Saturday, August 27, 2011

I quit my job and I'm headed to Japan


I'll be staying in Osaka for at least a month at the Osaka Mayflower House.  I hope to be taking Japanese classes at the ARC Academy, but I have to test in.  Eek.  I leave this Wednesday the 31st.

So, why Japan?  Well, why not?  Japan is an awesome place.  I've traveled a fair amount, but hands down, Japan has always been my favorite trip.  There's just something strange and wonderful about how it's so similar to our own culture, yet so utterly different at the same time.  I look forward to getting myself into awkward situations and being surprised by the unexpected.

It's the right to leave my company.   Things haven't been great since Google changed their search algorithm and I felt like I needed a change.  I used to really enjoy my work, but I just can't say that anymore.  I woke up one day and realized there were just too many days in a row where I really didn't want to go to work.  So, I decided to leave, and I told myself a while back that I would take a little time off the next time I changed jobs.  Life is just too short not to appreciate it.  It's only going to get harder to do something like this later on, so the time to go is now.  I admit, it is kind of crazy, but isn't it also crazy going to the same job five days a week and staring at a screen for 9 hours a day?  I don't want to be living my life tied to a repetitive weekly schedule.  I need a break from that routine.  I want to find colorful new experiences and I think this is the right way to do it.

As a kid, I loved exploring.  I would wander around the woods behind my parents house following creeks and trails and making all kinds of discoveries.  This is just another larger, grander adventure.  So, off I go, armed with a backpack, a suitcase, books, a computer (or two), a hard drive full of ripped NetFlix DVDs, and a copy of Rosetta Stone Japanese.  I'm going to do some reading, some writing, and hopefully a lot of learning.  Sayonara.