u/Acceptable_Hyena_759

Edit to add context: 34M single, introverted. Lost in life and hoping JET might shake things up for me. Got offered a place last year, upgraded from Alternate, but rejected it for the same two reasons explained here. (before placement was allocated, so I hope I'm right in thinking I'm still eligible this year.)

I feel highly seduced by the idea of living in Japan, learning a new culture and language, soaking up the environment and hopefully gain some character-building experiences.

But I have two reservtions about the role:

1. I don't feel I'm a natural teacher of English to classes of 30 pupils. But I could perhaps learn to do it and enjoy the performance somewhat. But needing to plan a lesson off a blank sheet seems pretty nightmare-ish to me right now. I sense I'm more of an English teacher to small groups or one to one tutor. So had I better ditch the JET idea and do CELTA or similar? (Any suggestions for that kind of pathway?)
2. Making meaningful connections and relationships. I have zero Japanese skills right now. I am pretty introverted. Am I right to fear that I wouldn't make a single meaningful friend or find a relationship on a JET year?

Or am I simply overthinking it and should I just give it a shot?

I am a gentle soul in every sense of the word. I'm always daydreaming, I'm sensitive, slow deliberate thinking and acting, low social battery, I think I prefer to be alone but also often feel lonely, needs silence otherwise I lack focus and an overwhelmed. I am lacking common sense, spatial awareness, practical ability. I often am a liability at work. Haven't found my niche. Im still working out how I should get by in this world that seems to value all the skills i don't have.

How do you gentle souls out there do it? Just looking for any general advice. Do you lean into your softness? Do you harden yourself up or level up in some ways? What do you do for work, hobbies, what's your self care, any wellness rituals etc?

I'm tempted to do the CELTA and teach English abroad. I'm fearful that I might be idealising the profession though: I imagine being in a country where I love the culture and am learning the language and that's fulfilling in itself. And then for the job, I teach small groups of adults who are all super chill and motivated and the classes give me good vibes and a sense of accomplishment.

Bring me back down to earth please, if necessary. Could any EFL teachers out there give a real life account of your experience? I'm interested in what you do day to day, your working culture and environment, quality of life, what it's like to live where you live etc. What kind of person succeeds as an EFL teacher abroad and what kind of person struggles/shouldn't become one?

Is It likely Id manage to travel via workaway and other volunteer sites without much prior planning? For a stint of say 90 days (which I guess is the max for a UK citizen in Schengen area but need to clue up on the legalities). Just by getting on a plane to the first host that says yes and winging it from there, travelling to other hosts and destinations as well.

I'm unemployed and sick of the pointless job application-rejection-lost in life cycle. So this is where my idea comes from. 90 days would get me to Christmas. So I could return home then to figure out life back home with a more fulfilling experience under my belt than living with mum and dad.

Bonkers idea or inspired genius?

How do you use calendars or diaries for a 100% guarantee of not forgetting to turn up for something important?

Now I'm a pretty organised guy but every so often, an event on my Google Calendar will just slip my mind.

It's happened twice with job interviews... Like how embarrassing 🙈 How do you forget to turn up for a job interview...

How do I prevent this?

Hi everyone, just trying to get my head round what counts as a 'qualifying year'.

I get that we need to reach 35 qualifying years to obtain full state pension. But what counts as a qualifying year? How much do we need to earn in one year?

I ask as there have been and will be long spells when I am working abroad or unemployed or studying.

Thank you

It's like clockwork. Every day, as soon as I put my breakfast down and want to get on with the day, I'm useless. I feel tired, brain foggy, lethargic and sunken into a chair with lacking motivation to do anything. No focus, no purpose etc. And lasts until the afternoon or even as late as evening sometimes when clarity finally kicks in and I can get shit done.

I am unemployed currently so that makes it worse but I had this at my boring old office job too. Not sure it had so much an impact at active jobs like warehouse, however. But certainly, when it comes to sit down and focus tasks, I'm useless all day long.

Anyone had this experience? What might be causing it? How to fix it?

No point to this post. Just a reflection.

I got upgraded from Alternate to Shortlist back in spring but decided to decline because I'm actually pretty like warm on teaching English and knew I was in it for crazy times abroad. And I thought I could just try and find other means of work for travel and character building experience.

But I occasionally imagine the parallel me, and ALT who is learning Japanese and the culture and being challenged and growing, meeting amazing people, having a rich life (optimistic view).

And, now I'm living in my parents' house without a real direction. I hope I find my alternative path...

And I hope whoever's gone in place of me has an amazing time.

For someone who has English as first language and has learnt French and German to a fairly advanced level without achieving fluency, what would be a good language to learn?

I'm looking for a language that is:

-phonetically clear, unlike French where I feel the sounds are kinda swallowed and melding together, making it hard to understand aurally

-appreciated by the locals when you learn and speak it, actively encouraged (unlike most places in Western Europe where they'll just want to speak English to you as it's easier for them).

-spoken in a country where English tutors are in high demand.

Anyone ever managed to get off their devices and start up a real world, creative hobby?

I always seem to dream of a me who is able to do this and the rewards must be immense. Sketching, playing an instrument, even reading. How do you get the motivation to tear yourself away from sofa and screen and do these?

Asking for a friend.

If you inherited a property from which you earned 1200GBP/month before tax by renting it out, were single, still relatively young, how would you live your life?

Tell me all.... What would you do with the money, your time, your purpose and efforts? What would you see, do, learn, where would you go?

Hi Redditers,

I have just started considering going travelling, so just throwing out a line here for ideas and inspiration.

I'm totally open to any destinations and open to any kind of volunteering/work/teaching English and almost anything.

But I'm 34 years old and notice a lot of WH opportunities only accept 18-30s.

What options have I got other than the handful of opportunities accepting up to 35 year olds?

Any ideas appreciated.

Mine is (in reference to Alex Horne's bare legs): "What in the pasty hell is this?"

Fatiha El-Ghorri (i think - or was it Judi Love?)

Hit me with yours!!

Does anyone here have a job that you're passionate about, or at least sometimes excited to go to and interested in? One that gets you into flow state and that you genuinely want to do for the feeling it gives you?

If so, how did you find it?

I've been looking for ages for this but I'm not finding it. Am I being overly romantic about this? Do I just need to find a comfortable enough job, even if it is slightly boring, and accept that that is reality?

Or maybe there's nuance I'm missing.

I'd love to hear your experiences.

I appreciate I could just Google this but sometimes you've got to go to the depths of the internet to find a good race.

I'm looking for competitive road races 5ks, 5milers, 10ks in the London/Kent area this august-september. Smaller club run races are often good, I find.

Also any links to useful race calendars would help.

Thank you

Hi Redditors, I'm gathering ideas for jobs for myself.

I realised that at work it is structure that keeps me productive and motivated. What jobs and careers offer highly structured working days, where you simply have a task and you get your head down and crack on with it?

Preference for intellectually challenging roles as opposed to repetitive, mind-numbing ones.

I'm willing to retrain, so ideas from any field are welcome.

Inspire me with ideas please, redditors.

I want to test out if working with numbers, spreadsheets, data, statistics, finance etc. is for me. I have a feeling it is.

So, what junior level jobs might I be able to get with little to no experience that would allow me to learn, or at least expose me to the above?

My experience: NHS clinical audit in the past, French and Linguistics degree, NHS admin roles

I'm just at the beginning stages of considering a spell abroad travelling and working.

Please enlighten me for my life journey 🙏

I'm unemployed, 34M and fancy a bit of an adventure. But I've never really had a career and have drifted through life doing entry level jobs. And id eventually like to get skilled at something. Like a real career.

Is it possible to gain skills towards some kind of professional competency on a work abroad trip? Or will it be more like doing menial tasks for bed and board (no disrespect here. I've done Workawaying before and really value my experience here).

Any help and annecdotes, experiences appreciated.

What would you do in my shoes?

I'm basically a blank canvas, so a world of opportunity and potential but I feel lost.

I'm 34M single, looking for work, living with parents in a small town in England. I own a property and get some income from that.

The main changes I want in my life: to finally find something I'm good at, find a relationship, find close friends, find self assurance, maybe a little adventure.

I did really well at school and uni but that hasn't translated into real life. I've never been the most confident or outgoing person. I'm highly introverted and introspective so therefore have always felt somewhat alone and struggle to find my people.

If you were in my shoes, where would you direct your life right now? Where would you aim for in life?