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Konnichiwa, dear Japan Channel users!
Disclaimer: this will be a wall of text, and I do apologise to those who might be blinded by it.
First of all, I'd like to introduce myself, since this is my very first post on the forum.
My name is Thomas, a rather unusual name for somebody living in Italy. I'm a 29 years young, german/italian/english speaking man. I'd define myself as rather introverted person, but in a good way, in my opinion: it kept me out of trouble ever since. Doesn't mean that I am not outgoing in any way, it's just hard for others to get my confidence. I like loneliness most of the time, gives me lot of space to find myself and my inner peace. Hobbies would be mostly swimming, wandering in mountains and playing darts, and I don't mind lifting mugs of beer among friends.
For the more significant part this post will be related to, I finished middle school with two years in a high school with main focus on informatics. I quit high school as I was young and naive, and couldn't find reasons why to study chemistry and biology when my main goal was to be a good computer technician. From there, I went straight for work, starting as a salesman in a decoration shop, fashion shop, and later into consumer electronics (this is where my biggest passion lies). From here, I also got sneak peeks into the after-sales assistance, and that's where I started repairing all sorts of electronics, from simple phones and fax machines up to computer systems.
Now, 14 years have past and I find myself in a big electronics store, known in Europe and a few parts in China as Media Markt - it's something compareable to Best Buy in America. Knowledge in electronics is wide spread, from phones/cellphones/smartphones, TV, Hi-Fi to computers/tablets and operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Android and Macintosh (currently doing sales training for Apple to become a certified Apple sales assistant).
Over the years I've spent in my hometown I realised something: I live in a region where both german and italian people live, and both mentalities sometimes give me one big headache. There's no balance in any aspect. Neither in living, nor in social parts, nor in manners and how-to's at work. You get set rules that are expected to be followed, but nobody cares - "take it easy" is what I hear every day. And it's exactly this way of life that makes everybody's life hard, especially mine. And this is when I started looking outside this box called Italy. The travel went as far as Japan, to finally find a place that gave me hope of a place where planned things will go as intended. Yes, I've watched most of the informative videos on youtube (I don't like the kawaii Hello Kitty robot, hehe), and I admit, there's alot of "yes" and "no" going on in my head.
As I mentioned in my first lines, I do speak three languages fluently, and I'm a rather multicultural person, as I love and share many cultures I met here. I feel myself as a so-called gaijin even in my hometown, and could live with it since I was born. So adapting myself to the japanese culture is something I believe I can do very well.
But my main concern is as follows: how good or bad are chances that a person like me, without a college/uni diploma could find a job in the land of the rising sun? I am quite flexible regarding jobs, and I am willing to get home with a sweaty shirt every day. I am well aware that it won't be as easy since I only know a few lines in japanese (but with determination as hard as steel to learn and improve - heck, I tought english all by myself), but what I know for sure is: I have the will to adapt to new situations and cultures. After all, I'd be a guest, and not the host.
Again, sorry for the wall of text, hope you read most of it, and also hope I'll get a handful of helpful answers and maybe the chance to be part of your comunity as a friend.
Until then, ki o tsukete kudasai !!
Thomas (aka Icedmindblow on youtube)
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