Japan 30 Day meme – Days 6 & 7 and Balancing the Future

See all 30 meme questions here!

Day 06 – Food that you swore you would never eat but now love (or tolerate).

To be honest, I’m a pretty adventurous eater… there’s hardly anything I’m not willing to put in my face at least once, and Japanese food is no exception. Octopus sashimi, basashi (raw horse sashimi), even stinky snotty natto is no match for my stomach. But with the exception of maybe natto, none of them are really anything I would want to eat everyday for the rest of my life. Even still, I remember a couple years back when I was in Japan for the summer program at Mukogawa Women’s University, my host family fed me hijiki (a kind of seaweed) and at the time I remember it smelled awful and felt so slimy and gross in my mouth that I swore I would never eat it again. However, literally just a couple of days ago, I brought a bento to work which included a hijiki/veggie mix okazu and it actually tasted pretty good! Not stinky or slimy at all! I guess it was worth giving a second chance…. I remain undefeated by any food challenge! Ha ha ha!!

Day 07 – Which Japanese words do you use in English? (hanami, shinkansen, etc.)

I’m assuming this question wants us to talk about Japanese words that aren’t already considered to be loanwords in English vernacular… everyone uses words like “tsunami” and “sushi”, derp! :P

Anyway, I think because I speak English with my husband in our home and (learning to) speak Japanese when I’m out and about, I’ve kind of gotten into the habit of mixing my languages a lot. This means I speak English with a bunch of random Japanese mixed in. Just like a J-pop song but in reverse, haha! Stuff like, “I’m samui!” (I’m cold!) or “I’m going to go benkyou nihongo now” (I’m going to go study Japanese now). I even started the “Hanashimasuing Japanese with an English sentence structure” fan page on facebook (totally nerdy, I know.) It’s completely ridiculous, but I’m sure it must be a common side effect when attempting to become bilingual because all my friends do it too, lol!

There’s also times when I want to express myself and only a word in Japanese will do. My favorite? “Mendokusaiiiii!” (it means “bothersome”, but when used as an interjection the connotation is basically equivalent to “I don’t wannaaaaa!!”) I think Tatsuya can confirm that I have used this word at least 50 times daily for the last two years, usually directed at school, going to work, or some 20-page essay I had to do for homework. It probably drives him nuts, lmao. I rarely mean it, but it’s so fun and satisfying to say, it helps me chill out a bit.

++

Now for a change of subject…

It’s funny how even though I’ve just landed my first job in Japan and I’m enjoying it immensely, I already seem to be considering and calculating my next move. You might be able to tell just from reading this blog, but anyone who knows me well surely knows that if there’s something I really want to do (such as go to a certain college, learn to speak the language of and live in a foreign country) I like to come up with a game plan: figure out how to make it happen, and then pretty much work toward it until the goal is achieved. I like planning ahead.

Anyway, what I’m thinking is I want to go back to school someday soon to study law. This is something I’ve been sitting on for a while because I keep going back and forth about it, but I’m wondering if the fact that I can’t shake it off after years and years might be a sign that it’s destiny and I’ll regret it if I don’t do it. Or who knows, maybe my Dad’s spirit is sending my subliminal messages, LOL! He was a lawyer too and for as long as I can remember, he would always tell me that he thought it was something that I would like and be good at. I was always like, “WTF NOOOO!!” I think in my mind I always pictured the sleazebag lawyer stereotype, with more money than good conscience. I don’t know why, that’s not the kind of lawyer my Dad was. He was a deputy prosector at the county level; a public servant who advocated for victims and contributed to the system of guaranteeing a fair trial for all. Of course, my own father knew me too well, and I think especially since he became sick and passed away that I realize how much alike we really are.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I want to be exactly a lawyer per se… but I do want to study something like International or Comparative US and Japanese Law and… I don’t know, work for some organization or company that needs experts on that kind of law. Jobs like that exist, right? LOL, obviously I haven’t worked out too many of the details. But I think either way, it will take me a few months to research and explore my options, save money, etc. All that I know for sure so far is I want to stay in Japan for school. This means getting my Japanese up to a level where I can pass the EJU and not to mention passing University entrance exams and surviving the classes! For a millisecond I considered going back to America for a few years to study, but if I did that there’s no way Tatsuya would be able to come with me because of his job, and being apart from my husband for 3 years when it’s really quite unnecessary would suuuuuck. I’d be coming back to Japan anyway, and there are certainly good schools here as well.

I said before that I kept going back and forth… most recently the reason is because I’m trying to figure out what the best plan would be for me, Tatsuya, and our future family. I definitely want kids before I reach my 30s, and I always envisioned being a stay-at-home, or at least part-time working Mom for the first few years of our child(ren)’s lives. My Dad went to law school after I was born, but in my case, as a female with a full-time working husband, it probably won’t be an option for me. I know I’m certainly not the only one, but sometimes I feel so conflicted. Part of me wants the post-graduate education and the interesting career, while the other part wants to dedicate all my time and effort into family. I’m still young of course, but what I might like to do is stay at my current job for the next couple of years and/or do some internships for my resume, then spend the next 3ish years getting my JD. After that, I would take the next few years off to have kids, and by the time they are old enough for hoikuen/youchien, THEN I start looking for a job. Is that completely stupid and crazy? Do people even do that? Would I be screwing myself by taking myself out of the game before I even have a chance to use my degree?

I wish I could get some advice. What do you think, friends? Anyone have any insight for me? :)

Advertisement

Tags: 30 day meme