As a college sophomore, I often get asked the inevitable and anxiety-inducing question, you guessed it: “What are you planning to do after you graduate?”  First of all, I want to highlight the fact that I still get jumbled-brain syndrome and a rapidly increased heart rate whenever a well-meaning individual asks me this.  This particular question seems to imply that, as a 20 year-old, I’m supposed to know how to spend the fast-approaching career years of my life, with little or no actual experience or knowledge of how to function in the complex social gears of the regularly employed’s “real world.”  So I guess the answer to that question for me, at this point in my life, is: “I have absolutely no clue.  I know the general idea of what I think I would like to do for the rest of my life- write books, be an editor, work for a publishing company…  But who knows?  That could very well change in an instant!”  I choose to focus my time right now on my education and not worry too much about trying to figure out what I want the next 45 years to look like.

That being said, I surprise myself by actually having a short-term goal for my future career in mind.  Before I came to college, I had a vague mental direction for my long-term career-related goals at best.  English major, okay… I like writing.  And grammar.  Books?  Editing?  Voice acting also sounds cool…  Alright, sounds good; life goals= set.  However, thanks to a professor I’ve had the pleasure of studying under and getting to know personally, I was introduced to a field that I didn’t know really existed: teaching English as a foreign language in another country.  You mean, I can combine my fascination for Japanese culture and urge to travel with my (now) practical college degree and field of study??  Holy cannoli.  Sign me up.

People often write ‘wishes’ when visiting a shrine and hang them there in the hopes that their wish will be granted.

After multiple conversations with the aforementioned prof, and encouragements from others I now know have taught English in foreign countries (including Japan), I am now determined to dedicate the first year or two after college to this exploratory short-term career.  “It is, at times, extremely trying,” my prof, André, tells me.  “It’s a full-time job without a lot of money or free time.  That being said, it’s a an in-depth cultural experience that you will never forget.”  It’s this last part I can’t resist.  The rest are things to which I will just have to learn to adapt.

Sooooo me, now, a year or so after deciding this is what I want to do.  Fortunate coincidence would have it, André recently, as in last week, announced that he is leading a cross-cultural May term course taking place in, duh-duhduh-duhhhh~- Japan!
How delightfully serendipitous.
It includes 3 weeks in modern and historical Japan while students experience the culture and language of the Land of the Rising Sun.  This course isn’t yet available for sign-up, but I immediately  affirmed my full intention to go.

A woman and child wear traditional Japanese kimonos and admire the sakura (cherry blossoms).

Teaching English in Japan is something that has taken hold of me.  As I continue my self-led study of the Japanese language and interactions with my dear Japanese friends here at college, I slowly but surely build up my competency as a traveler and teacher as well as a more culturally adept human being.  With TESOL, I have the opportunity to travel to new places, delve into a vibrant and unfamiliar culture, while working in a field that utilizes my degree and career interests.  I may not make a lot of money, but let’s be honest, I’m an English major.  Was this ever the goal?  I also may be thousands of miles away from my family and friends, however, I have confidence that outside of the several Japanese connections I’ve already made, I will create many new ones.  Overall, this sounds like something right up my alley, and I believe that I’ll get there someday.  きっと.

*All images were acquired through Google images and Pinterest.