Why thanks for asking! She was working as a research professor at one of the universities in Tokyo, getting funding essentially from the Japanese government. Being a foreign female in the japanese work culture is fucking rough. They’re both racist and incredibly chauvinistic. Especially when their government is involved. And the way they do grad students there is also fucked up. Basically they don’t pay their grad students at all. So the few she had were miserable having to work nights at ramen shops and shit. So while she enjoyed being there a lot outside of work, after a few years of dealing with that nonsense she was happy when an offer came from the Netherlands.
I was lucky in that I worked as an engineering contractor for the US Navy. So I had the luxury of working on an American base with American work values while still being able to enjoy the local culture. I got the best of both worlds. My contract was ending about the same time as when she got the NL offer, so it worked out pretty nicely.
She left on good terms still has a cross appointment at the Tokyo university so she’s able to spend 2 months a year there, assuming they ever open their fucking borders back up. We’re hoping that by winter we can get back in for the ski season. It’s the best powder I’ve ever skied. So deep you need a snorkel!
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