A Year at Home: My 1-Year Experience Working from Home in Japan

2019 started off like any other year I had spent abroad. I was finishing one job in South Korea and moving on to a new experience in Japan. There were plenty of good-byes said and plenty more hellos uttered as I settled into a new culture and a new way of life. 

Although this story is not about 2019, there are many aspects of this story that started in 2019 and will be ending soon in 2023. To begin, I was placed by my company in the city of Handa, Japan. A cozy little town of roughly 100,000 people located to the south of Nagoya roughly 30 minutes by an express train on the Meitetsu Line. Even though the town boasted a sizable population, it was more of a satellite city to Nagoya or Toyota; where a majority of people worked and played. 

My company branch was small. Very small. I was the only regular teacher at my school with just the occasional interaction with another teacher or my branch staff. Just me, surrounded by others, but working alone. 

I was given my company apartment tucked away behind some larger houses and hills about a 5 minute walk from Chita Handa Station. It suited me fine at the start as it provided all the essentials for comfort and I had planned ahead to have some furniture and nicer appliances delivered by Amazon as soon as I got the address. Tucked away out of sight, far enough out of the cities to be quiet, just close enough to wander and make friends for days off. It was perfect for a start to a new adventure and to explore all that this country had to offer...

But life is funny sometimes and the Covid-19 Pandemic had other ideas about my time. So I stayed tucked away in my little safe corner of the tucked away apartment complex in the tucked away town. 

That said, I was able to still stay in contact with friends, study Japanese, slowly go out a bit as the pandemic lessened it's grip on life, and even found love. I was able to change my job, complete a professional certification in Data Analytics, and move to a new apartment. From this apartment, my partner and I began building a life together. We decorated, set up the rooms, and had fun furniture shopping. One of these rooms became my office. A room for me to study and complete my professional certificates, a room for me to do my hobbies, a room for me to be myself.

A room built for me.

And this is where we get to the year at home. 

My last job, which has recently concluded, was a remote work only, ESL Teaching position. My office was set up with all the appropriate equipment, a majority of which I already had due to my interests in video editing and creation, for remote work. 

The first few months of work were fantastic. I was able to maintain the house (laundry, dishes, cleaning, shopping, etc.) along with being able to work from the comfort of my own home. My students and coworkers were all friendly and happy to be working together. Although I have only ever seen the face of one of my coworkers, I was happy to be working with them and contributing to the company. Just me, surrounded by others, but working alone. 

As the year continued on, the cracks started to appear as far as working completely alone goes. I began to miss talking with others. Heck, I spent roughly 7 hours of my day without uttering a single word. There was little to no interaction in my daily life that was handled in-person. Just a few lines of text on a computer screen or a notification on my phone. I really began to miss working with others. Actually working with them. 

"Just me, surrounded by others, but working alone" really seems to summarize my time working in Japan. 

Even though this post sounds negative, I'm grateful for the experiences I've had overseas. I've made great friends and I've been able to greatly improve myself and my life. Learning a new language, becoming alcohol free, and improving my hard skills all happened due to this quiet office I've inhabited everyday for a year. I've been able to make changes that will lead me to a better tomorrow.

My year employment with that company has since come to an end and now I find myself with time to reflect more on the past year. 

Some lessons I have learned from working remotely for a year:

• Keep busy.

Try to always have something to work on or to improve yourself. I completed a few courses via Coursera, I started this blog and started working on a board game, and I made sure to always have something to clean or organize. 

• Fill the Silence

Depending on personal preferences, you may want to enjoy the sounds of cars driving by or of kids cackling in the park, but you may be like me and want to fill the silence with something different. I got into podcasts, specifically mystery podcasts, old radio dramas, and video game music playlists. 

• Stay Active

It is easy to get lazy and spend the entire day on your butt. This does a lot of damage to your body and can have long-term effects that are not always apparent. I made it a habit to get in my 10,000 steps a day walking around my park and trying to keep up a decent heart-rate. Am I in great shape? Absolutely not, but I do feel so much better after getting active. 

• Keep in Contact/Talk to Others

In the age of COVID, it is easy to just sit behind your screen and type some emails or text a friend. That is great for short messages, but it does not compare to talking with someone in person or face-to-face/screen-to-screen. I am lucky to have a wonderful partner in my life to help keep me sane, but before we became a couple, our friend group would do large 4-8 people voice calls while playing games together. 

• Stay Positive

Although I often still struggle with this last lesson, I believe it to be the most important. There is a lot of terrible news, loneliness, and internal struggle going on in the world. At times, it feels impossible to keep going, but those times are just temporary. Find something, anything, that brings you some joy and keep on to that. 

This has been a long, mostly incoherent ramble, but I'm glad I'm at least trying to write more again.

Thanks for reading.