The thing is, if the company can't get out of this on its own then they won't after this project (whn you've left).
It’s just bad timing.
Two people left at once when the team was already small. Normally there wouldn’t have been a problem, and putting me on the project was meant to tie us over until we can find new people.
Maybe I'm just a fool, but I think if your boss treated you well, you should help him out of this mess.
This is the true root of the problem.
I have been treated well and abandoning things/people is not my way.
Yet this job is a very rare chance; the first job offer in Japan I have ever actually liked. Ever.
I have been in your situation, and it is VERY tough trying to decide where your loyalties should go, to your boss (who hired and has faith in you) or to yourself (to possibly capture your dreams).It's never easy, and it's definitely not fun. In the end, it's going to be about which outcome you're going to be able to live with. Both practicaly, and emotionally.
The fact is I usually weigh my actions based on how I will feel about it later.
My decision would be easy if I could find a way not to feel bad for the company after I leave.
But my boss has allowed me to do that now, so I will be applying and if I get the job I will go.
He probably just said these things so that I wouldn’t feel so bad, but either way I feel better.
All he really wants is that I give a month’s notice and use that time to ensure the engine I have been making is completely fully documented beyond compare.
I will also try to help the new guy get into my code so he is ready to go when I leave.
Yes, that Japanese job might pay 4 times more. That's good. But if you do get moved to Japan, you might wind up living in some flea-bag apartment/flop-house, eating only ramen noodles because that's all you'd be able to afford (the Japanese economy is VERY expensive). It could take you months to save up for one decent date with a girl.
It won’t be that bad.
Proportionally speaking I will be making the same there as I am now.
Japanese society is xenophobic
True that.
But going into the country expecting it to be that way makes it pretty easy with which to deal.
Less than .03% of yearly applications for japanese citizenship are approved.
No, but plenty of work permits get approved, and that is what I need.
I never planned on becoming a citizen as I have felt it is quite impractical. Even if I had a Japanese wife.
And even if you did get approved, you'd still be considered gaigin for the rest of your life.
I already am.
I am already a foreigner living in Thailand and I am already treated differently.
And to be quite honest, I’ve never been treated normally a day in my life.
The main difference between Japan and America is that in Japan, people can know to treat me differently by a quick glance, while in America people have to actually know me for 5 minutes first (overlooking the comments people have given me about how I walk/stand/move, since I look like a stick with clothes).
But I thank everyone for all input.
By boss understands my dream and has made a reasonable request before I go.
Just train someone to take over the project.
Now I just have to apply at the company and see if they will actually let me wait a month before going.
My biggest concern now is that the company will want me in Japan in a week rather than a month and I wouldn’t be able to comply with my boss’s one fair request.
L. Spiro