Free to travel!
08/24/2007
Even though I had the email confirmation for the job, I was still waiting for the written confirmation. I got it yesterday, which means I'm now 100% free to travel until I start working! Well almost...
Category: Chit chat
Posts
お盆 - Obon
08/23/2007
Last week was the obon, which was originally a buddhist ritual to honor the spirits of the ancestors...
Category: Customs
大成功
08/15/2007
I have the pleasure to tell you that I have found a job! And all the conditions I had defined have been fulfilled:
- a Japanese company: because it's the best way to improve my Japanese...even though I'll most likely have a very hard time at the beginning...
- IT-related job: at some point, I was fed up with the IT field and I wanted to change, but I have regained my motivation
- in Nagoya: I could go somewhere else and start over from the beginning, but I have too many friends here and have no particular reason to go somewhere else. Plus I like this city!
- from november: it allows me to travel and go back to France before I actually start working
On the minus side, the job isn't technically challenging, it's mostly PHP/MySQL/PostgreSQL-based web development, but it's perfect considering my current Japanese level. It'll be hard enough to improve my business Japanese that I don't think I could handle a technical challenge on top of that. Indeed, business Japanese is tough and there's a whole specific language to learn first. So the linguistic challenge first, then the technical one...one thing at a time! On the other hand, it's a foot in the door, which will allow me to significantly improve my language skills, which will hopefully open new opportunities in turn...
Anyway, I'm still proud about having passed interviews in Japanese. Even if, to be honest, the economic context is favorable to the applicants as there are clearly tons of IT jobs now, which makes it possible for people who, like me, don't have solid business Japanese skills (and it's an euphemism!) to get hired. I even turned down an offer!
About this post's title: 大 means "big", and 成功means "success". Shouldn't be too hard then to translate 大成功...
Category: General
Sumo
08/13/2007
Dating back some 1500 years ago, sumo has a long tradition. Beyond the sport, its origins were religious. The first matches were a form of ritual dedicated to the gods for a bountiful harvest. At that time, rules were not really defined and few or no holds were barred. But, just like any other sport, rules have evolved...
Category: Leisure
