I could type out my whole life story, but since this blog is focused on my journey to Japan, I’ll just start there. In 2015, my family took a short trip to Japan. I fell in love with the culture and decided I’d be back someday. As I finished high school and began looking at career options, I quickly developed the ambitious dream to teach in Japan. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I also wanted to experience a culture outside of my own, learn about Japan’s efficient schooling system, and travel the world before picking a place to plant my roots. When it came time to commit to a college, I chose George Fox University for many reasons. The main reason was that the elementary education program offered a ‘student-teaching abroad’ option and one of the locations was in Japan. My original plans painted me as student-teacher in Japan who landed a job there soon afterwards. However, we all know that life hardly ever goes according to the original plan. In the winter of 2019, I found out that George Fox’s program had withdrawn from all abroad locations except for Fiji due to circumstantial complications. At this point, I began questioning if I chose the right college, how I would ever end up in Japan, and if I would ever end up in Japan. It was the first of many emotional breakdowns… Little did I know, George Fox University would indeed help me get to Japan, just in a different way. I ended up student-teaching in Woodburn, Oregon for the 2020-21 school year. At this point, Japan seemed very far away, but still an end-goal. With COVID setbacks, windstorms, forest fires, and virtual learning, it was a weird year, especially as a student-teacher.
Here’s a timeline of what happened next:
February 2021: While mindlessly scrolling through emails, a virtual career fair hosted by George Fox University caught my eye. One of the companies listed on the schedule was from Japan, recruiting teachers. I signed up for a virtual informational meeting, just to check it out. The recruiter explained the foundation of the school, what it’s like to teach in Japan, what it’s like to live in Japan, and how to apply for a job at the academy. Later that evening, I wrote in my journal, “2/26 – Learned about MeySen Academy in Japan today… remember that name because I fully intend to work there someday“.
March 2021: Filled out and submitted an application for a kindergarten teaching position at MeySen Academy.
April 2021: Completed a one-way interview for a teaching position at MeySen Academy. I had to record myself answering questions presented to me in a certain time frame. It was challenging!
July 16th, 2021: Completed a two-way, virtual interview with MeySen Academy. It was 6:30pm my time (PST) and 10:30am their time (JST). I spent hours and hours preparing for this interview, but wasn’t sure if my small portfolio of experiences would be enough to land such a big job.
July 22nd, 2021: While teaching summer school, I received a voicemail from my recruiter, telling me the team had made a decision. Here’s how the conversation started when I called her back:
“Hi Melia, do you have any suitcases?”
Me: “Any what? *confused* Why?”
“Well, you’re going to need some, because we want you to come to Japan!”
I almost passed out from both shock and overwhelming joy, but I managed to ask a few important questions before hanging up. She told me I wouldn’t be getting my official offer letter until October/November, but they wanted to offer me the job now so that I wouldn’t continue looking for jobs elsewhere. I immediately called both of my parents to tell them the good astonishing news.
October 20th, 2021: I signed my official contract for MeySen! This is also when I found out where I would be teaching, when I would be moving (officially), what to pack, and how to prepare for moving across the world. I put a big red circle around January 31st my calendar and began counting down the days.
January 5th, 2022: At this time, the Omicron variant was spreading around the world, especially in Japan. COVID cases hit an all-time high, and the country was in lockdown. The borders were completely closed to travelers of any kind, and I started to wonder what this meant for my quickly approaching departure date. An email from my supervisor told me that the Japanese government had put a freeze on all new Visas which meant I wasn’t going to get into Japan any time soon.. ☹️ The waiting game continued…
March 1st, 2022: Japan opened its borders! Only to foreign nationals and business travelers (not tourists), but it was good news for me! I was finally able to turn in my Certificate of Eligibility to the consulates office in Portland and apply for my visa. My supervisor gave April 1st as a tentative date-of-arrival.
March 22nd, 2022: Picked up my fancy visa from the consulate. This is when it began to feel real. It was basically my ticket into Japan (aside from my plane ticket lol).
March 23rd, 2022: I received an email confirmation of my booked flight to Japan! The academy paid for my ticket to get there. Lucky me!
March 28th, 2022: After saying the last of my bittersweet goodbyes, I finally boarded the plane to Japan. It was 56 days later than what was originally planned, but it was finally happening!
March 29th, 2022: Arrival in Sendai, Japan. ⭐️
“My biggest dream is becoming a 1st grade teacher. Also teaching in Japan. I guess teaching in general is my dream since I can imagine it coming true. I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Journal Entry from January 8th, 2019