Episode 38 — Welcome Home, Ayako!

Made in Japan-- Conversations with Meljo Catalan

The final episode this year. How fitting it ends with a former student of mine just returning to Japan a month ago. Ayako Tanaka was one of my students who’s always yearned for a life outside Japan. Most often I’d teach students who need to prepare for their overseas position, pursuing their MBA or university degree abroad. I’d put Ayako in the group of students that are just full on ready to take that leap and live abroad with the hopes of being completely immersed in that specific region in the world. I knew she had that drive so I was a little surprised she’s returned back in Japan but as we all know, harsh realities do exist. Spending years working abroad in Denmark and England as a freelance translator, with the last 2 years living and working in London with a Marketing firm. With her English visa possibly up for renewal, 2020 came around bringing along Novel Covid-19 to the UK. This November, she’s come back to Japan with a promise she was going to meet me and talk a bit about her life abroad. This episode is pretty much raw , uncut audio of our catch-up. To donate for this podcast: https://ko-fi.com/madeinjapanpodcast