“Sometimes it’s tough being a single mom, especially when you’re abroad. I came here to be with this guy I was in a long-distance relationship with. I left everything behind, my whole life in Jakarta, to find work in a foreign country and live with him. But after six months, we decided to part waysContinue reading
Him: “When I told her I got an offer to work in Japan, she said, ‘You already said yes, didn’t you?’ And I’m like, ‘Umm…yeah.’ That’s how much my wife knows me. We met in college. We took up dentistry, but I work in advertising and she works for the government. She actually had toContinue reading
“My parents didn’t really support the idea of me pursuing art professionally back home in Indonesia. I guess because they were concerned about my future. But they were supportive of me coming to Japan, since they knew how much I love drawing ever since I was a kid. And it’s pretty big in Japan, withContinue reading For Art’s Sake
***日本語は下をご覧ください***“When I told people I wanted to open a deaf café, the initial response I got was, ‘You wanna make what café? Deaf café? What is that?’ I told them it’s a café where all the waiters and waitresses, plus the baristas, are deaf. Someone asked, ‘How are we supposed to order then?’ I said,Continue reading Deaf Cafe Fingertalk
“I identify myself as a global citizen. My identity is not bound by nationality just because my passport was issued in Indonesia and I’m a second-generation Chinese Indonesian. I have a friend with whom I share values with that go beyond perceived differences. She’s Russian-American. However, it’s hard to find people who are also cosmopolitan,Continue reading Global Citizen
“I was heartbroken and a bit bored of my finance job in London so I decided to do some soul-searching while exploring the world for a couple of months. I found myself in South East Asia then Japan. A week before leaving, I met an Indonesian girl at a bar after she noticed I hadContinue reading Same Love
**日本語訳は下をご覧ください** “Elderly Japanese women seem to have taken a liking to me. One dark and rainy day, a sweet old lady waved to me and said, ‘Come inside the umbrella or you’ll catch a cold.’ Then another time, while I was staring at the moon by myself to wait for the lunar eclipse, some middle-agedContinue reading Rare Experience
“We’re trainees from Indonesia. We’re here for 3 years to learn Japanese work ethics and apply them back home. Some of us work at bakeries while others at pizzerias and fruit stores. So far so good, we’re really enjoying ourselves. Come to think of it, 6 months went by so quick.”
