I recently received an email from a woman who is preparing for a move here to Okinawa in the near future. She was asking me whether or not there is a esthetician school here in Okinawa. She is currently working in another occupation but it is becoming boring for her and she feels that now is as good a time as any to try out something new and potentially find her "thing". This is something that many of us go through in life but I think it is more common when moving to a new place. A new place is a new opportunity for a new start and the job seems to be the first place that we look. During this morning's routine while I was checking out my Facebook page I saw the message again in my box, I had already replied but it had made me feel as though I needed to make a more in depth post about this and eventually a video because I am sure that this is a question that is on the minds of many who come here to Okinawa and may be reading this blog.
Please keep in mind: The content of this post and video is not focused on changing your military career. I have no idea how one would go about doing that and therefore I am in no position to speak about that. This will be regarding civilians (spouses, dependents and other foreigners). As always if you have more information please feel free to share it in the comments below and if you want information please let me know and I will see what I can do for you.
Now that you know why I was compelled to write this post let's get right into some of the issues that you might want to take into consideration when trying to test the new waters of an occupation during your time here in Okinawa.
Language:
The first and most important thing to remember when considering a change of occupation during your time here in Okinawa is that any and all schools that you attend outside of the programs offered by the military bases are going to be conducted in Japanese. Okinawa is not a US territory and the native language here is Japanese. This means that any and all classes taught in any and all schools here (other than the Japanese As A Second Language School) will be taught in Japanese. If you are a regular reader or viewer you may then be asking "How is this the case? Didn't you say a lot of people in Okinawa speak English?". Yes there are a lot of people out here who speak some English which makes a basic conversation in English something possible but that does not mean that they speak enough English to hold a class in English.
"What are my options"
When it comes to language you have a few simple options. The first is to take a class that is offered by the US Military. These classes will in English and will be conducted like any other programs that you may have the ability to take in the US aside from some time differences. This is unfortunately your only option unless you have a pretty decent command of the Japanese language in which you can read, listen, and write. If you do have this command of the Japanese language your only limit is what is offered here on Okinawa.
Limitations:
The second thing to consider is that while you are in Okinawa you are living on an island. For many Americans island life is not something we are familiar with. For us almost anywhere within the US, Canada and even Mexico is reachable by car so long as you have the resources and the will to go. This is not the case here in Okinawa. For example we do not have esthetician schools here on this island nor do we have other learning establishments similar to bartender schools, tattoo schools or other trade schools. From my understanding speaking with people at the salon that I go to if you want to study certain things you will usually go to mainland Japan to complete your study and then potential return back here or potentially get a job somewhere else in Mainland. Of course as I said this also depends on whether or not you can speak Japanese.
"What are my options"
If you can speak Japanese and have an excess of funds you can potentially commute to Mainland Japan each day and take your classes. Many people from Okinawa commute to Mainland Japan each day although I honestly am not sure why one would want to do that with the 2 to 3 hour flight and the cost of the flights. (Note: There are commuter packages which make the flights much less expensive than what you or I might pay to take a trip up to Mainland for the weekend but I still imagine that it is rather expensive.) Of course this is depending if you speak Japanese or not and I would also note that I am not sure of what schools may or may not be available in the Mainland Japan. That would require a great deal of research that I did not complete because I am here in Okinawa.
If you are only an English speaker you still have a large variety of options if you have access to the military bases. One of the things that the bases have is universities where you can study a number of different subjects. These universities sometimes offer certificate programs also which allow you to study for a short time and get your certificate in something that may start you on the track to a new occupation.
Your third option is to take classes online. This is something that many people do and it can be done rather easily and in some cases can offer you more variety than what is here on the island. This will open doors to things that you may be more interested in.
Changing occupation without schooling:
The odds of you being here in Okinawa do more than a few years are slim. It's just the way that it is here for most people so what are you to do if you don't want to complete an educational program but you can't wait to get out of your current occupation? There are some ways for you to get what you need also. If you are a US citizen regardless your current affiliation with the military you can apply to work with the US military bases. You can also apply for jobs on the military bases if you are Japanese but that is a topic for an entirely different blog. Anyway there are tons of jobs available in different areas. Some require a great deal of experience while others do not require a great deal of experience at all. If you are determined to get out of your current occupation you can give these types of jobs a shot and may find yourself on the path to something different and also finding yourself expanding your resume which is always a good thing. For the purpose of this blog I am not going to go into detail about how to find and get a job here. This is a topic that requires a lot of attention to detail and if you are interested in hearing about it please let me know and I will go into ever detail that I can for you. For now, however, we're going to stick to the fact that there are jobs out there all you have to do is apply and see why happens.
Other options:
If you want to make a little bit of money, don't want to go through the trouble of applying for another job and don't want to learn a new job you can also go for some of the many options that you have which anyone can get into and almost anyone can do. There are various candle, jewelry and fitness supplement "party" programs out there where you can sell the products and get a profit. This is not necessarily what I would consider a reliable source of income but if you are one of the many who just wants a little pocket change once in a while you might find yourself interested in taking part in this sort of thing. To be honest I am not familiar with this type of program either because it is not something that I have done but it is something that I am sure you can find our more information about be searching online for your favorite company.
Word of Caution:
Just as anywhere else in the world where there is a market for someone to make money there is a person out there trying to make some cash. It is extremely important to be very aware of the fact that not everyone who is offering classes, especially those who are doing it out of their home, are not always legitimate sources of knowledge and in some cases you may be paying a great deal for someone to "teach" you techniques. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't go and learn from these people. In some cases they may have developed techniques that are useful and worth paying for. What I am stressing is that you as the student understand that there is a difference between learning techniques and becoming certified. You may also find that because you have paid for these classes doesn't necessarily mean that you will have the ability to get a job at a company or organization with those skills.
With all of this being said Okinawa is as good a place as any to test out a new occupation. There may be limitations but if you are willing to work with your options I think that you will be capable of finding something that works for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment