A Lot Happened in a Couple of Months

Been a while.

I thought this time I could really update my blog frequently, but life happens. Several things that I think I should write down, because A LOT happened in the last couple of months.

1. I resigned from the company where I’ve worked for 1,5 years.

When I start working there, I thought I’d work there for at least 2-3 years. But apparently a girl just has to do what a girl has to do (I don’t know if it’s the right phrase, lol). I found some things that excite me more. I just knew that some bigger things are waiting for me outside and I just couldn’t miss them. I’m willing to take the risk, because I know I’ll regret it if I just let it pass me by.

We had 2 farewell parties; I received so many farewell gifts. I was really happy and sad at the same time, a common mixed feeling people usually have, I guess. It’s been an honor to work with them and I learned a lot. I met some amazing persons (and some not-so-amazing-person, to be honest).

Farewell gifts I received from my co-workers

Custom key-chain version me. Look how detail it is. I cried when I received it, haha (T,T)

The best thing is, I have a lot of friends from all over the world, literally. If I ever to visit China, Philippine, Dubai, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, and some other countries, I can safely say ‘I have some colleagues there and I have their Skype contact’. It’s amazing how a professional relation can be personal. I’ve always thought of work life as people just talk business without making anything personal for the sake of business. Turns out I’m wrong. My Japanese colleagues are excited when I told them I was going to Japan to continue my study. This is when I know that I’ve made a right decision.

I have to say that all my colleagues have helped me to realize that I’ve always enjoyed being in an international community. I don’t care if people say I’m not a nationalist (seriously, there are STILL people who thinks that if you act like you love other country more than you love your own country, you’re not a nationalist and that’s a bad thing, apparently).

2. I lost my phone

I lost my phone right 1 day after the last day I worked. It was a shocking and unfortunate experience. My bag was torn by a knife in a train station and that bastard got my phone. I received some comments from my dear friends, like ‘meh, how long have you been in Jakarta?’ or ‘oh, just phone? You’re lucky’. Nope. Nooope. That’s not where decent people should live. This is JUST the right time to leave Jakarta.

I couldn’t stop thinking that this kind of thing would not ever happen in Japan. In fact, when I told my Japanese friends that I lost my phone, their first impression is that I lost it by accidently left it somewhere and forgot, or that my phone slipped off my pocket or my bag. This is where cultural differences theory applies. And to be honest, I don’t mind living in a country with a low crime rates where people don’t think that phone pickpocket is a thing. F*ck nationalism.

3. I received my Certificate of Eligibility

The document that I’ve been waiting for 3-4 months is finally in my hand. Actually the school send it by email at the last day I’m working (phew, what a timing!), and 2 weeks later the school’s rijichou came to Jakarta to see us and hand the documents by herself. I get to meet my classmates and I’m really excited!

After working for more than 2 years, I realize that it’s a lot more fun to study than to work. It’s like when you’re a little kid you always hate it when your parents tell you to go to sleep, but when you’re all grown up you just seem to never get enough sleep.

4. Came home before I’m off to Osaka

Just like any other lovely Minangnese girl, I came home to meet my Mom, to visit my Dad’s grave and of course, to stuff my belly with delicious lip-smacking traditional cuisine before my long journey to the land where people eat raw fish. I also went to my Dad’s sibling’s home which is in a different province and met my cousins there. Fun stuff.

I already bought my ticket to Osaka and just yesterday I received a text message from Air Asia that my flight will depart 3 hours faster than the schedule. I think that’s just how a budget airlines works. I don’t mind it, though, as long as it takes me and my friends to Osaka safely. Can’t wait to see the cherry blossom! Oh I also will attend the Osaka Youtube Hanami Party by Unrested. So excited!

Things I Learned from Interviewing People

Since I’m the only local person in my department who speaks Japanese, I helped HR department when they’re interviewing a Japanese speaker staff. Well, besides looking for my successor, apparently my department decides to have a manager who speaks Japanese. Wicked!

I became a little bit used to interviewing people. It’s basically just questioning them in Japanese, which is I’m not that excel too (haha). But yeah it always makes them feel like “Oh God this girl can speak fluent Japanese!” or “Oh look this girl is so calm throwing questions! She must have lived in Japan for several years!” or at least that’s what I assumed seeing them all nervous and sweaty (yes, almost all the guys I interviewed were sweating).

Last Friday was pretty interesting. So there are 3 guys that we interviewed, let’s call them Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C. Please note that most of the person I interviewed was older than me. I feel like a little princess who’s looking for a guy to amuse me because I’m super bored and don’t own a wifi router.

Here are things that I learned after interviewing them.

Mr. A

He went to a not-very-reputable university and took English Literature major. He studied for 3 years, did NOT finish it but instead went to Japan for some 3 years factory internship program. That’s where he got his Japanese language skill (d’uh!) but he doesn’t own a legitimate TOEFL certificate. What a lousy English Literature major student. And to be honest, his English was really not that good. He even requested to answer the question in Bahasa Indonesia! Dude, not cool.

After he’s back to Indonesia, he went to a different college, start from zero in computer major. The weirdest thing of this guy is when he described his job. He basically only did administrating job and a little translating in between, BUT he receives a much higher salary than I did! What the heck?!? I’m highly doubt that and believe he exaggerated his current salary, like, probably almost twice than the real salary he got.

Lesson learned:

-          - Do NOT ever request to change the language when you’re interviewed in a language other than your mother language. Just, don’t.

-          - Do NOT exaggerate your salary TOO MUCH. It’s OK to do it from time to time, but don’t over-do it.

Mr. B

He went to universities in Japan for both of his bachelor and master degree, graduate with summa cum laude GPA (perfect 4.00 GPA for his master degree), received the Monbukagakusho Scholarship, his TOEIC score was 825, have a JLPT N1 certificate. Bottom line, he’s not human. He’s a mutant with a super intelligent brain. Yet he’s very humble, calm and he even referred himself as “not very good in Japanese language”. I was ready to throw off my pencil at his face.

When my manager tells him about our business, he listened to it and asked some very good questions. I could see that this guy is really, really smart with eagle eyes that sees what human generally don’t see. He’s that good. And cool. And good looking. And married.

Anyway, beside my broken heart of seeing his wedding ring, this guy is top-notch but probably over qualified for the position. He expected high salary, which is OK considering his background.

Lesson learned:

-          - Be bold when questioning about the company and the job. You can see immediately what you’re gonna get through if you take the job.

-         -  Be humble. Even though it makes some people want to throw things at your face, it’s still a lot better than be a smug.

Mr. C

Firstable, this guy doesn’t speak good English and never took any TOEFL test. He’s currently working in an Indonesian company. When we asked him why he wanted to leave his job, he said that he wants to work in a international company. I think he meant was bi-national company since he only speaks Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese Language. International, you say? We wouldn't hire this guy, but for the sake of humanity, we still interviewed him. I don’t know why HR department sent him to us.

He has a really loud voice despite the fact the he also went to Japan for a 3 years factory internship. I guess he went to a part of Japan where people speaks loudly to each other. I don’t know what part of Japan is that, but oh well.

Lesson learned:

-          - Try your best to adjust your voice volume to match your surroundings.

-          - When you apply for an international company, for the love of God, SPEAK ENGLISH. Seriously.

Soo.. I’m not the one who’s going to choose them since I’m only helping. Not sure the management already picks the winner either. But it’s a good experience since I’ll be having some interview for my self too in the future *wink*.