My Journey So Far
An Introduction by Kevin Buddäus
My name is Kevin Buddäus. I wasn’t born a writer. I wasn’t interested in becoming one. And I sure as hell never thought that I might have what it takes to become one. I’m the guy who skips a book to watch the movie of it.
So how and why would I ever come to writing? To tell you the truth, it was not a stroke of passion (but it is now, so all is good! :D). Writing as a freelancer was an experimental attempt at securing my income after I lost my last job and the job market where I live (Japan) being “not that great” for a guy in my position.
If you want to learn about how or why I got to Japan, please read THIS (It’s much more interesting than my path to writing — at least in my own opinion).
Originally I learned truck driving as a profession. I got my licences in Germany in 2008, at the age of 18.
Next I’d complete a 6 month course called BGQ (beschleunigte Grundqualifikation — accelerated basic qualification) which would train me in all important aspects of being a truck driver. International law, transport regulations, economics, safety, advanced first aid training, vehicle maintenance and repair and all that.
Lastly I’d qualify for another certificate called ADR (Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises Dangereuses par Route), a treaty which governs the transport of hazardous goods, from fireworks and gasoline to acid and nuclear warheads.
For the next six years, I’d tour through Europe as a professional truck driver, delivering Airbus A320 engines from Hamburg, Germany to Paris, France, engine pistons of a broken down container ship in the port of Antwerp, or print media to the small town of Maranello, Italy (where Ferrari has its headquarters).
After I quit my driving job at the international transport company, I switched to a local distributor of parcels and packages for the DHL, where I’d transport the distribution from a center warehouse to post offices all around the area. That job was mostly night shifts. But now the story is overlapping with my love story, the thing that pulled me far away to Japan.
So let me skip that part and get to where I am now:
I’ve jobbed in many places since I got here. If you read my love story, then you know that my Japanese is not that great. It hasn’t even improved much further in almost six years that I’m living here. Work wise, it’s not impossible, but really difficult.
So I mainly jobbed on US-bases, where most of the work environment was English. Coworkers were mostly Japanese, so I’d translate between management and employees (not as a dedicated position, just as doing my part to help everyone getting their jobs done, I still was a blue collar worker). Some managers were Japanese, but most staff in leading positions is American, including anyone who calls the shots.
Last I worked for a big contractor who’d help fixing military vehicles for the US-troops stationed here. After some conflicts with the management regarding harassment at the workplace and negative work environments, I took it to HR and all that.
I quit in 2016. Long story. I was without job and didn’t know if and when I’d find another one that’s worth keeping.
The economy on this small Island is really difficult. Can’t work reliably in a Japanese company since I couldn’t deal with Japanese paper work. And jobs on the US-bases always prefer people with SOFA status (Americans and their spouses) over Japanese civilians and foreign residents like me.
Don’t even need to try to get a position like supervisor. No chance.
So in the meantime, I started looking into freelancing. I took a few contracts, copy writing, creative writing, and also translation from German to English and vice versa.
Turned out that I’m not half bad at that. My clients were happy and I have a consistent 100% job success score, overwhelmingly positive feedback and even a few clients who consistently stick with me for years now.
And finally, I stumbled upon Medium. Freelancing itself is often unpredictable. A client would pay me several thousand dollars for a translation project one month, then have not even a single line to write in the next.
I hoped that Medium would be a more reliable and especially more fun way to express myself. Not writing product manuals or English courses, but stories that are personal. Sharing things that helped me. And inspired by the work of Salam Khan, even real poetry.
I was greeted by Joel Mwakasege and Be Yourself, then I met Dr Mehmet Yildiz and Illumination. I was greeted with warmth and openness.
Now I want to give back, write more than I expected and hopefully create something that leaves a lasting impact on some people.
The best story, the best article, the best post in my opinion is the one that provokes critical thinking. My two most favorite questions are “why?” and “how?”.
Thank you for taking the time to read all this. And sorry, it did get rather long. I’m really not good at cutting it short. Ask my wife.
Kevin is an editor and writer for the ILLUMINATION publication. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.