Before I moved to Japan I had a small apartment in the bay area that was only about 850 dollars a month. This is really cheap when you think about how the price of rent has gone up in the last few years. I was a college student and wasn't making that much money while working and going to school. After over 4 years of living in Japan I do occasionally think about moving back and seriously look into what I would do and where I would live but it just seems ridiculous now. I never really wanted to live in San Francisco but the prices there are a good barometer in terms of the general changes that have taken place in the bay area. Single bedroom apartments have gone all the way up to 3000 dollars a month in San Francisco and in the east bay finding a good place for around 1000 dollars a month is almost impossible now.
Where I currently live is quite remote in terms of its location to a large city but it isn't the boonies either. My town has a population of over 100,000 people and has everything I really need to be comfortable except for some more restaurants that would match my American cravings. I am about to move into a house that I will be renting in the next week or so. It is 3 stories, 5 bedrooms close to the train station, supermarket, downtown and many other extremely convenient locations. This is rare and I was lucky but when I think about the cost of living being so low here and the cost of living being so high in the bay area, I wonder why I would think about moving back. Of course I realize that there could be possibilities for me if I were to move back to the United States but what really? I kind of get the feeling that if I were to move back to the bay area I would have to start from the bottom and work my way up in the working world at the age of 33. Doesn't sound like the best thing to do. Currently I am a teacher but being a foreign teacher in Japan means that I have special responsibilities. This makes my job title actually closer to public official than actually a teacher. I go to the city hall everyday bump into the mayor occasionally and have a large network of friends and professionals in the area. For example just this morning I was asked if I would be interested in doing some photography work for a festival in Morioka. This is the capital of Iwate and I would be working with the International Association of that city. I feel like the longer I stay here my chances of my life getting better will just increase and if I move back the Bay Area I have no idea. I literally don't think my life would be easier in the USA. I am not trying to say Japan is better at all. I am just trying to say that I feel like for myself personally, Japan seems to be offering me more options. If I were to go back to the USA I just feel like I would end working in sales or in a office again. Nothing wrong with that but I don't think it's for me.
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