#12 Anna - Life as a Japanese Salarywoman

In this Episode of the KoreKara Podcast, we are joined by Anna, a Japanese Salary Woman, who walks us through what it's like to work in an American/Foreign (Gaishikei) company in Japan as well as the current situation with COVID-19 there. Prior to working in Japan, Anna studied abroad in Australia and the United States, where she picked up and learned English. Despite having a challenging job, Anna is more motivated than ever to to continue learning and become even better than she already is.

About Anna:

Before becoming the salary woman she is today, Anna was born and raised in Japan and grew up in a city close to Tokyo. She was always interested in living in foreign countries and learning the English language, but she never got a great opportunity to explore that interest in Japan. Mandatory English classes in Japan were tough since not many students were actually able to develop strong communication skills throughout Middle School and High School. But towards the end of high school, Anna finally got her chance to chase her interests.

Anna's high school offered multiple study abroad programs to different countries, but the only problem was that you needed to have a certain level of English for countries such as the United States. Thus, Anna decided to study abroad in Australia for one year, where the English requirement was lower. Despite seeing drastic improvement in her English, Anna faced some difficult times in Australia. She was bombarded with culture shock after culture shock during her first time out of the country alone. Although she enjoyed the experience overall, she decided that she would rather attend a university in Japan in the future.

Unfortunately, when it came time for the rigorous testing period for college entrance exams, Anna wasn't able to get into the universities she desired. Thus, she was left with two options. One was to become a Rounin (浪人) student which means to spend another year studying to take the entrance exam again the next year. Or the other option was to go and study abroad. Instead of wasting a year, Anna decided to study up on her English at a Juku (Cram School) to apply for colleges abroad. After getting a good score on the TOEFL (Exam), Anna was accepted into a 4 year college in the United States.

Her second time around studying abroad was a lot easier as she didn't experience many big culture shocks. However one aspect that proved to be tough was making friends with American students due to the difference in level of English. Despite getting into a school in the United States as an international student, Anna had her sights set higher to transfer to an even better school. By her junior year, she was able to achieve this goal and transfer to an even better school in the US. But, the next challenge came creeping in quickly.

When it came to applying for jobs in the United States, Anna found it very difficult since in the US, you need to have a specialized degree to get most jobs. This differs from the philosophy in Japan, where you don't need any experience in the field to actually get the job. The positions Anna was interested in looked for qualifications that she didn't have. This left a few options, but the most viable option was to join a foreign company in Japan (or Gaishikei), which she did. But that too came with its own challenges, especially in Japan.

After starting her job and becoming a salary woman in a foreign company (Gaishikei), she got her first taste of the working adult life. Despite quickly getting used to working long hours, everything changed when Japan was hit by COVID-19.