I've just completed one year living in Japan after arriving here on August 24 2024 and it definitely feels like it has been much longer than that.
During this time, I had the privilege of working with incredibly smart folks to launch the Amazon Furusato store in Japan in December 2024, despite all the doubts and setbacks.
This was definitely one of the greatest experiences I had as a Software Engineer to date. It was the first time in a while where I thought: "Wow, if I didn't do my part, this would not be happening at all." So this realization of actually being part of something so big, was awesome.
Outside of work though, I had to adapt and reinvent myself to deal with the fact that I'm at a place where I can't communicate 100% - despite my efforts to improve that.
It can really get to you sometimes, the feeling of desperation of trying to convey something and just feeling completely unable to do so but that's also something I've learned to just accept and move on.
Being part of a really international team has also been teaching me a lot. Having colleagues from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, US and (of course) Japan, teaches you a lot about different cultures and makes you realize things about your own culture that seemed to be completely obvious.
So yeah, I'm really happy with my decision to move overseas and experience such a different culture. Am I going to stay here for the long term? I don't know. But I'm sure that the lessons that I'm getting here will stay with me forever.