Friday, September 21, 2007

Moving to Tokyo

If anyone reads my blog, they would have noticed that I haven't posted any good programming tidbits here in a while. The reason is that I've been busy making arrangements for my move to Japan.

Next month (October 16th to be exact), my wife and I are moving to Tokyo where I will start my new job at NTT Communications' headquarters in Hibiya. My last day here at NTT MCL will be October 5th.

I've worked at NTT MCL for over 5 and half years, making it the longest I have ever worked at a single company. I've really enjoyed working at NTT MCL, so I'm a bit sad to leave. Luckily, my job at NTT Communications will entail further development and maintenance of the servers we developed at NTT MCL for the HOTSPOT wireless network, so it looks like I'll keep in regular contact with my current co-workers. By the way, if you find yourself in Tokyo, or just about any major city in Japan, you should purchase a 1-day pass for HOTSPOT. You get wireless Internet access at a huge number of locations for just 500 yen (about 4 dollars). Having worked on HOTSPOT for over 5 years, I was shocked when I discovered T-Mobile charges $10/day for a similar service in the U.S.

Also, I can't stress enough how nice of a place NTT MCL is to work at. There are lots of positions open, the work environment is relaxed and relatively low-stress, and you'll get to work on a variety of different projects. I know I am going to miss working here, but I simply cannot pass up this opportunity to work abroad for a few years. Hopefully, they'll take me back when I return to the U.S.

4 comments:

jjinux said...

Gees, I'm going to miss seeing you every month at BayPiggies! Maybe we should get together for dinner one last time before you take off. You name the date.

Sheila said...

Hey,Kelly.
Sheila (formerly of MCL) here. I'm currently in Kathmandu, but hope to arrive in Japan some time next year. Will surely look you up, and of course try out the old Hotspot.
Good luck with the move!

Kelly Yancey said...

Thanks JJ. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you one last time after this Thursday's baypiggies!

Kelly Yancey said...

Hi Sheila! Thanks for the comment. I have to admit your own globe-trotting exploits were no small inspiration.

I wish I had known about your blog sooner so I could have been following your adventures. Looks like you are having a great time. Best of luck to you!

Kelly