In short: a ton of things, quite a few things, and no.
Anyone who knows me knows that Japan has always held a special place in my heart. Ever since my exchange back in 2012, I have had a huge love-hate relationship with the country and the culture. It is not perfect, but no country is. Yet, there are a lot of things that are admirable. Such as the ability of Japan to function in such a timely manner for the most part — you don't see trains running on time in Finland let alone people moving around in an orderly manner. Sure, Japan is not a utopia and many of the things that for a tourist seem to be lovely touches to make their experience a better one, may come at the cost of workplace welfare.
Japanese language is also one of the most rewarding ones to learn when you only know a few words here and there — people will compliment you on your language skills when you've only said "yes" (this may become a burden later on when your Japanese gets to a good level and everyone still acts so surprised when you speak Japanese).
The food is amazing, of course, even if for the most part you might not always know what you're eating.
Last but not least: nature. I was lucky enough to have a friend with a car and we did a few road trips to nearby towns and seashores. During my last month in Japan I also got to explore a few new areas (Arimaonsen and Naoshima) when my mom was over to explore Japan and I will never not be impressed by Japanese nature.
The food is amazing, of course, even if for the most part you might not always know what you're eating.
Last but not least: nature. I was lucky enough to have a friend with a car and we did a few road trips to nearby towns and seashores. During my last month in Japan I also got to explore a few new areas (Arimaonsen and Naoshima) when my mom was over to explore Japan and I will never not be impressed by Japanese nature.
It is quite difficult for me to pinpoint just one thing why I love Japan. The country is a package where you get the good and the bad, but for the most part the good outweighs the bad. Especially when you're on a holiday. Working in a predatory industry? Eh, not so much. Just like in any other country, there are things that are terribly wrong, but also things that are done incredibly well.
Working in Japan
I never had any illusions that working in Japan would be easy. If a culture is that challenging just for an exchange student, trying to fit in to a corporation when you have minimal corporate experience in any case is a challenge. Teaching though? Pretty similar to teaching anywhere, except I suppose in many schools you have a lot more freedom to decide what you will do with your students.
In my case, I had ready-made lesson plans which of course were easier than having to design something from scratch. For the most part, my students were very enthusiastic to learn. While most of my students were elementary school students, I did get to teach a fair number of four-year-olds (and younger!) as well as middle school students, a high few school students and an adult. I was a tad surprised how incredibly smart some of the younger students were, but also taken aback by the lack of basic knowledge on some that were supposed to be learning at quite high levels. Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed teaching any student willing to learn.
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Yet, one of my most rewarding experiences was with a student who really struggled with English. They had a really elementary level of knowledge, but through working with them very systematically and going through the text word by word, we were able to make progress on the third lesson. The week after we worked with the same method and again made progress — they also said that it was easier this time. It made me overjoyed to see that I was truly able to help someone learn, even if they always did not want to. Unfortunately this was during one of my last few weeks at work, but I will probably never forget how it made me feel to realize that I was truly able to help this student.
It is easy to say that I enjoyed teaching the students who were motivated and well behaved — sometimes even motivation was enough if they did not disturb the class too bad. I had quite a few of these and I would be lying if I wouldn't admit that I had to hold back tears when telling their parents at the end of the class that it was my final one with them and they would have someone else from next week onwards. It was easier with older students, but especially elementary school students were hard to say goodbye to — with some of them, you could see that they were upset, let alone some of their parents. Vast majority of my students were incredibly sweet kids and while the work environment wasn't great, I do miss my students.
While some classes were incredibly difficult with classroom management and at times it was ridiculously frustrating, I am happy to have had that experience. I hope to teach at university level in the future and if I can make a group of three-year-olds to focus, surely a lecture of 18yr+ students cannot be that impossible?
At the end of the day, in Japan I was responsible for my students' learning, if they weren't making progress, it would have been my fault.
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the teaching part of my job.
Had it been just that, I probably would've wanted to stay longer.
Was it a waste of time?
No, why would it have been? Sure, it was exhausting and more often than not I was quite ill. Yet, I find it hard to describe all of those months as a waste of time. Had I stayed there for a longer period of time my answer would probably be different.
At the end of the day, in Japan I was responsible for my students' learning, if they weren't making progress, it would have been my fault.
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the teaching part of my job.
Had it been just that, I probably would've wanted to stay longer.
Was it a waste of time?
No, why would it have been? Sure, it was exhausting and more often than not I was quite ill. Yet, I find it hard to describe all of those months as a waste of time. Had I stayed there for a longer period of time my answer would probably be different.
I loved living in Japan. Even through the freezing winter nights when there was a cold breeze from my wardrobe. Through the horrible time of dealing with Influenza A. I never stopped loving Japan.
It feels a tad absurd to describe how much I love the country when in reality it has given me the most pain I've ever experienced. Surely you shouldn't love something like that? Still, after all the pain, tears, sorrow and anxieties I love Japan. I love the person I become when I am there (excluding work me in Japan, work me in Japan is constantly exhausted and irritable). It is not the easiest country to live in and most certainly not for everyone, but through all the hell and suffering, it is my home. While I can be extremely miserable there, I am also at my happiest whilst there. When I think about places to travel to for holidays Japan is always number one on my list. It is impossible to imagine me without Japan - through the good and the bad.
It is funny, at the end of the day I feel like I will always long to live in Japan. Especially now that I have mostly recovered from my physical ailments. Japan to me is Home with a capital H and I'm uncertain if anything could ever take that away. I love my current job but I miss Japan. Japan is far from perfect but damn, it is home.
Oh, and what am I doing now? I work for an international organisation in Strasbourg and I love what I do. My work actually has a purpose and I'm treated like a human being.
I also get days off and I am being paid actual money for any potential days I take off if I am sick - instead of being charged 500€ for having influenza, because, you know, that's nice? Even better, I have not had to take a single day off due to a flu or anything since I started here, because the organisation cares about your wellbeing and they will help you to have a work station where you can work properly.
