Plans & Friends & Records
Posted at 8:25pm on March 30th, 2008I have six weeks left in Fukuoka before I fly back to England. It’s hard to believe that I have been here since September of last year, the time has gone by so quickly, and has been full of so many awesome memories, that I feel I could stay here for another year, and it still wouldn’t be long enough. I have another year of my degree from JMU in Liverpool to complete, during which I have to write my dissertation, take a couple of business classes, sit my finals and give a presentation in Japanese about Gunkanjima (See previous post).
After that, after university, who knows where I’ll end up. I see two paths in-front of me, both somewhat idealised.
1. Back to Fukuoka
I’d love to come back here. The pace of life is slower than in England, and elsewhere in Japan, and it’s relatively cheap to live a comfortable lifestyle. The problem would be finding work. The most obvious choice would be to come and teach English, but I’m not qualified for that, and have precisely zero experience of teaching - let alone teaching in a foreign country. The JET programme might be an option, but I would want to specify Fukuoka as the location of my placement, and that doesn’t usually work out. I could try and find work as a web designer, or working in some other capacity within a business in Fukuoka - the language barrier, and the somewhat closed nature of traditional Japanese businesses won’t help, but I think my skillset and language ability make me a decent catch for a company here.
2. Football, Soccer, football.
The other option, and the one which I think represents the best choice in terms of a career is to find work within a football club. I have some experience in working as part of a clubs media department, having completed a three month placement at a club last summer. I live for the beautiful game, and it is where my professional ambitions lie. I have been sending my details and resume to clubs in England and the USA, but until I’m a little closer to actually graduating, there isn’t a lot I can do in terms of applying for jobs. I want to find a role which allows me to continue working as a web designer, but which offers variety in terms of my responsibilities. I’d love to get involved with the media production side of things, having created podcasts and worked with print media in writing articles, a job combining all of these aspects would be perfect to me. Throw into the mix my Japanese ability, and again, I think I’d make a good acquisition for a progressive, globally-minded football club, I guess the challenge is convinced a club that that is the case. I’d love to think I could come and find a job working for a team in Japan, but the game here is still in it’s professional infancy, and the need for people with my skills aren’t yet at the level where I would be useful to a team. Perhaps with the exception of the biggest of clubs. Of course, there are countless different organisations involved in football which aren’t clubs, and I’d certainly welcome the opportunity to work for a publisher or media outlet in a similar capacity.
It’s going to come down to where the best chance of my being happy lies. I’d love to get on the career ladder as soon as possible, but there is an argument that if I come back to England after a few years in Japan, not only will I have improved my language skills greatly, but the football industry may have matured to the point where there is a greater need for people with web design skills, and new media credentials to join their staff. Having said that, if Manchester United call tomorrow offering me a job, I’ll have a very hard time turning them down.
