Finally, after 3 months of uncertainty, I received a letter from immigration asking me to come pick up my visa.
I arrived and there were so few people there compared to the last time...maybe because it was Friday.
I got there just before closing time and was one of the last to get a ticket. I felt calm but deep down I could feel expectations and dread boiling.
1 year is the most likely scenario. It seems anyone working for a small company always gets 1 year, so why should a freelancer get more? “I hope it’s not 3 months and a warning to find a new job and reapply ASAP, do they do that?”
“3 years....god that would make life easier! I could quit looking for another employer and take my time on starting a company if I had 3 years! Please please 3 years...”
2022....
1 year....
Again
Relief and dread all continuing to flow without end. I know this must have some kind of positive result of I make the best of it but god am I tired of my entire life being at the whim of a government agency that has no respect for me and companies which have no respect for me.
I’ll probably need to find another employer to sponsor me. If I don’t want to work 60 hour weeks with long commutes, it’s going to have to be part time. I’m also going to have to really step up my promotion because I barely have enough money to live every month, let alone to pay for insurance and pension which I’ll need to do if I want to start a company.
Or I could just go back to being a regular full time employee....dealing with the demands of....nah fuck that! Not happening. Not unless it’s the absolute last choice.
So this year I’ll have to try my best to find another company to support my visa just in case I don’t have the capital or energy to start my own business in....8 months, that’s all I have cause the visa process will start again in October.
That along with filing back taxes for 10 years from overseas and figuring out how to report my crypto.... it’s going to be a whole lot more paperwork and research on stupid shit than I’m used to this year.
It’s hard to see the good in may of this. I’m trying my best to be thankful for the visa, but in reality, the only thing I’m thankful for is that I can spend this year with my partner and don’t have to deal with much Corona drama as Japan is resistant to any kind of change, including serious lockdowns. If I could pack it all up and move to Indonesia or Thailand tomorrow, I might, but her visa makes that impossible and we work much better as a te on one place so I want to figure this Japan thing out.
If I can make a business that’s actually profitable and that I can later manage online, I can spend as much time in Thailand and Indonesia as I want.
I know that’s what all of this is leading up to...that or something equally awesome. I know I’m becoming more and more who I want to be and becoming more able to do all the things I came to do.
I just wish I had 100% energy. I’ve been at 30% for a long time, and it’s making my body age faster, I don’t really like it. I’d like to have energy and vitality again. I’m in my 30s but I feel like I’m in my 60s.
If I look on the bright side though, every few months has been better than the previous few months for about 2 and a half years.
Yesterday I got an inquiry from another foreigner about being a life coach. She wants a trial session...
It’s funny giving someone advice about life when your life seems to be such a mess. To be honest, her situation looks a whole lot like mine. But at the same time, I know all the different routes and options available and how to move towards them. I know how to stay positive when things aren’t going great and I know how to calm the mind and keep it from getting stuck in a negative feedback loop, and how to build positive feedback loop. I understand what mature relationships look like and what they require and the balancing of Yin and Yang and how thoughts, emotions and beliefs and our physical condition relate to each other.
So yeah I think I can coach her. Will she see that I have that to offer when she realizes I’m not much better off than her? Can I get away with being myself, exposing my imperfections and being honest about the ways I need to learn from my own advice.
We will see.
Perhaps if I get the hang of coaching, I can increase my fee and then starting a company won’t feel nearly as difficult.
One thing I’ve learned is that bad news tends to be hiding good news behind it, but in order to reach the good news, we can’t get too down about the bad news.
So I got a 2 year visa...fuck it...who knows what will happen this year? Maybe by next year the laws will change? Maybe by next year the world will open up again? Perhaps by next year I establish myself as a knowledgeable and insightful person somewhere that can help me with my business. Maybe I’ll find the perfect part time job with visa sponsorship so I can keep working freelance. Maybe I’ll find 10 more clients to coach rather than teach English. Maybe the world will look so differently in a year that we will be able to move somewhere else together on a whim. Maybe The situation in Venezuela will get better first and I can go meet all the new friends I’ve made.
We will fucking see! Better to get excited than mopey!!
Spoken like a true badass life coach!
What a mess of a post
❤️
I don't even know what a life coach is ^_^;
It's just beaurocracy, it's designed to be as off-putting and soul destroying as possible. so no real surprise you feel a bit down and drained coming out of it. You can be mopey if you want, but don't dwell on it. Exciting definitely feels better but too much of either will raise stress levels (excitement doesn't always register as stress but it is XD) so let it all balance out :)
And you're right, there are so many factors that can change in a space of time so may as well find the happy in everything you can.
Hope you find the types of people that you need whether it's clients or a not-stupid employer that will sponsor your visa or whatever works :D
I’m good! I’v just been thinking about this novel and studying Japanese. I totally forgot about adulting lol
The only thing I can say about this is:
Come to Portugal
;<)
Even if you decide to go live in Porto or Lisbon, at least we can see each other every now and then.
Man I’d love to. As soon as this bullshit is over I’m going to move around a lot more
Hahahah... What a mess of a coach 🤣🤣. Woww.. do you know Penderis? (I don't want to tag him else, he will eat my head🤣).
He lives in South Africa and he is also active here. l'm sure that you will enjoy his posts and his sense of humor 🤣. You sound like him in alot of ways especially in the sarcastic way you both display displeasure with the normal way of doing things.
Well, the Yin & Yang will surely find a balance and you already have a plan that is good enough plus the fact that you are living an almost balanced life financially and otherwise so, your dream company will come to pass.
I actually enjoyed this post in a very unique one. It gives me insight about what it takes to live in Asian countries. I will be 24 by March but l seriously don't know how l feel. Lolll, by thee end of my service year which will be ending few days from now, l will be left to look for a job that does not exist in a country like Nigeria.
The goodnews is that l have interest in growing my account online and l'm also interested in working outside Nigeria but the Bad news is that l don't know alot about how to forge ahead with my plans. Infact, it feels as if l don't have a plan.
Emmm... Enough of my chirping and yapping. Well Done Bro ✅
My best advice for most people in that situation is find the easiest job that pays for food and rent and spend the rest doing stuff you like that can earn some money. I spent years trying to find the right job only to realize it was right in front of me but I was doing it too many hours to enjoy it and that was taking away from my other passion.
Right now I’m earning just enough to live and enjoy little things and crypto, blogging , music and other passions and part time work is all going towards bigger dreams
I remember that guy, he kind of scared me but he was interesting hahah. I’ll check him out again
Better to get excited than mopey, to be sure!
One of my teachers of many moons ago once observed that "we teach what we need to heal." Being a life coach — or counselor of any sorts — tends to be a combined process of teaching and helping, as well as learning.
Bright Blessings!
That makes so much sense to me. I think the best teachers are the ones who aren't too far out of reach and openly imperfect. I've heard people joke about psych majors studying psych cause they have issues, but issues are a kind of calling. The best TCM practitioners are always the ones who had mysterious body ailments that no one could fix and they figured it out on their own through TCM.
Glad you are still here! Just figured out who your husband is! Hope to see more of you at naturalmedicine as well 😃
I'm currently 26 but it feels like I'm 100, I have to actually take turns to avoid stress to manage to be 100% so I can really relate to what you mean.
I haven't travelled outside my country before this is because it's like boiling rocks, the procedure can kill it, let alone it's also expensive.
Is your partner Japanese?
I’ve been getting younger, plan on getting much younger this year 😆 My partner is not Japanese, I’ll tell you where she is from on discord sometime.