Part 1: "Start packing your bags and brush up on your Japanese. I am 99% sure you will be perfect for our company."

The interviewer had  shaken my hand promisingly with a wide grin as he said that to me.

I had politely smiled and returned the handshake with a firm grip like all the how-to guides on job applications had told me to, making sure my other hand was positioned over my pant’s broken zipper (the tape had burst apart that morning while I had hurriedly been getting ready for the interview). After muttering a few extra thank-yous and gently refusing to wait for the bus in his living-room, I was wandering the streets back towards the bus stop, silently congratulating myself on achieving the greatest goal of my twenty-one year old life. ​

Teaching in Japan.

It had been a dream of mine since studying Japanese in high school. It was a dream which my parents’ accepted and one which I had to jump many hurdles and smash head-first into countless obstacles to achieve. ​

I’d like to say everything was smooth-sailing from there and that Japan was as amazing as everything I hoped it would be . However, the truth is that within the first year of being in Japan I had stepped into a teacher’s worst nightmare, constantly came close to losing what minimal amount of mental stability I had, and made one of the hardest decisions of my life - getting married to someone I had known for less than a year. ​On the other hand, I've immersed myself in a culture famous for being different, had opportunities far greater than anything else I have ever experienced, and confronted my darkest fears.

Honestly, I do not regret any decisions I have made thus far. I am still madly in love with my husband almost three years after a frantic escape from the company I had been beaten down by, I have been welcomed into a family which fully embraces my quirks and awkwardness, and I have experienced the joys of natto cookies.  ​

This is where I will write the truth about my experience being the elephant in the room.