Variant Editing moves from Australia to Japan

I’ve been very quiet on my editing blog lately. That’s because I have, in the last six months, moved with my family of five from Australia to… Japan! 

It’s a move we made with mixed emotions, as we loved Australia and were fortunate to live in the most wonderful community there. A bit of my heart will always be a little Australian as a result of the time we spent there. But, as a friend so aptly said before we left, the only constant in life is change. Too true. The change involved in moving from Australia to Japan has been whopping! But I’m grateful for the life experience and the learning involved.

We’re part of an American community in Japan, and after being out of the country for 3.5 years, I sometimes feel as though I’m visiting two foreign countries at once. I’m seeing my country of origin with fresh eyes, and obviously much about life in Japan is different for me. I love to learn, so I’m very much in my element.  

All in all, we’re adjusting quite well. Seeing more of this amazing world is a privilege I don’t take lightly. Since December, we’ve been more than a little busy getting the basic building blocks of our lives in place: housing, schools for the kids, household goods, work. The food is delicious, the people are unfailingly kind and helpful, the geography is beautiful, and we’re slowly getting involved in our community. We’re all learning a bit of Japanese (though we’d be in serious trouble without the Google Translate app.)

For work, I’ve been teaching English to a wonderful group of adult Japanese students. I’ll also soon begin teaching university writing at a local American university, and I am still editing! I joined the editing team at Proofed, Inc., which has been valuable experience. I’m part of a team that edits career-related articles received from CopyPress for publication on indeed.com.  We edit work for a number of markets and dialects, including the UK, Australia, Canada, India, and Singapore. Here’s one example: 

https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/security-clearance-on-resume

That’s my big update! I don’t plan to move continents (anytime soon), so I hope not to ignore my editing blog for such a long stretch again. If you have editing-related topics you’d like to see me address in this space, please drop me a message to let me know. I’d love to provide some useful content to you. 

-Karla