Seeking help and ideas to plan my dream future in Japan
Hello everybody!
I´ve been reading a bunch of your posts and thought you might enjoy hearing me out and potentially give out some very much needed help in my journey.
I´m Italian, I´m 31 years old, I´ve been working in Austria for the past 2 years and I´m studying to get a BA in "sciences of linguistic mediation" from an Italian university at par with European standards. (I had to choose an Italian one, as it was the only option for me to get quick, easy, affordable access to, and it would allow me to complete close to 100% of the course online)
Ever since I was a kid, I never felt at ease in my home country and I strived to make a living somewhere far away where it would feel like home. Because of this, I made a career choice that would allow me to travel easily while doing something I loved.
I moved away from Italy at the age of 17 to go study at the "Academie de danse Princesse Grace de Monaco". After graduating there, I got my first job in London, for 6 months, as a professional dancer.
I since have continued down that path, hopping around European theatres (Czech Republic – Austria – Germany – Spain – UK). I always had a fix job but I changed location every few years as I sought to make as many connections as possible to improve my chances of becoming a dance choreographer/theatre director/teacher.
Theatre world is recommendation Heeeeavy, and I regret to say that I was too stubborn when I was younger and couldn´t bring myself to "lick the right boots".
After 12 years of struggle as a dancer/teacher/choreographer, I decided that it just was not worth it anymore and I found myself at a loss, looking at a bleak return to Italy forced by ever more frequent work related injuries.
Last year, after a heart issue that was later found to be nothing serious and to have sprung as a result of prolonged severe anxiety, I started being way more positive about this whole situation and I decided to make the most out of what I´d got by using some of my savings to visit a country I´d always wanted to visit: Japan.
I stayed in Japan for close to a month, during my summer holiday and, of course, as ironic as they come, I came to a very quick realization: Japan is the country that feels like home!
Then came the other realization, just as quick: I am useless to my dream country!
I dragged myself back to Austria and immediately picked up Japanese language classes and the BA on linguistic mediation, since despite having worked in all those different countries, theatre work is conducted entirely in English and with colleagues from all around the world, and since I´ve always had a passion and quite the talent for languages, of which I speak a few: Italian, English, Spanish (close to native proficiency, even though my Italian isn´t as good as it used to be), French, German (I can easily hold a conversation), Czech and Japanese (basic knowledge, for now).
I wish to end my dancing career by August 2026 (this has to do with my contract length) and my BA is due to end October 2026. I will make sure it isn´t delayed by a single month, but I am seeing a lot of obstacles while planning ahead (i.e. 12 years of English education, basically non-existent interest in languages other than English, general VISA shenanigans, etc… I´m sure you know what I´m talking about) I know it is quite early to do so, but I am not making the same mistakes that I made in the past; I really do wish to have a concrete objective ahead of me.
I have recently enrolled in an online teaching platform and I´m awaiting approval to make a few bucks on the side and gain some official experience (I have previously privately taught languages to family members, colleagues, friends, etc.)
I had quite a few dreams and now I have only two left, the first of which is to move to Japan indefinitely.
Is my dream just a tad too far to reach? How can I best plan ahead realistically?
Your help and consideration are immensely valuable to me
EDIT: I am writing from Japan, by the way. I couldn´t keep away and decided to give it another month just to make sure I really was in love with the place and well….. I just never want to leave…I might just hide in a bin and call it a day! Wait.. where are all the bins!? hehe
by GamingJiraffe