Wednesday, August 5, 2009
That Island Thing
For those of you who know, you know. For those of you who don't, here's the deal: this whole Japan thing is happening on the 14th of September whether I like it (and I like it) or not. Thing is, though, I've got 2 options: I just got an offer from the company I've signed a contract for for this island called Chichijima - I can take it or not take it. If I choose to not take it, I'm slated to be an "alternative", which means I'll be in Tokyo pushing paper until they find a spot for me, and when they find a spot for me, I have to take it - no ifs, ands, or buts. But this island, it's about 50 miles square, has about 2000 occupants, and is a 29 hour ferry ride from Tokyo. It has a year-round temperature of around 72 fahrenheit. It has amazing scuba opportunities, not to mention treasure hunting and exploration. It is also referred to (thank you Nick) as the Galapagos of the Orient. It looks like the fucking Virgin islands. However, let me restate that it is a 29 HOUR boat ride from Tokyo, in the middle of the south Pacific. And they might speak a really weird form of Japanese (although I've read that they speak a variant of Tokyo dialect, which is the standard dialect)... So there are a bunch of both little and big positives about this place, and 2 gigantic negatives (where its located, and what kind of Japanese they might speak) about this spot. Nick and Andrew have already given some advice via Facebook on the spot (and honestly I agree, but this is a big decision so I really want as much input as I can get), but I'd like to hear what the rest of you have to say. Look it up - Chichijima.
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I don't know much about Japanese, but it seems like even if the language is different than proper Japanese, it would be something you could pick up quickly. Viewing the island from space, it looks really fucking rural. That 29 hour ferry ride is also something you don't really want to do more than once in your life, but if you lived there you would probly do many times and it might make traveling a bit of a burden. Think about it. If you are to go anywhere. You have to cut a whole day out just to get to the main island. On the other hand, it does look like a cool place. But there are many cool places where I'd never want to live personally. If it is like the galapagos of the north pacific, great. But would you want to live in the galapagos? WOULD YOU CHARLES DARWIN!?!? Finally, I want to add that pushing paper around in Tokyo, even for a whole year if you never get out into a classroom might be better still than teaching on a small remote island for a year. And you could lobby to be moved to a teaching position as well. But then again none of what I've said matters so much. Where ever you chose to go, it is what you make it.
ReplyDeleteThat is a tough call. Some of the best jobs I have had started off pushing paper and can lead to great things. It also sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity to live on this island. I am not sure until we all pull a Gilligan on our 30th college reunion will you get to do it again. I would think about the reason you are going to take the job and go to Japan in the first place and see if that matches up with going to Tokyo or the island.
ReplyDeleteDo it. how many other times in your life will you have this opporunity? If it turns out to not be what you want, you can always quit.
ReplyDeletethats my two cents
i feel compelled to throw something out there - when i was applying to go abroad at hws, i picked two places in england, and then applied to the south america program on a whim, figuring i could get in bc of my spanish and use it as a fallback in case the england things didn't really work out. i didn't really "want" to go to ecuador/peru though, in theory. but when acceptance letters came back, i had been waitlisted for the two england programs, but accepted to south america. even though i hadn't initially wanted to go there that much, i decided to take it as sort of a sign, and chose to accept my acceptance and go there for the semester. i figured, when will i ever go there again?
ReplyDeletethat said, it was definitely weird at times. i feel like these situations could be compared - you wanted the city, you got something weird, you're not sure what to do. i think the thing is, if you chose to go to the island, there are probably going to be times where it's super weird, or not ideal, and you might even want to leave sometimes, but at the end of it you'll come away with something that not many other people have done. you'll have seen really different things and experience something you never have before. i know in the end, i was glad i chose the "weird" thing to do. i think part of the problem in choosing could be that this island is an unknown - you're not sure if you'd like it, therefore you are wary of agreeing to it.
however, a year is a lot longer than a semester to stay in one place. though mae west once said "between two evils, i always pick the one i never tried before". not that these are necessarily "evils", but mae west is cool, and makes a good point about tryin' new stuffs.
So basically everyone's response, minus James', said what other's said, and what I'm thinking of doing. Provided the position is still open (I just emailed the company asking as much), I think that I'm going to take it. I've gone over the pros and cons in my head so many times that I can't see anything but one bad thing about this island, and that's its location. What are the pros? Scuba 365 days a year, hike on uninhabited islands 365 days a year, swim 365 days a year, get in great shape due to said swimming, actually get my Irish ass a tan, spend very little on anything considering there can't be much to buy there, get paid more because its a rural area, eat the freshest and probably some crazy exotic fish (cause I'm eating fish lately (!!!)), and some other stuff that I can't think of at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I'm just giving opposing viewpoints for your consideration!
ReplyDelete