Immigrant Backstory: Every Chance We Get (with photos)
To be honest, I have pretty simple wants and needs. I didn’t dream too big. I didn’t expect too much. I did what I did and went about my way. That was why living in Japan was perfect for me. It was straightforward, for the most part. I had a job that gave me cash to spend. There wasn’t too much fanfare. It was low-key living. The systems were efficient. The trains were on time. And the miniscule spaces I rented with my cousin and later with my sister were sufficient.
I too am an old soul. I like things simple, straightforward and honest. Oh, and I also love the quiet.
That said, I never expected to move to Japan. None of my family ever moved to Japan until my cousin did in 2015. I did teach English to Japanese students as a sidehustle, and I did work at Japanese- owned companies from 2009 until 2015. But moving to Japan? Never crossed my mind. Travel to Japan? Never.
And then I was hired by a Tokyo- based tech company that did language proficiency exams. Suddenly I found myself traveling back and forth Manila and Tokyo.
My natural inclination toward adventure kicked in. I wasn’t a traveler. That would never be me. But I was an adventurer and I was an explorer and work brought me to this country with so much history, historical places, cultural hubs, and things of intrinsic value waiting to be unearthed. That was where I bloomed.
I left that company after a year and a half. But by then I had gotten so spoiled being sent to fly back and forth out of the country, I could could not rest my feet. It was also by chance and by that time that my cousin, who had moved to Osaka earlier in 2015, let me know her employer was hiring. What did I do? I sent them my resume and sat down for an online interview in semi-formal attire — meaning I was in pambahay shorts and a dress shirt. Long story short: I was hired.
I moved to Osaka, left social media except LinkedIn, and relished in the silence. It was heaven.
I learned to make my meals, speak some Japanese, get an exemption from paying pension while speaking very little Japanese, do my laundry and lease my own place — all at the ripe age of 28…ish. I was making the most of independence.
At the back of it all loomed the greatest adventure I had planned so far: I would backpack around Scandinavia — by myself. Working my way through 2016, I managed to make it to 2017 working three part time jobs to make ends meet. I say this with drama, but that was one hell of a ride. By March 2017, I had gotten a full time job for doing a good job and I was packing two bags for the trip. Long story short, I chased the Northern Lights in Norway, couchsurfed in Sweden, and came back to Denmark and had coffee with a lady I met in Norway and who introduced me to a cafe owner whose wife was from Osaka.
The damage was done. I couldn’t stay put. This whole wide world was waiting for me.
That was when I made it a goal to see the aurora from everywhere I could. My Google search showed me this list: Canada, Peru, New Zealand, Tasmania.
I returned to Osaka, my head abuzz with ideas, and I created my plan. At this point I had also discovered my love for… filing applications! When I was reading stuff saying “visa rejected” and “application rejected” I was determined, well, not to be rejected. I would do everything I could to get what I set my eyes on.
However, things would take a turn after one conversation.
When I asked another cousin about visiting Canada, she slipped me a bit of advice:
Why don’t you move to Canada?
And there it was, another window of opportunity. Another application to be filed! Another country to discover. I did not expect that at all. When all I was thinking was seeing the lights again, here was life pulling me to another even bigger adventure!
And so, just like what I had been doing in the past, I took the chance.