It comes up more often than you’d think – what “you want to be”.  English teachers in Japan rarely plan to do it for life.  There’s something else we’d like to become but for now, for whatever reason, teaching English works just fine.

When I say I want to be an interpreter the response has been more negative than positive.  “Oh my friend is an interpreter, she has all these awful stories.”  “Don’t do that, there’s no money in it!”  “I hear the market for Japanese – English interpretation is going down… Chinese would have been more practical.”

My answer to all those people is RAGH!  Commenter number one – I have “awful stories” from every job I’ve ever held.  Your point?  Commenter number dos – I’m not looking to be a millionaire, just to make a living doing something I love.  Commenter number 三 – what’s the point of studying something for years and years if you don’t like it?

I recently came across a song from Marina and the Diamonds that expresses my point perfectly:

People like to tell you what you’re gonna be
It’s not my problem if you don’t see what I see
And I do not give a damn if you don’t believe

So there.  Pfffffffffft.