We have always been interested in other cultures and believe that the best way to learn about another country and its people is to spend time living and working there. It has long been our dream to spend at least a year teaching English somewhere in Asia after retirement. Over a year ago, when we had decided for sure that we were going to retire in June of this year, I began searching the internet for possible employers. Though we also considered Korea, a trip to Japan in the spring of 2005 to visit our son and daughter-in-law, who were teaching there at the time, had convinced us that we wanted to spend more time there and it became the main focus of my search. I found http://www.aacircle.com.au/forums/ most useful for checking out up-to-date job postings. Fairly early on, I came across an ad for MIL The Language Center and checked out their website at http://www.miljapan.com. Call it intuition, a gut feeling or the Spirit’s leading but whatever it was, MIL immediately became my first choice employer. I read every detail on the website many times over and every time I became more excited. We were encouraged by the fact that MIL encourages teaching couples but one thing that especially drew us to MIL was the fact that they accept applications from people of all ages. Most of the people hired to teach conversational English in Asia are fresh out of college and we were very aware of the fact that our ages might be a handicap in finding jobs.

In June of this year, in the midst of preparing final exams and attending retirement celebrations, we began working on our resumes. In early July, we polished them up, wrote cover letters, added the required photographs and on the 10th of that month, I held my breath, whispered a quick prayer and pressed the send button. Our applications were off to MIL! The very next day, we received an application package containing more information about the school as well as two sets of questions for us to answer. We were asked to complete the applications and return them in late September if we were still interested in positions for early 2008. Not wanting to put all our eggs in one basket, we sent off resumes to several other employers while we waited.

In September, we began working on the MIL application package and on the 21st, I hit the send button again. We had been told that we could expect to hear from MIL within two weeks if we were to be offered a telephone interview. When mid October rolled around and we hadn’t heard anything, I sent a quick email letting them know that we were still interested and we left on a three and a half week holiday visiting friends and family in various parts of B.C.

Two days before arriving home, late at night on Nov. 7 while visiting our good friend, Rod, at Cranbrook, I decided to check our email and there it was – a message from MIL offering us an initial interview! After that, the process sped up! Over the next two weeks we had three telephone interviews, the first with Dana, the school’s teaching coordinator, and the other two with Margaret, co-owner, teaching director and the lady who makes the final hiring decisions. By the third interview it was obvious that they were as interested in us as we were in them. They checked our references; we read and agreed to their contract of employment and working regulations and on Nov. 25 we received an email welcoming us to MIL!

My Dad and I have long attributed our love of travel to our Gypsy blood. Twelve generations before me, my first ancestor to cross the Atlantic and settle in North America was Augustine BeArce, a Romany Gypsy. Throughout Europe these nomadic people were persecuted and accused of crimes wherever they wandered. Born in France in 1618, Augustine moved to England and at the age of 20 was deported to America with others of his kind because he was a Gypsy. One of 88 passengers on the Confidence of London, Augustine sailed from Southampton, England landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 24, 1638. He settled, married and raised a family at Barnstable, Massachusetts where he became known throughout the community as a man of good character. As I cross the Pacific Ocean and settle for a time on the far side of the sea, it only seems right to give credit to Augustine and the Gypsy blood I inherited from him.

Richard and I have just accepted positions teaching conversational English in Japan. This is a one year commitment and we’ll be leaving in mid March. The main purpose of this blog is to share our adventure with friends, family and anyone else who’s interested.