) in Techincal Japanese and Chemical Engineering (or find a similar program at another university) 4. Head back to Japan and work. 5. Visit Ninshan, China for vacation ;D
Anyways, as for the part four, my grounds are definately... unknown. All I know is that I want to be working with Japanese people and be able to use Japanese as part of my job (and NOT be relying on English). To me, this lends itself to the idea I should be working for a Japanese company. I suppose I could work for an American company in Japan, but I haven't researched much into this (it's seven years away and I think I'll be able to put things more in prespective when I know more about the Chemcial Engineering industry). However, my mum thinks it's better if I work for an American company. I think I'm going to face challenges either way. First of all, being a female, I think I'll probably face challenges in just that aspect alone. But there's the idea of a glass cieling for females. I'm not sure how prominent this idea plays into being a scientist/engineer though. I'll admit I'm young and don't know much about the industry and how things work. But beyond that, working for a Japanese company would also present "anti-foreigner" problems. Again, I don't know how this plays out in the industry. Although depending on the amount of foreigners in these kind of positions, I think there could be some hostility. I know that there are at least a lot of Chinese students who come to study scientific things so if they continue their work in Japan, it could very easily been seen as a "threat".
But these aren't really what are causing my wavering.
I've read a lot about the xenophobic attitudes, but I figure, I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. I'm going to be an outsider no matter where I go. I almost feel better about the idea of being an outsider in Japan, because I know they're not doing it because of anything other than that I'm not Japanese. Here in the States, I know that the reason I'm an outsider is my passive personality and horrible social skills (or at least, that's what I percieve to be the cause for my general outsider-ness).
Anyways, that still isn't it. But I just read an article about some new laws that are relatively restricting on foriegners (see: http://zichi.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-laws-for-foreigners-in-japan.html ). I'm almost worried when I get to Japan I'll be left out of the loop on something important and I'll end up getting kicked out of Japan. What if I overstay my visa by one day?
The future can be very intimidating. For now, I'll just take it one step at a time. Off to college it is... let's hope I can pass my exams.
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