It's been too friggin long...since my last post! And this is a real luxury for me to take time to write this...
My excuse - well, I have 3 jobs, working hard to make things happen, and at the same time, the world evolves and keep moving with or with me. Here's a list of things that happened to me and around me.
- Experiencing the struggle of an organizational and cultural change at work. Now that I have studied all of that, I now understand why there are millions of books written and will be written on it. It's just one of those things that is much easier to talk about in theory.
- Being a first-time consultant. Giving my opinions and "expertise" of my knowledge in distance learning and how it can implemented in a blending learning TESOL program.
- Working for a for-profit but totally cool, laid back, alternative long distance phone company - bigredwire.com. And be given total trust based on my professional background, my early performance, to eventually more responsibilities and $$.
- To be teaching again and working with students, especially the Hispanics in the SB community. It's very satisfying to know that you are making a difference to the lives of your students every day and to know that they are coming to class every night after work to better themselves. If they don't have an excuse to not come to class, neither do I!
- To be so lucky for having 3 jobs in an economy where many people don't even have 1. I am reminding this to myself everyday because it can all go away very fast.
- Getting to know San Francisco inside out during my week of vacation there in May.
- Death of Farrah Fawett - a lesson learned of her courage.
- Death of Michael Jackson - I had no idea it would affect me so much but after all, he is THE western celebrity I knew growing up in Hong Kong. My parents even got us tickets to see him in concert when he was going to come to HK but alas, he cancelled it because of the whole child molestation fiasco. Nevertheless, I completely agree that MJ has given his childhood, his talents, his music, his love to perform to us that I want to give him the same respect as the people I knew that have passed on. MJ, your music will continue to inspire me with love, dedication, and suffering.
- Last but not least, my pursue of Japan. For me, things always happen when I am least expected so I have taken a step back in waiting for AEON to give me a placement. Of course, I got this unexpected phone call soon after my adjusted attitude and then a couple weeks later, an offer to work in Fukuoka. Yesterday, I have given them my verbal acceptance of the offer and next week, I will sign a contract of a 1-year commitment to live and work in Japan. I don't have time to talk about my feelings and what will happen now but while I was reviewing some information before I accepted the offer, I came upon the personal essay I wrote for the application back in January. It really sums up how I still feel about going to Japan. It is a lifelong dream and a new chapter from a long story since childhood. Here's my personal essay and my acceptance speech to AEON.
Why I want to live and work in Japan
by Tiffani P. Chan
My story with Japan has been a long one, starting at the tender age of 7. One of my few early childhood memories is of Mrs. Uchida, our neighbor inviting me over for tea every week to play with her son, Hiro. I don’t remember much about talking to Mrs. Uchida or playing with Hiro but I do remember the tatami floors, the Ikebana that were uniquely and beautifully arranged, the colorful sweets and cakes, the smell of soy from Mrs. Uchida’s cooking, and the sound of Japanese from the TV or the stereo. It was a world far different from my apartment or any of my friends’, but I remembered feeling like I belonged there and I could understand everything around me, including the conversations between Mrs. Uchida and Hiro in Japanese.
Perhaps my father knew this so when I was 10, he took our family for a vacation to Japan. It was my first visit to Tokyo and in hindsight, it was the awakening of my lifelong fascination of the Japanese culture. Later in college, I naturally signed up for courses about Japan in art history, films, and language. When I had the opportunity to visit Japan again at the age of 20, I made a decision to return one day to do more than just exploration but to immerse myself in the culture. Life caught up with me after college. With student loans mounting, I secured a job at an organization that nurtured me with diverse opportunities. Personally, I found happiness and endured setbacks in different forms and circumstances. For the past 7-8 years, I lived as a citizen of America and a member of my community. I worked, I loved, I made friends, I volunteered, I paid my bills. But I felt something was missing.
If 2008 was marked as the beginning of change in history, it was also for me. One day while I was writing my Master’s thesis at a coffee shop, I bumped into an old friend who informed me he was leaving to teach with AEON in Tokyo. The news was serendipitous. I have been contemplating the next phase of my career and I was not sure what that was. Still, I was not convinced teaching was something that I wanted to do everyday so soon after I finished my Master’s degree, I completed a certificate program in TESOL and during the practicum, I fell in love with the creativity of teaching and daily interactions with students. After many years as an education administrator, I found an enormous sense of satisfaction from the direct results in the classroom as compared to sitting behind a desk working in front of a computer. It also affirmed my career choice as an educator and renewed my passion for education, especially in making learning a life skill for all ages.
I want to live and work in Japan because I am seeking a work abroad experience in a country that has developed a multi-faceted environment that can utilize my background in business, education, and intercultural communications to help students develop knowledge that is interesting for learning, as well as skills that are practical and competitive in the global, flattened world of today. Finally, this has been my lifelong dream and I am ready to make it into a reality. I am very excited at the opportunity AEON can provide into making this dream comes true for me. Thank you very much for your consideration.
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Hi Mark
I really appreciate you for giving me sometime to think about the offer. I used the past few days to review all the information I have from the interview and the email you sent. I did some research about Fukoaka and Kyushu. Fukuoka seems like a very nice city and I think it is a wonderful alternative to Tokyo. I was also able to talk to my friends and my family, and I didn’t know this but my parents have been to Fukuoka and they had very fond memories of that city. Anyway, all of them are very excited and supportive of me if I do work in Japan. So, having said that, I am happy about the placement in Fukuoka and I am delighted to accept the offer.
Thank you very much for all that you do. And again, I really appreciate you for keeping in touch with me the past 6 months.
