New workplace and the boss

Hey guys~!

こんにちは～！

Today I continue where we left off. I was just leaving the company headquarters and headed towards my city, which was located somewhere between Himeji and Kobe. Finally, I thought. I had finally arrived at my new home. This would be where I will spend at least the next four years of my life, in hopes that I could either save up a lot of cash and go back home, or even better, stay in Japan and transition into something outside of English teaching. 

今日は、前回のつづきからはじめましょう。僕は、会社の本部を離れ自分の神戸と姫路の間にある配属地に向かっていた。ついに、自分の新しい家についたと思った。ここが、僕が少なくともあと4年間を過ごす場所になる。僕は、たくさんお金をためて自国にかえるか、(もっと良ければ)もしくは、何か英語の先生以外の仕事につけたらいいなと思っていた。

I had lofty goals. But I was very ambitious. As I disembarked from my train, I was greeted at the train station by my new boss and outgoing co-worker. They were very nice when they had greeted me. A bit too nice. You see, when you get a new job in Japan, the employer is very nice to you and treats you with all the respect in the world... Until you make a mistake. More on that later.

僕の夢は、難しいものだったけど、それでも野望に満ちていた。電車から降りると、僕の上司になる人と元気のいい同僚に会った。このとき、彼らはとてもやさしかった。むしろ、優しすぎるくらいだった。ご存知の通り、日本で新しい仕事に就いた時、同僚はとてもやさしく、敬意をもって接してくれる……失敗をするまでは、ね。このことについても後で詳しく話そうと思う。

As my new manager greeted me, I was taken around the town, which was a really small town, and shown both my school, my apartment, and some grocery stores and banks I could visit. I was really shocked when I saw the size of my school. How could education be conducted in such a tiny building, I thought? Equally as shocking was the size of my company's assigned apartment. It was a tiny room overlooking a parking lot. I had to keep positive. This was where I was going to spend the next few years of my life, after all.

新しい上司が僕に挨拶をして、街を案内してくれた。それは、とても小さな町だった。彼女は、僕の勤務先の学校と、僕が住むことになるアパート、それから、食料品店や銀行なども。僕は、勤務先の学校を見たときとても驚いた。いったいどうやって、こんなに小さな建物で教育を行うって言うんだ？と僕は思った。それから、会社が用意した自分のアパートの部屋をみて同様にショックを受けた。それは、駐車場が見える位置にある、とても小さな部屋だった。ぼくは、何とか前向きになろうと努めた。なんにしても、ここが、あと数年間は僕が過ごす部屋なのだ。

As for my coworkers, they seemed nice enough. Although, to my shock, they would soon leave or workplace for different jobs. I would quickly learn that at this job people don't stick around long. I was also fortunate enough to make a few good Japanese friends who would later help me in life when I made my great escape. A couple of them would prove to become life long friends and would prove invaluable in my quest to build a life in a new country.

同僚についていえば、十分に良い人たちに見えた。しかしながら、彼らはすぐに転職してしまうようだった。そして、僕は人々はあまり長くこの職場にいないのだという事を学んだ。幸運にも、僕はここで何人かの日本人の友達を作ることができた。彼らは、僕がここから逃げることになった時も助けてくれた。何人かは、長い付き合いになったし、僕がこの新しい国で生活するにあたって、かけがえのない友達になった。

Anyway, to sum everything up, this weekend wasn't particularly eventful, but peaceful enough. However, it would be the following week that the troubles would start to begin and I would be forced to chose between fight or flight, and have to make a really difficult decision to endure a really horrible workplace experience and go back, or to push through it in hopes of a better future.

まあ、ともかく総括すると、この週末はたいして特別なことは起こらなかった。だけど、この次の週から、問題は起こり始めた。僕は、"戦う"か"逃げる"かのどちらかを選ばなくてはいけなかったし、この劣悪な労働環境を耐えるため、とても難しい決断を強いられた。自国に戻るか、何とか耐えて、よりよい未来を夢見るかのどちらかだった。

Thank you for reading