Bikkuri Project

Hi guys. This is really more of a personal entry, but it does relate to h!p in a very important way, so I’m hoping you will consider helping me out with some advice, because you might be the only people who can understand the situation I’m in right now.

Allow me to explain. I’m a senior in college, and I’m going to graduate with a degree in biology this year. I have plans to take a year off of school after graduation, and after that I’ll be going to graduate school (either for research or pharmacy). During the year I take off, I’m going to have to find a job, ideally something that relates to biology like being a lab assistant. Before that though, I’m going to take a trip to Japan (ahh, the h!p connection is gradually becoming clear, they say). I have lots of people I can stay with in Japan including my amazing host family from the last time I was there, my two very best friends one of whom is doing JET and the other is working for another teaching program, and numerous Japanese friends who have been exchange students at my university (I work as an english tutor for the Japanese exchange students). Considering the cheap and abundant lodging, I plan to stay for about a month, right after I graduate, and then find a job back in the states.

However, there is a major problem with this plan. I graduate in May a few days after the end of Morning Musume’s spring concert tour, and the hello project summer concert tour is bound to not start until around mid July. If I follow my current plan, I will have ZERO chance to see Morning Musume in concert while I’m in Japan. I seriously doubt I could find a temporary job that would allow me to take a whole month off of work once I’ve started, and I do intend to go to Japan for at least a month.

This leads me to considering option number two. The organization that one of my best friends is working for will be hiring again around the time that I would be coming to Japan. With my experience in teaching English to Japanese students, and the recommendation of my friend, he thinks it’s almost guaranteed that I could get a job there. I could stay in Japan for the entire year and still succeed in earning some money for grad. school. I would also be able to catch a whole year’s worth of hello project concerts.

Here is my list good and bad points about this plan.

GOOD-
-this is really my only opportunity to do this kind of thing, at least for a long time. Once I’m in graduate school or trying to start a real career or even a family, odds are slim to none that I’ll be able to run away to Japan. By the time I could, the face of hello project will no doubt have changed drastically, or it might even not exist anymore (cries). Realistically, I may never have a chance like this again, and I might regret it if I don’t take it.
-I love Japan. I really do. Also, I love my best friends who will most likely be living far away from me after they return to America. This is a chance to spend lots of time with them before that happens.
-I’d still be making money
-I won’t be living at home, which would feel kind of like a step backwards after graduating college. This would be a great opportunity for me to develop more independence
-My Japanese would certainly improve
-A WHOLE YEAR’S WORTH OF H!P CONCERTS!!!!

BAD-
-Teaching English in Japan isn’t exactly related to my major, and a biological research job would look much better on a grad school application
-I’d be leaving my boyfriend for a whole year
-Living in a foreign country for a whole year is kind of a scary thought, even if it is Japan
-My parents most definitely would not approve
-Of course, if I were staying for a long time I wouldn’t bum off of my friends for all that time, so I’d have to pay for my own food and lodging, and I wouldn’t be able to save as much money for grad. school
-The primary reason I’d be doing it would be to see hello project concerts, and I thin
k it might be crazy to make such a major decision in my life based on hello project. I might be crazy to even consider that.

Basically, not doing it makes more logical sense and sets me up much better for my future career and financial stability, and it’s less risky, but as ‘they’ say “LIFE IS ONE TIME” and this might be my one time chance to fulfill this dream of mine. One last fling with the selfish and impulsive before I settle down and enter the real world of serious responsibilities.

You’ve got the facts…. now, what do you think I should do? Or, if you were me, what would you do? I’m seriously looking for advice here. My friends who are not into JPop really don’t understand how I’m feeling right now, so I’m turning to you, my readers. You can comment anonymously if you don’t have a livejournal, I don’t mind. Thanks so much!