My Japanese Husband (Still) Thinks I'm Crazy by Grace Buchele Mineta

Author:Grace Buchele Mineta
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780990773696
Published: 2015-02-16T05:00:00+00:00

You can't be fulfilled by just one of these – and you shouldn't try. Being married to the "right" person won't necessarily make you happy, especially if you're in an environment that smothers you. Your significant other can't (and shouldn't) be your everything.

Con: Your job opportunities will (probably) decrease.

Some countries don't let foreign spouses of nationals hold a job. If you're thinking about moving abroad, make sure you do plenty of research ahead of time.

And even if you have a work visa, finding a job in your field can be difficult. Most spouses seem to just teach English (or whatever their native language is).

When I first moved to Japan, I didn't have a "working spouse visa" for the first four months, and I nearly went crazy. It was so hard. We were living solely on Ryosuke's income (which was barely enough to support two people), and I felt like a failure of a person.

When I eventually got a visa, I applied to a whole slew of jobs. The only ones that called me into an interview were startups and English teaching jobs, and I ended up only getting job offers from two English schools.

I took a part-time teaching job at a locally owned English school in central Tokyo. I teach there once or twice a week. It's not necessarily fulfilling, but the pay is good and I enjoy the work.

I also appear on TV from time-to-time as a "token foreigner" on Japanese programs. I freelance. I ghostwrite for a couple of blogs. I draw comics for a couple of magazines. I self-publish comic books.

I've built the life I want to have... but doing so took lots of work and lots of time.

Pro: You get to see a whole other side of your significant other.

After moving to Japan, I discovered that Ryosuke has a sweet spot for the elderly and a strong sense of honor. He jokingly flirts with retired grandmother who owned a vegetable shop near his house and volunteers on weekends at the community center.

While talking with his mother, I learned that before he entered college, he wanted to be a police officer.

I began to understand him a little bit more. Seeing Ryosuke interact with others in a different environment brought out a few personality quirks I had no idea even existed.

Con: It changes the dynamics of the relationship.

Changing the dynamics of the relationship isn't necessarily a bad thing... but it's something you should watch out for.

When Ryosuke and I lived in America, I was the person in charge of booking hotels, researching laws, organizing housing and transportation, and taking care of all the other "little things." Ryosuke spoke English fluently, but he didn't have a car and he doesn't inherently understand American culture the way I do.

Then we moved to Japan... and he was suddenly the one in charge of all the "little things." He accompanied me to the doctor's (to translate), did all the paperwork for renting our apartment, and figured out the Japanese side of my visa.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.