Phil-San Not In Japan?

Usually when I don't write, I've either been lazy or travelling. But this past week has been full of surprises and decisions, which have been near-impossible to make. I've told a few of you now, but I thought I'd make it a public announcement.

I don't really talk about my new company after Nova on here. The main reason is that although it's successful, there is only one office (in Gotanda, Tokyo) with about 25 staff so that, if one of my candidates or coworkers searched the company name on Google, it's more than likely that my site would be in the first 3 or 4 entries. If you want to know the name, then I'll be happy to tell you on MSN messenger or email. But for the company itself, I am recruiting for bilingual Sales/Marketing/Engineers within the IT and finance Industries. It's not the sort of job I could have ever imagined doing, but I found that it's a great challenge, exciting, I get to meet many people (the better side of Nova), financially rewarding, and full of highs and lows - both of which have their rightful place in a satisfying job.

It's not a job for life, and neither is living in Tokyo (unless I left, and missed it like crazy - but I would have to try this before I knew) so I'm always looking for a push to move on. But I love my life here; I have a great girlfriend, a modern apartment which I pay half rent for, a good job and the office is 10 minutes walk from my house - so no hectic trains, and I get to wake up in the city that I adore. It's hard to imagine leaving. However, I have felt more and more guilty everyday for still not visiting any of you but, honestly, as much as I want to return for a short time, I can't imagine living in England right now.

Reading the news depresses me so much. School kids being knifed or shot in playgrounds?! What happened to the country? Would I feel safe there after here, probably not. I'm not saying that England is alone with its crime, but there are relatively fewer problems like that over here.

On Tuesday, one of my two bosses called me into their office. I was the only person to achieve the targets for July and August (receiving a nice bonus - more on where that went in a later blog), so I didn't think I was in trouble.

They wanted to inform me that they'd rented a new office space because they wanted to branch out the business, over Asia. The second office would be opened on October 2nd, in Hong Kong. The plan was to take 3 staff (2 consultant-side and 1 client services) over with one of the bosses, to establish it, get it up and running and then move to a bigger office, hire more recruits and train them up so it'd be a fully operating business. After that project, there would be chance to establish either Shanghai or Singapore.

They asked me.

I was surprised because I've only been there for 3 months, and, yes I'd proven myself, but had I shown company loyalty, or that I could close deals? They told me they wanted me over there for two reasons, because they knew I had the sensibility and drive to open the office, and that although I'd worked my butt off to build my candidate base, it wasn't so established yet and would be easier to break away from it.

I still feel that a huge reason is that most staff are married, and I have the least ties to staying in Japan, which makes me an easy target. I hope the earlier reasons are true.

At 10pm that night, my boss called me to officially invite me, and asked me to give him a decision the next day. It was 100% "no". The risk of regretting leaving Tokyo far outweighed the risk of regretting not going to Hong Kong. Of course, it was a great opportunity to explore a new country/city/culture but so was being in Tokyo. Wasn't it?

I gave my answer the next day but they gave me a detailed insight into changing, which was largely biased (that's their job of course, but they weren't doing themselves any favours by going overboard on Hong Kong vs Tokyo). Another day was needed, and I sought some advice from people. In all, most said Hong Kong was great, some said it wasn't. Again, most said it was a good place to visit, few said to work. Nearly everyone said I should go, whereas one gave me strong reasons not to. Suddenly, something in my stomach felt heavy and I could feel the scale of those two risks switching.

I arrived home to Keiko crying; she knew before me. Amazingly supportive, she told me to go. I didn't want to admit it, because I didn't realise until faced with this decision, but she's been a huge determining factor in all of this. Being supportive only makes it harder to go; a twisted paradox. We were awake until 3 or 4 every night talking about it, worrying about it, and stressing about it. In a way, it was an offer that I think I would've been happy never to know about. I was pretty firm in my belief that blissful ignorance is not a good option, but now I'm not so sure.

Thursday, I told them that if they wanted an answer, they'd have to wait until I spoke to a few more people back home; otherwise I'd have to say "No" now. They gave me until Friday afternoon. I negotiated, and did much better than I thought. I argued that I was putting a lot on the line, just as much as more senior people going over, and that I would put in 100%, just as much as anyone else. I also stated that I wanted a good quality of life, and to be financially better-off, and that having to pay full rent instead of half would mean I was losing money. Therefore, if I went, I'd get a substantial pay rise (which meant that I wasn't making much more money than now, but I wouldn't be losing any at the same time).

I couldn't concentrate at work; added to which if I went, it was a waste of time doing any more leg-work for the Japan Industry, so I participated in a lot of gazing. One of the guys that I really like in the office also was asked and he wasn't sure either. We spent a lot of time at Starbucks and walking around in a daze, which the bosses didn't seem to mind!

Friday lunchtime, I got an answer from everyone back home, so was happier to make up my mind. That afternoon, I told my bosses I was in; I couldn't imagine not going to Hong Kong and that my heart was completely in it. The pit in my stomach lifted, although the stress and sleepless nights have left the two biggest ulcers in my mouth - which hurt still.

I work from here, building the Hong Kong base, for the next few weeks and then fly out on the 29th September, to begin work on the 2nd October. The company are organising Visa's and paying for the flight. The office is in Causeway Bay, in Shell Tower next to Times Square (it doesn't mean much to me, as of now), and I've found a decent apartment 10 minutes walk away. It's much easier to move and rent in Hong Kong than Japan as there is no key money or guarantors needed, and rent is monthly, so I can move if and when needed.

I'm excited by it, but very sad that I'm turning my back on Tokyo. Right now, if I could live and work anywhere in the world, Tokyo would be the top of my list, head and shoulders above its competitors. Hong Kong probably wouldn't have even entered my head when compiling a list but as pretty much everyone has stated, it's a "fantastic opportunity".

As for Keiko, it could be a great opportunity for her as well, with more International companies to get an English-based job, which is proving difficult for her here. But it's too fast to move over there with no Visa, job, or desire to. She's going to come visit a short while after I settle and scope it out. If she loves it, it could be an option. If not, the flight is quite cheap (£150-ish) and 3 hours each way, so we can still see each other a lot. And I'll be back here over New Year. It will be weird not living together, but it'll be a suitable test for us. She's a good girl.

And that's another strong reason - I'll still have a base in Tokyo and it's not far; my love affair with the city is not over.

There's some things I'm not looking forward to about going, including the increased humidity, but there are some things that I can't wait to experience.

After making my decision, the two things I Googled: H&M (a four storey shop in Central Hong Kong, yay) and Baked Potatoes (no results as of yet, nay).

The other thing I negotiated was to come home for a week in November, in time for Natasha's Bat-Mitzvah. It's a good time to come (away from the Christmas period, and with people in one place making it easier to visit) but some people won't be there and that makes me sad. The timing would never be perfect, but I wish it could. My ticket is booked; I'll be arriving in Heathrow Friday afternoon (2nd November) and returning Saturday night (10th November). I'll explain more in a later blog, which I promise to update more regularly after this week of emergency shutdown.

Speaking of the blog, what will happen to Phil-San In Japan? Does Hong Kong deserve the position of sequel? If so, what shall be its name?

If you made it down to here, then you obviously care enough. Thank you. However, I'll never know unless you leave a comment - forget your concerns and hesitancies, please leave a message. Who knows, you might even enjoy it. I think I'm fully back to my belief about blissful ignorance. Hong Kong, here I come...