I don’t mind at all. Yes, I had to go the teaching route at first. Of my 15 years in Japan, five were teaching English, five were a mix of teaching and translating (including freelance) and now five just translating. (I had studied Japanese for three years in college, so I was already conversational, though not quite literate, when I arrived.)
Teaching…does not pay well unless you are single and in a rural area with low cost of living or can get a job teaching at a university (which requires TEFL/CELTA certification and a master’s degree in any subject… they don’t care if you mastered in physics, but it has to be at least a master’s degree). Some people teach on the side for an extra 30-40 bucks an hour or go on to open their own English schools, but teaching is not a long-term career unless you can go the university route (where you can make a good 60-70k per year with good benefits).
