“Nothing is bleaker than the future, except perhaps the past.”

– A remark by a geisha on the war, Memoirs of A Geisha

[wordbay]Memoirs of a Geisha[/wordbay]

I spent the morning contemplating (and worrying) over how life will pan out after I have served the military. Long have I discovered that life rarely takes on the path of your desires. And my desires are many.

Before the age of thirty, I intend to migrate out of this country to another. My reasons for doing so are purely personal. I want to be a businessman who runs his own business, with a portfolio of investments. And I’d like to author fictional stories as a part-time job. Amidst all this, I want the time to train in Aikido (or Aikijujutsu) and perhaps fall in love.

However, when I compare my plans with what I observe of others, my aspirations sound naive and risky. The standard cookie-cutter plan of my friends is to: (1) Apply for a ‘good’ university, (2) Graduate and work for a company for the rest of their lives, (3) Find time to get married in the process. I don’t mean to scorn the plan, but it certainly isn’t for me.

There are some options in my mind now, to take my being closer to my goals (mainly the immigration).

1. Train in Japan as a live-in aikido student at the Yoshinkan Aikido Headquarters. Supplement my income as an English teacher and improve my Japanese proficiency. After 5 years, I can be considered for naturalisation as a Japanese citizen. There is definitely job satisfaction as I enjoy teaching.

2. Become a (accountancy or business) student at an Australian University. Apply for permanent residency for some years before applying for citizenship.

3. Take up an accountancy degree through Ngee Ann’s affiliation with overseas universities, or study for ACCA. Work for a few years locally, then apply for Canadian citizenship as a skilled worker (accountant/auditor). Or if I have sufficient net assets (unlikely), I can apply for Canadian citizenship under their entrepreneur scheme.

Apparently, money is a damper to my plans, especially option two. But I’d like to further my studies for the sake of a back up plan and to have one last opportunity to be a student. I’m going to the ‘Study In Australia’ Exhibition to consider my university options this Sunday.

It occurred to me that the idea of traveling the world while working as an English teacher seems viable. To write a book while events take shape in an unfamiliar cultural landscape is spontaneously romantic. What say you? Please answer my poll below.

[polldaddy poll=2917629]

Logen L.