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wStuff You Don't Wanna Know But Are Reading Anyway |
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I dunno how you found this, but alas, here you are. So enjoy the frightening fruits of my troubled little brain.
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wSaturday, April 19, 2008 |
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feeling: in between many things
listening to: Moriyama Ryoko - Papier
First of all, I added two more drama reviews to this post. That's been overdue for months, but I kept forgetting about it. And I'm in the process of watching another one now, which I'll be adding to the list soon too, if I remember.
So anyway. This week. Remember that stuff about taking a step? Well. I took one. Ended up essentially right back where I started, though. But it was an interesting process getting there.
Thursday afternoon I talked myself into driving out to YSK. I found the lady my dentist had recommended to me; turns out, as I should've expected, she was native Japanese, so other than introducing myself and announcing my purpose there, everything else exchanged between us was in Japanese. In a way I was surprised, but in a way I wasn't; I didn't really expect them to give me a job or even an interview. But they did far more than just take my resume and recite the standard lie that they'd call me later if anything came up.
Basically, as soon as I told this lady I knew Japanese, she was suddenly all perky and squeeing "Oh! Please, come in!" while ushering me into a smaller room to sit down. She then went to get another worker there, a Japanese guy, and both of them sat down with me and talked to me for a good 10 minutes about the stuff on my resume and what I wanted to do and why and etc. All in Japanese. And I was floored by how many times they both made little impressed sounds and uttered "sugoi"s to each other over and over in the course of this thing. I'm not THAT good. *blink* But then, more than anything I think they were impressed that there was someone in this useless little town who actually knew ANY Japanese beyond "anime" and "sushi." >.>
Anyway, in the end they determined that they didn't have any openings available at the time and kept my resume. So it was probably just a longer, drawn-out version of the typical failed job hunt routine. But still, the utter politeness and kindness and thoughtfulness of these people blew me away. The lady even brought up such conversational topics as the sakura trees lined up outside the building we were in, the dentist who referred me to them, and of course, the price of gas. :P
But most surprising of all, no more than an hour after I left there, I checked my email and actually found an email from the lady just thanking me for stopping by and giving me contact info for two other Japanese companies similar to theirs (but further away, of course) who are looking for translators, while still saying that YSK "might need my help in the future."
So... that was YSK. I don't honestly expect them to contact me again, of course, but the way that all played out was much nicer than the quick and concise "No thanks *takes resume and files it away never to be seen again*" response I was expecting.
Next step? This place called YUSA in Washington Courthouse, I guess. Twice the distance away, but still within a fairly reasonable range for the job I'd be asking for there. They handle the same sorts of things YSK does, apparently... which is fine, but honestly a big part of the reason I was interested in YSK was that thing about Japanese people bringing their families to Chillicothe with no knowledge of the area or language, and them having employees dedicated to just helping them find their way around town and do the things they needed to do every day. But since I don't live in Washington Courthouse, I wouldn't be able to do that at YUSA. Oh well... plus side is I'd be just as likely to have a good computer and internet access at my disposal to accomplish written translations.
The other company she named was TFO in Jeffersonville, yet again twice the distance away from YUSA and starting to push the edges of my idea of "reasonable distance." I was hoping to not spend 2+ hours a day commuting. I know I could stay at Kitty's, but if I looked it up right, this place in Jeffersonville is almost as far from her house as it is from mine... I think... maybe I'm confusing it with Canal Winchester...
Anyway. So that's where all that stands.
Then after I got home Thursday, my brother showed up hoping to work on his Jeep, and of course he brought his son with him. And the little spawn is becoming a baseball freak, so he wanted to play baseball outside, but since his dad and grandpa were busy with the Jeep, he wanted me to play with him. And wow. Haven't played catch since I was his age. I'm about as good at it now as I was then, too. :p
I think being out in all that nice sunny weather yesterday got to my sinuses, though. I've been kinda stuffy and sneezy today. Not enough to be a cold; just a change-in-the-weather thing. Annoying when I'm trying to sleep, though. Which I'm going to do go now, I think.
comment! (1)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 4/19/2008 02:25:00 AM
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wSunday, April 13, 2008 |
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feeling: tired
listening to: L'arc en Ciel - Time Goes On
Been sort of a crummy week. Was fun last weekend while Kitty was here, but somewhere in the 24 hour period after she left, things started conspiring against my sanity as they so often do.
For one thing, I've been feeling ridiculously unproductive all week. I haven't touched my kanji book since Tuesday, and even then it was just for reading and review, not actual writing and learning new characters. I've tried to do some translating of G no Arashi (the next series I'm going to fansub after D no Arashi) and a couple other videos people have requested, and a few song lyrics and some other stuff... but I've done so craptastically BAD on some of them, it's gotten just plain depressing. One of these videos has been sitting unfinished for weeks now all because of ONE LITTLE WORD that I can't make out for the life of me. Another one... I have to stop and leave blanks filled with questions marks, like, no more than every 2 minutes. I know these are higher difficulty level videos than I'm used to, but still... after so long, it drives me up the wall.
And yeah, that was a long ramble that no one cares about. Sorry.
Also, this past week I officially ran out of money. And do I have a job yet to start doing anything about this? Do I even need to answer that? Oh, I've put out a few inquiries starting with the things I was most interested in: English-language Japanese culture/music magazines. But it seems such things are still too small and unknown in this nation, as all the places I looked into were either volunteer only, already shutting down, or didn't even reply to me. That last one really ticked me off because SHE invited me to work for her FIRST, then when I contacted her to accept, she didn't reply. >>
I also stumbled across a job listing I'm thinking of applying for, but I'm not sure if it's right for me. I guess I shouldn't be picky, but... well, the listing is for a Japanese translator/interpreter at a company called IForce in Canal Winchester. I'm not even sure what kind of company it is, but I think it's one of those organizations that finds jobs for people (heh, que ironique). Also, it's a temporary position, it's roughly an hour away from here, and it doesn't pay quite as much as my dad says I should expect given my college background (that part doesn't bug me much, though; ANYthing would be an improvement over what I'm making now).
Only thing really holding me back is the distance, I think. All those other possibly negative parts of it would be no big deal to me if the place wasn't so far away. I always said I didn't want to spend 2+ hours commuting every day for a job I'd just consider "filler" until I find one I really want to do. But now I'm not sure anymore what I consider "filler." Used to be any job where I wouldn't be using my Japanese, but after looking at this IForce position... it looks like it'd be just like any other office job, only I'd get to use my Japanese to do it. Which should be enough for me. It's not like I have to stay there forever, nor would I anyway, since it specifies that it's a temporary position. But on the same token, would the trip to and from Canal Winchester every day be worth a temp job consisting of desk work? And if it's not, what are the odds I could find anything more appealing closer to home? Zero, pretty much. And I'm not ready to move out of town yet.
Of course, there's still YSK looming over my head too. Everyone living around here who knows about my chosen course of study has told me I should ask at YSK, the only Japanese-owned company in Chillicothe. I know they're right, and I've been psyching myself up to drive out there and ask them for a job for months now. I don't know what keeps holding me back. I really don't. They specialize in car parts, which is another of those things I was never crazy about settling for, but on the plus side I have some experience in that sort of thing thanks to the freelance stuff Kiwamu has given me over the years. Also, the Japanese people in the company often have to ship their families over here from Japan to live in Chillicothe with no knowledge of the area or the English language, and apparently they hire people just to help those families go about their daily lives here. I could probably do that just as well as I could translate instruction manuals and whatever else they'd have reason to translate.
I've even had a recommendation to YSK from my dentist, who has Japanese clients coming to his office all the time under the guidance of a YSK-employed interpreter lady. He's even told me he would call that lady to put in a good word for me. He gave me her name and told me to just walk into YSK, ask for her, and tell her Dr. Connor sent me.
THAT WAS A YEAR AGO.
Seriously, Becky. WHAT THE FSCK IS HOLDING YOU BACK.
I'm broke. I'm ready to have money again. There are things I want to do, places I want to go. Miyavi is coming to the states again in May, and I've missed him, what, 3 times already when I swore I never would. Freaking X JAPAN, the gods of all J-rock, are coming to NY in September. BLOOD and Suicide Ali will both probably be in the US before the year's out, and DJ SiSen too. And I want to go to Japan so bad it's not funny anymore.
You know, honestly, I think a dream job to me would probably be... working at a zoo in Japan. Yeah, I'm weird.
But anyway. That's where I stand. Two options, YSK and IForce. Next step is to actually... well, take a step. Towards one or the other or both.
I'm done whining now. Sorry for the long boring rambly drivel.
comment! (2)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 4/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
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