Congratulation Patrick! I second John Clark's comment on the business of software forum. You should see if you can negotiate some freelance work with your ex-e

Congratulation Patrick! I second John Clark's comment on the business of software forum. You should see if you can negotiate some freelance work with your ex-employer, that's what I did with the company I used to work for in Japan and it worked very well. And, if you can justify a certain amount of revenue each months like this it can help renew your visa in Japan.