When we started this blog, my wife and I wanted to chronicle our experiences during my two-year job assignment in Japan. We’ve been doing that, and intend to continue. We have been in Japan 15 months. Enjoy my job, love the country and the culture. Now, I’m pleased to say we’ll be here another year.
From my job’s standpoint, I felt like it took a few months just to learn how things work here. Of course, I’m still learning. I think I’m making a good contribution to my company, and the challenge is helping me grow professionally. I wanted some more time to really see what I can do. And fortunately, my company has agreed to extend my term here for another year.
From a personal standpoint, we feel like after a year, we’re just starting to learn something about this fascinating culture. Our grasp of the language is still elementary at best. But we are learning, and it is surprising that things no longer seem so unusual. We know our way around, we know a little about how things work, and we feel pretty comfortable in our adopted homeland.
The longer we are here, the more we realize that we will never fully understand Japan. There is so much about the culture, the history, the way people are and the way they think that a non-native will never completely know. But we feel honored to have an opportunity to learn a little more, to gain a bit more insight into this very different and amazing culture. Through this blog, we want to share our experiences. We hope you enjoy our posts.
Four Years in Japan ... and now Three Years in London 