Once More Unto Japan, The Adventure Begins

This is it. The start of my dream, for better or worse. You can't go through life always choosing the safest options and a wise person once told me to only regret what you never did, never what you tried. Thus, I started to pursue work as an ALT (assistant English language teacher) in Japan. 

Receiving my job offer from ALT dispatch company Interac yesterday morning turned the page on this new chapter in my life after months of uncertainty, and many more of preparations and application writing. Part of me is convinced that they'll find a problem sometime, somewhere, which is prevent us going, and put me right back to my unemployed housewife life I'm trying to escape. 

I hope this blog will not only be of interest to friends and family who are curious as to what we're up to in Japan, but also serve as encouragement to the many mothers out there who want to work abroad and who are shot down frequently by strangers on the internet. As soon as I mention I'm a mum and I'm bringing a husband to help with childcare, people are shocked. I have been called stupid, unprepared, selfish, "don't know what I'm getting into", etc. Interac (in the UK at least) told me they had never placed a woman with a family before. Clearly, its not that they don't place mums, but others put mums off, mums feel they shouldn't, they can't. Well, a message to all people of all genders out there: Your life matters! Your career, your hopes, wants and dreams, they are valid, and you don't have to justify to anyone why you should pursue them. Whether you have kids, spouses, partners, or no one. Your life decisions are between you, and your loved ones. 

Anyway, having overcome that first hurdle, there is plenty to do to keep me busy and distract me from doubting. Apart from visa applications, the house needs fixing up, the mortgage needs renewing, and eventually it needs renting out. We have to sift through the piles of crap we have accrued over the years, and hopefully make it easier on ourselves to move out. Oh and find a someone to manage the property in our absence and find nice tenants that won't trash our family home. It's no small task, so I better get on it. 

Step one, DIY empowerment: reseal the bathtub.