(2016-06-15, 7:33 pm)TheVinster Wrote: And appreciate your words vix86. I will take another look and see what I dig up. My company was originally a startup and I think it will be a more accommodating environment for a foreigner such as myself. I also enjoyed the pace and lack of politics that I experienced personally at the startup I work at. Now that we've been acquired, the politics are creeping in which really ruins it for me. I'm just not happy anymore unless I see an opportunity at this company to eventually move to Japan.
I feel this. I got to use Japanese somewhat in my last position in my company. I interviewed several candidates for trainer positions for the Japanese office, and did some material reviews and event support in Tokyo. Sadly, the environment in that position turned negative and hostile, and I felt like I had to get out before it went completely south. (Out of the group's nine members, six have either already left or are planning to escape, so it seems I got out in the nick of time.)
So now, thanks to office mismanagement and politics, I'm back in an "ordinary" job where Japanese is solely a side interest. I looked for opportunities internally where I could use my skills, but they all required native-like fluency, and I'm not there yet.
The wife and I had talked about moving back to Japan for a year or two once the kids are all grown up (in about five years). However, she's now hooked on America and doesn't want to go back!
So now I'm at a crossroads and figuring out what to do next with my language skills. My current plan is to hunker down on my studies, get my N1, and work toward moving into technical translation work over the next few years as my kids start transitioning into their own lives. (I live next to one of the few colleges in the country that offers a translation certificate program.) I may look at changing jobs after a year or two if I can find something interesting and Japanese-related, but for now I'm waiting for my stock to vest so I can build a financial cushion in advance of embarking on a major career change.
I'm also tinkering with the idea of tackling the Japanese Literature program at University of Washington. It's not very practical, but it sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. I would eventually love to write stories in Japanese as well, so diving into a literature program seems like a wise idea.
Sorry, very long-winded reply to your own travails. It's interesting to see what other people are doing with their Japanese ability!