#13
June 2021
PEOPLE
STAY SALTY ...... people here
Things I wanted to write down before I turned 30.
３０歳になる前に書き残しておきたかったこと
UX Design Student / Actor / Creator
6.2 2021
Yurino Oshima
I am currently living in Vienna, Austria with my German husband and our shelter cat, Harunosuke, and I started learning web design with a focus on UX in May this year. I'm surprised at the unexpected turn of events, but I'm also convinced that I've finally settled into a place where I feel comfortable.
This is because
When I was in the sixth grade, after my older brother passed away after a long battle with illness, I had a vague but strong idea that I wanted to live life to the fullest and enjoy it, even though I didn't know the meaning of life. One day, I want to be able to help society in a way that suits me and give hope to many people. That's what I've always wanted to do.
When I was 16 years old, I went to Tokyo from Aichi to audition for a major singer's competition, which was attended by thousands of people, and it almost opened the door for me.
In the end, I was forced to turn down the opportunity by my parents because of my age, and they insisted that I have to graduate from an institution of higher learning (although I understand the reasoning behind it now).
The illness and death of my older brother played a big role in my life, and I was never given the opportunity to do what I really wanted, but more than that, my family was very desolate, to say the least, and I was always pessimistic and hopeless about my birth in my teenage years. Despite my rebellious ambitions and aspirations, I lacked affection, self-affirmation and peace of mind, and this was the biggest problem and challenge of my life.
I wanted something absolute inside of me, not a huge fortune or easily changeable affection, but first and foremost, I wanted to find information from all over the world through books and the Internet, and at the same time, I wanted to meet all kinds of communities outside of school, young and old, men and women, different industries, different races... I was able to look into many different ways of life and hearts.
In the winter of my 18th year, I chose to become a Christian, and now, more than 10 years later, I consider that moment to be the greatest turning point in my life.
Because of the circumstances described above, I did not plan to work in the apparel industry after graduation. So what did I do? First of all, I decided to study English in Edinburgh for three months and then travel around 14 cities in Europe by bus, because I wanted to experience a different culture, especially a place where Christianity is deeply rooted and there are relatively few Japanese students.
It was a graduation gift from my late grandfather, who lived separately from my parents and always paid attention to my movements.
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After returning to Japan, I joined a small entertainment agency in Yokohama that I was fortunate enough to work with, and I began to work in theater because I was moved by the theater rehearsals and speculated that I might have a chance to sing. However, I couldn't make a living doing something that I had suddenly started as an adult, so while I was ostensibly working as an actor, most of the time I was working at different jobs to make a living.
At that time, there were not many options for jobs that would allow me to earn enough money to live on my own in Yokohama, while rehearsing and performing as an actor, and paying back the scholarship I borrowed when I was a professional.
In the midst of all this, I almost always attended the Sunday morning service that I loved so much, and when I found time, I did church ministry and creative activities such as painting and knitting. Even though I had little margin or money to spare, I felt that I was finally able to live "myself" as an adult, and my heart was full and happy.
However, many people do not have a good image of this way of life. I think it was because I was a terrible talker, but from their point of view, I was probably a funny person who was doing this and that even though I wasn't particularly accomplished. Even though I wasn't living my life to gain their approval, I honestly felt frustrated.
However, a future awaited me in which I would be able to say, "I'm glad I took this path.
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One Sunday when I was 24 years old, while we were all enjoying coffee and snacks after the service, one of the church staff secretly spoke to me. "A media company there is looking for a Christian who can act. You should do it. This was something that I had been praying for at the time, so I said yes and went to hear about it immediately.
I said yes, and immediately went to hear about it. It wasn't a job, and as it turned out, it was only a momentary role, but I was so happy to have a role in what I wanted at the time, and I believed it was an answer to my prayers.
The "lovely German" who was in charge of media marketing as a missionary in that project was my current husband. We started dating, and when he expressed his desire to return to Europe for a few years to fulfill his own dream, we got married in Japan and moved to Bremen, Germany in 2018 and to Vienna, Austria in 2020.
In this way, not only [having a partner with the same faith], but also [living abroad for a few years] and [acting in a film abroad], which were my dreams and on my prayer list, came true in a way I never imagined.
"The number of Japanese who live in Europe and have experience in theater is limited. Even though there is not a lot of demand, the competition is not high as long as you can find a slot, so I was able to get off to a good start, appearing in TV programs, advertising videos, teaching videos, and videos for corporate use.
I stayed in Greece for about half a month to shoot the movie "Persephone", an operetta film, where I appeared as an actor and also played the alto part as a singer. I felt as if I had been rewarded and consoled for wanting to be a singer in the past.
In Vienna, I was asked to make costumes by the producer of a dance team that I met in a church. In addition to my theater experience, I was also fortunate to have learned how to sew as a student, which helped me to protect my family's finances, which were under pressure at the time.
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I am grateful for the kindness of God and people who give me opportunities, and I believe that the success of my life is that I have regained the bright perspective on life and the ability to recognize and love others because I recognize and love myself, which I had been given naturally in my childhood.
It's not all smooth sailing when it comes to the situation.
There are plenty of minor incidents, and in 2020, with the onset of the corona disaster that the world is experiencing, "My husband's longtime dream will come true next month. The timing of the event was perfect. For me, too, the opportunities for visual appearances and creative work ceased to exist at that point. I had just moved to Austria, so I had very little support from the government.
Then, as usual, I opened up my social networking site and saw a commercial for an IT-related company that I had shot in the Netherlands a few months before, in which I had appeared.
It was for a full remote job opening.
As I was desperately looking for a job due to an emergency situation, I immediately applied for the job, and at the interview, I made a point of saying that I appeared in the commercial to make up for my lack of business English skills, which I needed as a common language within the company.
As a result, I was offered a job as a technical support agent.
I was to be the breadwinner of the family and my husband was to be the stay-at-home husband while he was job hunting.
We had just moved to a foreign country, and suddenly the roles of husband and wife were forced to change, and we were forced to live in lockdown while having to save a lot of money.
I had to endure all sorts of problems that came with it, and I spent many days thinking about how to survive with my family and myself in the future, no matter where we were in the world.
It was about a year later that my husband finally found a new job.
It was about a year later that my husband finally found a new job.
When I was thinking that I wanted to do something a little more self-directed/creative, he recommended a UX design course that he had found through his new job that was perfect for me.
It's a full-time, remote school from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with prep materials and homework.
It's a class that requires a lot of English comprehension and discussion skills, but thanks to the fact that I've been using a lot of English every day at work for a year, I've been able to keep up with it, and I'm thinking, "So this is where I'm supposed to be. I think.
At the same time, as I learn the skills necessary to be a UX (User Experience) designer, I am reminded every day that "this is a job where all of my history, which seems to be a jumble, can be utilized to a great extent.
It's a job that allows me to utilize all of my history, even the ones I thought were troublesome, such as my tendency to search for the other side of things and the essence of things, the days I didn't want to do it, and even the scars on my heart from being abused.
This is the reason why we should not be afraid of the Lord. (Hebrews 12:11)
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At this point in time, I don't know if I will necessarily become a UX designer after this course, or if it will become my lifelong job, but I do have some thoughts.
At first glance, it's hard to imagine a complete picture of life, and each piece may look good, bad, or incomprehensible to you, but when you put them together, you end up with a picture that is unexpected but makes sense. I want to live my life in such a way that I can successfully complete the picture, and someday go to sleep feeling good.
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text and photo- Satomi Uchino
UX Design Student / Actor / Creator
Yurino Oshima
大島由梨乃
Lives in Vienna. She started her career in the web industry after the Corona disaster and is now studying UX(&UI) design full-time. Works include the Greek film "Persephone", Australian TV "Back To Blett", and the commercial "Philips Sonicare International".