Two years in California
As a student of English, I wanted go learn to speak sooooo deadly, in my younger age.
But how was the big question. I was a first child of 3 siblings, and my mom was single mom... it does not seem possible to study abroad financially.
But I made it. It was easy, I became an Au-pair.
The information was hidden from the regular Japanese people since they want rich Japanese to pay for whatever worthless, they want to rip you off for nothing.
So I became Au-pair and the family I worked for was Jewish catholic family, of doctor and college professor... married and two kids, 11 and 6 year old boys, living the wealthiest area at the time, in SF bay area.
I had just one year contract but I felt 1 year was too short for me to get me English enough to use in business, so I extended 1 more years.
I also moved to SF city, and started living on my own as baby sitter to commute to my workplace.
Since I was living in a mission district, the poorest neighborhood in the city, I could concentrate on acquiring my English, working only 2 days in a week, the rest I was exploring the city, meeting a new people, and learning living English as a volunteer, in a St.Dolothess Church and Rainbow Thrift store, also red cross.
I got a boy friend when I was in Alamo and also when in SF, not at the same time of course. So largely my English came from them. So sometimes I got confused with vocabulary... I wish I could be more sophisticated but can not help anymore...
Anyway, I loved there. To be honest, I was to going back there in my 20's. I gave up my dream of having a life in SF where I feel at home.
I am a kind of person feel home at hippy life, but I am in Japan, so square!
That is what makes my life tough... I feel like I had to pretend as a normal Japanese, when I am total unfit to the regular Japanese society.
Research on Japanese country side
My home town is Kumamoto city, the second largest city in Kyusyu, and my mom and dad were from more country side, but they fled there to seek a financial success.
My dad headed for Tokyo, which is like NY city in the U.S. where as my mom wanted to stay in the Kumamoto city, cosy but not backward.
I grow up in the Kumamoto city and I think it was tooo small city, very close minded and backward compared to SF.
SF doesn't have much size, but it is first quality culture and as a city, it has top-notch quality.
The SF symphony and ballet is world class, their political stand point is historically liberal, and world class city in every aspects.
I was living in near Walnut week, one hour bart commute to the city, and it was very dull... it is a good location for raising kids, but not much going on there.
I took a ballet class in walnut creeks city center and it was chinease teacher so I was quite impressed.
I moved 6 times in the city for I wanted to experiment every neighborhood in the city... I had lived with male homosexual, also lesbian mother who wanted a diverse environment for her hetero daughter.
I had a boyfriend, middle class, blue eyed coccasion but he was not safe in the neighborhood I lived... since I was Asian, and I was a part of the neighborhood but he was not.
I could easily use internet in SFSU as a guest since people were nice, I could use computer room as a neighbor, so I used my telnet command to tell my updates to my friend back in Japan.
I even attended a class in UC Barkley.... one day, I went to the class as I do usually, and it was test day! I could not go out of the class and handed blank paper.
So I had my share of fun time, I love to do that again, I was sooo poor, sometimes I had to put up with just some apples for a week, but it was the best prime time in my life.
I was poor but poor were everywhere and I knew I was a good help to my neighbors also I was young and getting what I want from a life.
My boyfriend David did not want me go back to Japan. But I had school loan, which if I quit a school to get married to him, I had to return the money at all once. So there is no way of quitting my uni. I was the hostage.
So I had to give up my true wish for the money that time.... living in the city and get married to a guy I loved.
He came to Japan but I was too busy to support my costly Osaka life, and finishing my theses... in SF I was living on 500 dollers back then, but in Osaka, I could not go lower than 1500 dollers... the apartment only costed double... food was also double, and commuting... 5 times more.
David was a family man and he missed his family so much and there were no kind Japanese who speak to him, kids run away from him, and older people hid from him, so he became alcoholic out of loneliness... it costed a lot to connected to the internet, wifi was not free like now, and telephone was so expensive.
One day, he was on acute pain in his head, and we visited so many doctors but no one really could find the reason. He had to go back to the states immediately and it was a straight emergency room out of aircraft.
I feel so badly about what had to happen to him. We broke up afterwards.
Being a software engineer
It was my teenage dream that I became a programmer so I taught myself BASIC language at age 14, with a book.
I became a librarian at 18 and back then, university library had most sophisticated access of Internet, using linux. I was young and I learned quickly about how to send email, and chat around the world, there were famous SF baymoo too, that I joined.
So it was quite young I became familiar with internet, so coming back from the U.S., I taught new students in other university, how to install email software on your lap top or such....
Right before my graduation I was working as a student interpreter in a local machinary factory who installed a machine from Germany, and this job was easy and good paid, I could understand machinery better than an old man working there.
So this job let me to Panasonic, a robot labo, so I became a engineer there, even though my major was English, not engineering.
Everyone was surprised but it was no surprised to me at all, since robot language was same as Basic languages I learned at 14 and I was now 25. It was old knowledge already to me.
Anyway, this is how I became a robot engineer at age 25 without getting engineering education. I was highly paid and soon became independent software developer. So one of my dream was accomplished.
Marriage
Now, I wanted to get married have some kids. But this dream did not come true.
I got married to my current husband Moto, the engineer also, at age 29. I was so heartbroken after I had broke up with David and Moto seemed very quiet and at ease.
We brought our new home in the mid center of Osaka down town, tiny apartment, where I can commute by bicycle to my office, I was working for software company who sells software for mainframe, like IBMs.
Since I was ex-programmer and knew already components of computers it was easy for me to translate software technical paper and I was very good at work.
But sadly this job was run by very abusive president, he was violent to the people who were working for him...I was let go since I did not like the violence.
My husband got a job transfer at the same timing and he desparately wanted me to come with him, so I accompanied with him in Fukuoka, the biggest city of Kyusyu, back then I was still not giving up working mom idea.
So I find a job in Mitusi bussan, or should I say, they found me. I was A student in my business school in Osaka and took MVP in my marketing class but could not able to find a suitable marketing position then, and suddenly, Bussan was in front of me.
Working as a sales in trading company was much different from working as an engineer... I knew I was a 3 times good engineer than average, since we major our productivity, and I was head hunted from telecom New Zealand back then, but as a office job, and sales, I was not sure of what to do... so this job was very strange to me, I did not know if I am doing good or bad...
The job was mainly seeing people and listening what problem they've got, and thinking if we can help. Today's trading company doesn't trade goods, they trades business, so there were M&B's, starting-up, and investing a new business, or buying a business.
One of those job in between were agri business and local development, and the move was so slow compared to software, we are just like having fun traveling around and listening to the seminars... making reports on those was my duty.
My secret dream was becoming a journalist so I made a lot of good reports to the company back then, and I learned a lot about the business then.
Yamanashi
My husband got a second job transfer to Yamanashi and I was shocked... I was going on 35... and not yet conceived... I was not giving up my dream of having a kid, and I was frustrated by this job transfer, since it takes so much time to set up the comfortable environment for a woman... I needed some girl friends when I need I can count on...
and Yamanashi was a way too country side... I can not find any office job that suit me.... I was working for a top notch company and no other company seem to fit me... I consulted recruiter right after I moved to Yamanshi and she declared there is no job that fit to me in Yamanashi. I must go to Tokyo, if I work.
I did so in Tokyo for a while but it was impossible for me to work in Tokyo, and get pregnant at the same time... too busy too stressful, keeping two houses...
I had a short trip to Melbourne back then to think about what to do with my life... and came back to Yamanashi deciding to become yoga teacher...
As I told before I was 20 year student of ballet so my body was already flexible enough to became a yoga teacher. In a year or so, I became a yoga teacher but I had to compromise largely my income. It became one of tenth.
Mountaineering
I had too much time to kill and need something does not cost me too much so I started to visit the local mountains. I had also tried other things like having my own vegetable garden but it was too costly...
The mountain was free of charge, costed me almost zero, except for the gas for the car.
So I started to go often and it was like becoming a friend to the nature... to my surprise I was a good climber, reader and it seemed my body agree to that.
128 days in the mountains
so the busiest year I had climbed 128 days a year in the mountains... mostly snow and ice climbing, as I told before.
A mountain guide
I was good enough to get a mountain guide license but I was not sure about the job even when I was in Yamanashi...
because I saw guides who aren't earning at all... and in my opinion, a guiding system was wrong.
You need at least two guides for any mountains for safety... but guides are basically working alone.
3rd time job transfer
As my husband get his 3rd time job transfer I lost my yoga job which I worked for 6 years and earned my position of best selling teacher at the studio, and radio program in YBS... again in jobless, I did not know what to do next.
I was going abroad for climbing which is pretty quick as a climber, I was only climbing for about 3 years then, and loosing job, loosing mountains I can ice climb, and loosing friends and partner was hard on me.
Plus my husband do not understand my passion, I was constantly trying to go abroad and he was constantly trying to prevent me form feeling from old Japan.
Now I am back in Kyusyu, where my old heritage is. I hate my home town for it is narrow sight...close minded culture. Ofcourse there are some people who are not like that, not conservative, but those people will go out of town looking for an opportunity for the better.
I did had my opportunity but I could not grab sadly...
I am now where I am and don't know where to headed for.
One thing is for sure, I spend 5 years in Fukuoka trying to find a best place to set up a Japanese version of GCH, where old and young, women and men, free climber and alpine climber can all climb in peace, is impossible to realize today's Japan.
Even a slow starter like me, who started to climb at age 41 can climb this.