Quick catchup for those who missed it: at the end of July I finished my Day Job teaching Japanese elementary English on the JET Program in Toyama, and in August I flew back to the States for some long-awaited reunions with family and friends. Now it’s September and I just flew back to start my new job teaching university English in Yokohama, just outside of Tokyo.
Unfortunately, Japan’s still a tad behind on COVID vaccinations and is still being tight on its border rules. Only just this week (six days after I entered the country!) did Japan relax its rules to allow vaccinated visitors to go through a shorter isolation period.
That means that even though I’m fully vaccinated, as of now, I still have to go through a mandated 2-week isolation period (notice I wrote “isolation period” instead of “quarantine”) after arriving. I also had to do a TON of paperwork, install a check-in app on my phone so Japanese Immigration can robo-call me to check my whereabouts, and wait in a 2-hour line at the airport. Bleh…
Anyway, it’s important to note that the “isolation period” isn’t a quarantine per se—I’m supposed to stay in my apartment, avoid crowded places and anywhere with people (including public transportation), and definitely avoid travel, though the rules are written in such a way that I can still go out to buy food and necessities, take walks, etc.
My employer set things up so I and the other teachers who were coming in from abroad would arrive a week before training started. This was nice because it gave me plenty of time to set up my apartment, sleep off jet lag, and get adjusted.
To my surprise, it’s also been a REALLY good chance to get creative work done.
Physically Removing Yourself From Distractions Helps…A Lot
Because I just moved to Yokohama, I don’t know anyone here and don’t have any commitments yet, including Day Job ones. I’m also not supposed to leave the apartment except for necessities, which means that my options for doing stuff (i.e., distractions) are kind of…limited.
And the most prominent of those options has been to settle in and start crossing things off my To-Do list.
Coming here was kind of odd in that I arrived at an empty apartment with only my luggage, a futon, some basic kitchen items, and a pack of toilet paper (I’ve got some items I left with a friend in Toyama that I’ll pick up later). So, I immediately had a big incentive to buy food, set up a livable workspace, and unpack my bags so I could get to my clean underwear.
This momentum carried me through the first few days, and by the time I had the apartment set up the way I wanted it, I felt like there was still more work to be done on the creative front—the most important being the next round of developmental edits on MFA Thesis Novel, which I have to submit to the publisher by September 21st.
And having no one around, no outside appointments, and no Day Job made it a LOT easier to focus on the work I needed to do.
In this case I’m pretty grateful for Japan’s two-week isolation period. Even though I REALLY think Japan should lift it for vaccinated people and start getting their country re-opened like the business world wants them to, if I hadn’t had to plan for the two week-isolation I probably would have stayed in America longer, scheduled a bunch more get-togethers and projects, and wouldn’t have made nearly as much progress.
This time also feels a LOT different from my earlier experience working from home when COVID began, because at that time I was feeling so anxious about everything that I was having trouble concentrating or getting much of anything done. Now, though, my mental state feels much clearer, so I can enjoy a distraction-free environment without the existential angst :-)
How Conducive Will My New Day Job Be to Creative Work? Stay Tuned…
I’ve slowly been getting acquainted with the specifics of my university teaching job and how much work it’s actually going to be. It’s possible that it may be a bit busier than my teaching schedule on JET, or it might be about the same or even less busy—that’s still a bit unclear as of now.
Anyway, a busier Day Job might translate to less creative work time…or my new setup with fewer distractions might make it easier to set aside more creative work time. Of course, you know I’ll be filling you in on that in a later post ;-)
Either way, my new job ends in January, so in addition to my creative goals, I’ve decided to view this experience as a chance to:
- Earn some more cash,
- Gain more college-level teaching experience,
- Decide if teaching in Japan is something I actually want to do again, and
- Enjoy Tokyo and Yokohama! There’s a TON to do and see down here, especially when things are open as usual, which I’m hoping they will be soon!
I’ve found that the right perspective helps a LOT in these situations—because without clear goals, you’re liable to lose sight of where you really want to go. Wish me luck!