An attempt to change ones language and image

[Himu]

I really enjoyed reading about your lives, especially you in Japan or formerly in Japan. As someone who's about to graduate college and considering going overseas, it's interesting seeing how that worked out for you all and what your expectations were and how things ended up.

As for myself, I'm 28. At 22 I had just finished four years in the Air Force and was going to college for the first time. I had big plans to finish a degree in International Studies and use my security clearance to go back to the Middle East as contractor making big bucks (although I had no concrete plans for what I would do over there—my skills from the Air Force were in IT but I had no desire to do that). That didn't pan out but I did go back to the Middle East in a different capacity when I joined the Army National Guard a year and a half into college. I picked infantry for a new experience and I really enjoyed it, but it's not something I'd like to make a career.

Now I'm about to finally graduate college with that degree in International Security Studies and still have no concrete plans for what to do. I want to go overseas again. I'll probably have to go to graduate school if I want to work in my chose field of study but I haven't taken the GRE yet. I've been applying to all sorts jobs to see what the market's like and so far the only promising lead is a job building trails in rural Maine with AmeriCorps.

I was going to quit my job and join the Americorps to help pay for grad school but that didn't work out. Americorps is real tough to get into. But it is an experience I would have (probably) liked or a least appreciated.

[Rufus]

oh boy, now that Himu has put on her philosopher chapeau again we can look forward to plenty of Wear Sunscreen posts like that one, hunh?

I have no idea what any of this means.

He's talking about something like this:

If you go for an in demand trade, go with something that actually interests you. It may sound cliche to say, but don't become a plumber just because it brings in the dough. Then again, being a plumber may make you happy, I don't know.

No offense Himurin, I appreciate the response.

[Himu]

No offense taken at all. I was just saying, that, you seem concerned with money or whatever. Maybe it was because I was hit on the head a few times growing up, but it's hard for me to not come to the conclusion that a good career is something you enjoy. I know that I won't make much as an animator, at least starting out, but that should be okay.

It seems pretty en vogue for people to become an accountant or an engineer because it's what in demand and they will get a lot of money from it, even though they clearly don't enjoy doing it. I just don't want you to think, oh, I don't have a career so I should go with the thing that will bleed the most cash even if you don't like doing it.

It's very idealistic, and not the least realistic or pragmatic, but it's what I've always thought.

[bork]

No offense taken at all. I was just saying, that, you seem concerned with money or whatever. Maybe it was because I was hit on the head a few times growing up, but it's hard for me to not come to the conclusion that a good career is something you enjoy. I know that I won't make much as an animator, at least starting out, but that should be okay.

Yeah, definitely.  I'm still where I am because somehow I actually enjoy it- this place is like a revolving door at times but I'm still here...no one I started with on this team, not counting the team manager, is even here now.     Wish I made a lot more (and there's pressure from the wife on that), but there's good benefits here and I have no need for a second car, since all train fare is paid for.

[Human Snorenado]

It's funny... you can be, like super down on yourself as a person and your prospects and shit.  But making just the tiniest effort to formulate a plan to better yourself and putting it into action pays incredible dividends, at least in my recent life experience. 

I'll be done with a shitty associates degree next May and have decided I really want to keep at it and go for another 2-3 years to get an actual degree in accounting and get licensed as a CPA.  My adviser thinks I'd make a great auditor and the field interests me.  It sucks because I really need to get out of my current living situation and away from my family, so as soon as I'm done with school I'm bolting back to GA and will probably get a job as a shitty receivables/payables clerk for a couple of years, then go back to get my bachelor's when I'm just shy of 40.  I certainly didn't plan for things to go this way, but oh well.  At least I'm lurching in a better direction now as opposed to wallowing in my own stupidity.

[Tasty]

No offense taken at all. I was just saying, that, you seem concerned with money or whatever. Maybe it was because I was hit on the head a few times growing up, but it's hard for me to not come to the conclusion that a good career is something you enjoy. I know that I won't make much as an animator, at least starting out, but that should be okay.

It seems pretty en vogue for people to become an accountant or an engineer because it's what in demand and they will get a lot of money from it, even though they clearly don't enjoy doing it. I just don't want you to think, oh, I don't have a career so I should go with the thing that will bleed the most cash even if you don't like doing it.

It's very idealistic, and not the least realistic or pragmatic, but it's what I've always thought.

Well, like it or not, money factors into most people's happiness in life. For some people, it's worth the trade off working paycheck to paycheck doing what you love. But if you want a house, and/or a family, or even comfort in the knowledge that you can make it through a couple months if you're badly injured, then it's not viable. You can still have net positive life happiness working a shitty job if it allows you to have or do things that you otherwise couldn't without your job.

Basically, the idea of virtue through poverty is romantic but not really viable once you try living it. (And I know "poverty"/"paycheck to paycheck" isn't what you had in mind when writing your post, and that you can make a good living doing what you want sometimes, but I think the linked essay is apt.)

Personally, I lucked out. I've always been passionate about web design and programming and it's a hot field right now.

[Himu]

I said nothing about poverty, either.

[Tasty]

I said nothing about poverty, either.

Assume it's a stand in for taking any kind of significant pay decrease to follow your passions.

Money isn't everything, but neither is a job you enjoy necessarily.

[Himu]

Quite correct.

[bork]

There are also things you can do to save money and live better on lower income (although that's still not poverty levels).  Cut out some unnecessary clutter and downsize, for example.  I actually like the concept of living small and am fascinated by the whole tiny house movement. 

[Himu]

Same, Bork. Even as a child, I never got the point of owning a home. Sure maybe if you have a large family, but my family was three members. We have a big dining room we use maybe once or twice  a year, if that. What is the point of it? It feels excessive and wasteful.

Also, I did add a caveat that my views on it are probably idealistic and not in the least pragmatic to many people, Andrex.

[Tasty]

There are also things you can do to save money and live better on lower income (although that's still not poverty levels).  Cut out some unnecessary clutter and downsize, for example.  I actually like the concept of living small and am fascinated by the whole tiny house movement.

Minimalism.

Going all digital.

[Rufus]

It's very idealistic, and not the least realistic or pragmatic, but it's what I've always thought.

I'm with you to some extent. I'd rather do something I like for sure, even for a small but sufficient paycheck.
I have found that my brain is going to be OK with anything so long as I can keep this existence going and nobody actively tries to make my life difficult. Food, shelter, and a modicum of entertainment taken care of? I'll be content, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. Even now, in a place I consider pretty close to rock bottom I feel surprisingly OK about myself. I imagine it's the same for most people or we'd see a lot more suicides and riots around the world.
However, just scraping by is not going to be enough forever and that's the only thing that makes me nervous, really.

There are also things you can do to save money and live better on lower income (although that's still not poverty levels).  Cut out some unnecessary clutter and downsize, for example.  I actually like the concept of living small and am fascinated by the whole tiny house movement.

Yes!
Tiny houses are really cool. Maybe it's the blanket and pillow-fort building child in me, but the concept really appeals to me.

[bork]

Same, Bork. Even as a child, I never got the point of owning a home. Sure maybe if you have a large family, but my family was three members.

I think Americans tend to still think too big.  There's no point in huge houses or huge SUVs for a lot of people.  I have a small car and a small apartment and everything is great.  Whenever we have a kid, we'll need something bigger, but it still doesn't need to be anything that large.  I'd also much rather have a small, slick/modern apartment/condo or townhouse over some big-ass contemporary house.

The local IKEA has a 437 sq ft. apartment setup.  It's so compact, but set up so damn well.  I would love to live in a place with that layout and surprisingly my wife agrees.  Small spaces can work great if designed well.  That said, it would probably cost a lot to remodel a small place to look like what they did with it...might as spend the money on something larger.   

We have a big dining room we use maybe once or twice  a year, if that. What is the point of it? It feels excessive and wasteful.

That is exactly what led to me downsizing apartments- our previous place was a two (really 1.5- the other room was really small) bedroom and we literally used the dining room area twice when we lived there for two years.  I kept thinking what a waste this was when we could just ditch the table and I could put the stuff in the small room (my computer and nerd-related crap) in the same area.  So we downsized to a one-bedroom apartment.  It's really only about 300 sq ft. smaller and the rooms are actually larger anyway.  The dining area in this place now has a computer desk (formerly L-shaped, now in two side by side small desks) and three bookshelves instead of a table and chairs.  We usually just eat sitting on the couch anyway, using a small table meant for a laptop.   

I've seen some nice furniture that I'd like to get to make things a bit slicker and even saw a cheap corner desk at IKEA that would really open up the space for more stuff, but it isn't worth it since we aren't gonna be in this place forever.  The only thing I really hate about the place is the carpet- it's old and looks dirty.  Would love to have a place with wooden or faux-wooden flooring instead.

[DCharlieJP]

Yeah, one thing living in Japan will give you is an appreciation for smaller living spaces, heh.

current house situation ignored, the absolute happiest times i've ever had in both Japan and the UK were in small living spaces.

as a kid i was raised in a small house with 4 of us and, yeah, that was awesome as everyone was together
and whilst the house i was living in as a non-married person was pretty large by Japanese standards (130m2 or so) - my girlfriend was living in a tiny 1LDK and , yeah, i'd spend all my time there and i loved it. Hell, she went on a biz trip to Shanghai and i left the big house to my flat mate whilst i went and stayed in her small place (let the records show that i went there and played Metroid Fusion GBA in bed as entertainment).

Actually - our current house is built in such a way that although the total sqm is large, the floor set up means that in the main we are all concentrated on one reasonable sized floor most of the time.

[Himu]