Saturday, September 27, 2008

Working for the man

I need a job.

AAAGH! I forgot Josh reads this thing. I was kidding, I swear! I don't want a job!

But seriously - it's been six months since my last actual working day (March 29 at the UUA) and while the move has kept me fairly busy, I'm afraid my brains are leaking out my ears at night.

See, last week I met up with a friend of a friend - a Navy officer who is attending school in Kyoto. Turns out he's the friend of two of my friends, actually, two who have never met. Small world. Anyway, we had lunch with a couple other people and started talking about politics, the Middle East, U.S. military policy and foreign relations - it was a good conversation.

About an hour later, I realized that it may have been the first conversation I'd had in months that wasn't about the move, cooking, Josh's job, or books/movies/knitting. All of those are important things, but it shocked me to think how fully they had taken over my life.

Here's the thing: when we decided to move to Japan, we thought it would be a good time to start a family. I could work part time, teaching English or the like, while focusing on our baby and our home life. Well, here we are two months after arriving, and that isn't working out like we planned. We still want a baby, and soon, but we've had to accept that our schedule isn't the only factor in play here, and the baby will have to come on her own schedule.

So for now I'm thinking a job - something with decent pay and enough intellectual stimulation to keep me from melting into a tub of goo. I've taught a couple knitting lessons, which fit the first criteria and are fun, but not so much intellectual.

Thoughts?

2 comments:

Bob said...

I have never NOT worked, so I guess I don't really understand your plight. Find something you can't do over in the States! (And interesting too.) Learn to make sushi?

EmilySullins said...

Mmm...sushi...

Mary Poppins is putting me in touch with a friend who works for a Japanese charitable foundation, so that's a possibility. And I have some contacts in development I could explore here - we shall see.

Unfortunately, sushi chefs train for at least 10 years before they're allowed to make any sushi. So that'll have to remain a hobby, I'm afraid.