Mattosan
後輩
- 25 Apr 2016
- 8
- 0
- 16
Hello everyone. I'm new to this. This is the first time I have ever written anything on a forum. I want to tell my story with the hope of gaining some new perspective and advice from people who may have been or are still in a similar situation.
My name is Matt. I'm 40. I returned to my home country of New Zealand last year after having spent 6 years teaching English in Japan. I arrived in Japan single and left happily married with 2 beautiful kids.
I lived in Melbourne for 9 years from the age of 24 to 33. During this period of my life I was a silly lad and partied a bit hard with very little responsibility or thought about my future. I hardly paid a cent off my student loan. It skyrocketed. When I graduated it was at about $30,000. After 9 years in Australia it sat at around $55,000. I was 33 and it was like an enormous weight on my back which was starting to suffocate me. I had to do something. I came up with a plan to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I had mates who had taught English in Japan, had an awesome time and come back after a couple of years and paid off most of their loans. The exchange rate was good, around 55 yen to the NZ$. I did a quick budget and thought if I worked my butt off I could save around $15,000 in a year. So I thought I could have a great experience and pay off a decent chunk of my loan.
So off I went.
After 1 year I had saved zilch and not had the best experience with my first ESL job. On the brink of returning home to NZ amidst a decent dose of culture shock, I decided to stay. The Christchurch earthquake happened soon after and I saw it as an omen for me to stick it out and really put my all into ESL teaching. I found another job, eventually became a partner in a small Eikaiwa, met my wife, got married, had our kids and life was good. Untill....I got shafted by the guy who sold me his share of the school I bought into. He did not disclose a large tax debt and other crucial details which would have deterred me from investing in the school.
After 5 years in Japan I had still saved zilch, largely owing to the fact that the money I was sending back to NZ every 3 months was pretty much just covering the massive interest I was being charged on my loan. So I was working my butt off in Japan to keep my loan at the same level and not being able to save any money while working in a school which had no sign of increasing business.
I had given everything I had into turning around the school I had invested in. It wasn't happening. My business partner was not interested and was happy to live his meager lifestyle for the rest of his days. I was living with my wife's parents and had no sign of a future job wise. I was not even making a dent in my debt. On top of this I also now owe about $12,000 to my wife's parents for loaning us the money for the business and my wife also has a student loan of similar size which her parents were making the minimum payments required.
We had to make a decision.
My student loan is interest free if living and working in NZ, my wife's is interest free anywhere. I was approaching 40. I wanted to return home at an age where I thought I had the best chances of being employable.
So we did. After 6 years we sold up and returned home to NZ. I returned full of positivity and hope and I was totally committed to putting 110% into getting a career happening and finally providing some security and stability for my family.
Easier said than done. 1 year on and unfortunately we are still up the proverbial creek.
We decided to settle in Ashburton because of the (due to the earthquakes) exorbitant cost and lack of availability of rental accommodation in Christchurch, which is where my family lives.
I was forced to take any job I could find and ended up with a job in a warehouse.
1 year on we have probably lost money whilst budgeting ourselves to the hilt. My wife cannot work at present because our kids are still at home. We also have to try to come up with the $1200 odd for her residents visa.
I have spent every night for the past 6 months applying for jobs through Seek and Trade Me, with no luck. I am largely calling on the experience I had before Japan which was some sales and customer service experience in the Telecommunications and Hospitality industries.
The house we are renting at present is being sold so we have to move out within the next month. I will be house sitting for 5 weeks in Christchurch and during this time I will be putting 110% into finding a job which will allow me to forge some kind of career.
I'm kind of desperate and at my wits end, so I would appreciate any advice anyone might have for me.
My question to the people of the internet is;
Are there any people reading this who have returned home after having spent an extended time in Japan and managed to get a career started in a field they find rewarding? How did you do it?
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
My name is Matt. I'm 40. I returned to my home country of New Zealand last year after having spent 6 years teaching English in Japan. I arrived in Japan single and left happily married with 2 beautiful kids.
I lived in Melbourne for 9 years from the age of 24 to 33. During this period of my life I was a silly lad and partied a bit hard with very little responsibility or thought about my future. I hardly paid a cent off my student loan. It skyrocketed. When I graduated it was at about $30,000. After 9 years in Australia it sat at around $55,000. I was 33 and it was like an enormous weight on my back which was starting to suffocate me. I had to do something. I came up with a plan to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I had mates who had taught English in Japan, had an awesome time and come back after a couple of years and paid off most of their loans. The exchange rate was good, around 55 yen to the NZ$. I did a quick budget and thought if I worked my butt off I could save around $15,000 in a year. So I thought I could have a great experience and pay off a decent chunk of my loan.
So off I went.
After 1 year I had saved zilch and not had the best experience with my first ESL job. On the brink of returning home to NZ amidst a decent dose of culture shock, I decided to stay. The Christchurch earthquake happened soon after and I saw it as an omen for me to stick it out and really put my all into ESL teaching. I found another job, eventually became a partner in a small Eikaiwa, met my wife, got married, had our kids and life was good. Untill....I got shafted by the guy who sold me his share of the school I bought into. He did not disclose a large tax debt and other crucial details which would have deterred me from investing in the school.
After 5 years in Japan I had still saved zilch, largely owing to the fact that the money I was sending back to NZ every 3 months was pretty much just covering the massive interest I was being charged on my loan. So I was working my butt off in Japan to keep my loan at the same level and not being able to save any money while working in a school which had no sign of increasing business.
I had given everything I had into turning around the school I had invested in. It wasn't happening. My business partner was not interested and was happy to live his meager lifestyle for the rest of his days. I was living with my wife's parents and had no sign of a future job wise. I was not even making a dent in my debt. On top of this I also now owe about $12,000 to my wife's parents for loaning us the money for the business and my wife also has a student loan of similar size which her parents were making the minimum payments required.
We had to make a decision.
My student loan is interest free if living and working in NZ, my wife's is interest free anywhere. I was approaching 40. I wanted to return home at an age where I thought I had the best chances of being employable.
So we did. After 6 years we sold up and returned home to NZ. I returned full of positivity and hope and I was totally committed to putting 110% into getting a career happening and finally providing some security and stability for my family.
Easier said than done. 1 year on and unfortunately we are still up the proverbial creek.
We decided to settle in Ashburton because of the (due to the earthquakes) exorbitant cost and lack of availability of rental accommodation in Christchurch, which is where my family lives.
I was forced to take any job I could find and ended up with a job in a warehouse.
1 year on we have probably lost money whilst budgeting ourselves to the hilt. My wife cannot work at present because our kids are still at home. We also have to try to come up with the $1200 odd for her residents visa.
I have spent every night for the past 6 months applying for jobs through Seek and Trade Me, with no luck. I am largely calling on the experience I had before Japan which was some sales and customer service experience in the Telecommunications and Hospitality industries.
The house we are renting at present is being sold so we have to move out within the next month. I will be house sitting for 5 weeks in Christchurch and during this time I will be putting 110% into finding a job which will allow me to forge some kind of career.
I'm kind of desperate and at my wits end, so I would appreciate any advice anyone might have for me.
My question to the people of the internet is;
Are there any people reading this who have returned home after having spent an extended time in Japan and managed to get a career started in a field they find rewarding? How did you do it?
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.