The One With the Peace Boat Interview

September 2015

A few weeks after submitting my application, I was invited to interview for a teaching position with Peace Boat. I had heard stories of people applying for years without getting an interview offer, so I was pleasantly surprised.

The group interview with other candidates was in Tokyo on a Sunday morning. Taking into account the various trains I had to take, the entire journey would be about three hours, give or take.

I decided to go to Tokyo the night before, so after finishing work at 8 PM on Saturday I rushed to the train station.

For some reason the hotel I booked had a midnight cut off time for check-in. In typical Michelle fashion, I ended up missing the train I needed to catch in order to make sure I got to the hotel on time.

I called the hotel and explained my situation in my terrible Japanese. After a few minutes the person on the other line understood what I was saying, thankfully, and told me they would have someone wait for me. I hopped on the last bullet train of the night and made it to Tokyo a little after midnight.

The group interview the next day left me wondering what I was doing there. As everyone introduced themselves I became more and more intimidated as it was very clear that I was the least experienced and seemingly least qualified.

But “fake it ‘till you make it,” right? And that I did, telling myself if I made it this far then clearly I belonged here with the rest of the applicants.

Fast forward a few days and I checked my phone at work to see that I had an alarming number of missed calls from a Tokyo number— like, over five.

I knew it could only mean one thing, but I was still doubtful as everyone in my interview group was so talented. I called back and Edu, the coordinator, told me they were offering me a position. I honestly couldn’t believe it.

He reminded me it would be a challenging contract, with nontraditional hours and responsibilities, let alone at sea for several months.

Then he asked: “Are you sure this is what you want, Michelle?”

Without hesitation, I replied, “Absolutely.”