Round two

Round two of interview coming up in less than two weeks.

I wonder if this is a place where they can accept me as who I am. Especially since it is a research agency, and I am probably the least academically-qualified applicant (no masters or PhD). But I am looking forward to being able to continue research in this field which I once dabbled in. Probably got to brush the dust off my programming skills, though.

Half a year

It's been half a year since I moved to Japan. Most of the time was spent adjusting to a new living environment. Now that half a year is over, it is time to think about how to live, beyond adjusting.

The search continues.

Welcoming the Year of the Monkey

Happy Lunar New Year! It is once again the Year of the Monkey. Hope it will be a good year ahead!

The search for myself

I have more or less adjusted to life in Japan. So the next step is, what do I want to do from here?

I have been doing full-time translation (as a freelancer) for quite a while now. It pays enough to sustain a living, but is that what I really want to do? No doubt I learn a lot on the job, reading widely (yes, translation forces you to read widely so that you can translate accurately) and gaining a lot of knowledge even as I get paid. And I can see myself contributing to society, by allowing more people to read and gain information that they would otherwise not have access to (due to language barriers).

I know I definitely will continue to study up on Japanese labour and administrative laws, as I want to be able to help foreigners in Japan with legal issues. Probably volunteer some time at some NPOs once I get my certifications. But that will be some time in the future; I need to study first, and pass the exams towards the second half of this year.

Do I continue to be a freelancer, contributing in small ways to society, while enjoying the rest of the time doing what I want? Or do I aim for something bigger, to better contribute to society, at the expense of losing some personal time?

Deep down, am "I" more important, or is "society" more important?

With 18 years of serving in the military, I think deep down, my values place society before self.

The question is, what can I do beyond translating to benefit society? I really want to go into research, to find new knowledge that can benefit society. But what field? Maybe I can find something that merges computer simulations with social science, the two fields that most interest me.

And so, the search for myself begins.