What Keeps You Motivated To Stay Here In Japan?

[akeenan]

stageanawa ... nice mate nice

sleeper et . i work at a kindergarten as an english teacher.

I dont want to bring any more negativity to this thread. But for a foreign person(who is more than enough skilled in the japanese language) living in Japan VS a Japanese person living in Australia(who is more than enough skilled in Engish) they are two very different things

Everyone in Australia would assume you are fluent / treat you no differently

In Japan even if you prove yourself , or speak very well you constantly get spoken to like your a child(slow etc) and often get the people who will only speak english to you... even though you may not be able to understand what it is they are saying to you and would be a lot easier for both sides if they didnt.

Ive heard Okinawa is the place to live in Japan but I hate goya and dont want to eat cops heads discuss

[StageaNaWa]

There's a lot more to eat than Goya and Pig's head. After trying goya a few times it kinda grows on you. Went to an Okinawa industrial fair and they've done just about all you can think of with goya. I settled on some beer nuts with a goya coating, but with enough beer, any thing tastes good, right?

As for the pig's head, not enough beer here. Although I did get coaxed into trying the thinly sliced pig's ear, I managed a few slices, and she rewarded me more than amply later! Glad I tried it...

Scuba diving year round, and I'm serious, any of you want to come down and go diving, I'll take you to some great spots. Just saw a spotted Ray with a 6foot (2m) wing span. The crazy thing was he was only 200 yards/m +/- from the front door of my building and we were less than 20ft deep. Very out of place for a ray that size.

The diving keeps me motivated to get through another week of work.

[akeenan]

c*nt , maybe i should have moved down there a few years ago.. but the snow season is coming in a month so cant go anywhere

[dodgybrooks]

stageanawa ... nice mate nice

sleeper et . i work at a kindergarten as an english teacher.

I dont want to bring any more negativity to this thread. But for a foreign person(who is more than enough skilled in the japanese language) living in Japan VS a Japanese person living in Australia(who is more than enough skilled in Engish) they are two very different things

Everyone in Australia would assume you are fluent / treat you no differently

In Japan even if you prove yourself , or speak very well you constantly get spoken to like your a child(slow etc) and often get the people who will only speak english to you... even though you may not be able to understand what it is they are saying to you and would be a lot easier for both sides if they didnt.

Ive heard Okinawa is the place to live in Japan but I hate goya and dont want to eat cops heads discuss

I didn't really get that mate. I dunno but maybe it was because I lived out in the country and the people made no assertions of being able to speak English....

And you won't miss Japan as much as you think. Especially if, like you are, you make plans to go back and visit once in a while. You can fit in all the good bits of Japan in nice little bite size two week pieces and not come across any of the shit.

[akeenan]

good, thanks mate

your posts have given given me some reassurance cant wait to get back.

[Laurence]

cant wait to get back.

I am going back on the 11th of December...

It is only a break this time but I am going to be thinking seriously about leaving here for good...

Time will tell I guess...

[RB20DET_Silvia]

Dont do it Laurence, you wont be able to experience my macaroni cheese via EMS!!!

I currently live in Japan / Gunma 3 hours away from Tokyo and love the country and the people, yes its true most the time you get treated like a stupid Gaijin but hey most the times i am one. The people i hang out with and my girl friend all treat me like i am Japanese so thats all that matters to me.

Work blows i mean English teaching is not great, and i have had to chuck in my 6+ years of design / web work because i cant speak the language yet but he what can you do. I will just keep pushing through it and enjoy my time here. Plus i love the whole car scene aswell which helps me through my weeks at work.

Some photos i took from a local ginger located in Kiryu, like a mini Kyoto but with out the 1000 Gaijin running around.

- Luke

Edited November 19, 2008 by RB20DET_Silvia

[akeenan]

well i have food poisoning for the 2nd time in 1 year . not good for my motivation

ps: nice pics rb20silvia

Edited November 20, 2008 by akeenan

[Laurence]

Dont do it Laurence, you wont be able to experience my macaroni cheese via EMS!!!

The only way you can send me anything EMS is if I leave the country.

The people i hang out with and my girl friend all treat me like i am Japanese so thats all that matters to me.

100% they don't and be VERY glad of that... you may also find that your girlfriends overseas experience and way of thinking has made her something of a pariah in Japan, especially if she has passed 25. After I while I crossed my fingers that I wouldn't have to see another starry eyed Japanese kid go overseas and come back having got a taste of Western culture to return to the hard slog of Japanese life, you saw them discover their souls, just to have it crushed like a sticking out nail. When you start asking "why" Japan becomes a hard place to deal with...

i have had to chuck in my 6+ years of design / web work because i cant speak the language yet but he what can you do.

I always thought you could continue doing that while you are overseas, you should start with Hoshino's website!

Anyway, Luke, sit down, relax... telling you how it is, is not going to work you just have to find out for yourself, in two years you will be on here lecturing some n00b in the same way. Every single one of us on this forum thought we were different, thought we could deal with it, thought we wouldn't make the mistakes the others did. But we did, all of us, because we are gaijin.

Read Akeenans posts over the last year or two, the change in attitude is staggering, read my posts, again the same. Read anyones posts who has been in Japan a long time and you will see that living here as a foreigner is a very dynamic process with lots of stages that 99.999999% of us go through.

Enjoy the honeymoon period...

Edited November 20, 2008 by Laurence

[elrodeo666]

Honeymoon period is the perfect quote!! The longer you stay the more it becomes a love hate relationship but one thing never ever changes...The Candy..always new and fresh!!

[Laurence]

I presume candy is a euphemism for 19~28 year old broad minded females who want to play ride the gaichinchin?

Cause that really is great stuff...

Edited November 20, 2008 by Laurence

[RB20DET_Silvia]

Wow sounds like my experience in Australia, Australia sucking as vs Japan sucking ass in time to come.....hmmm Japan.

And also it costs less to make macaroni cheese here then it does in Australia so thats a huge plus for me, also cheese pizza's in Japan rock my socks aswell.

Im a simple person, if i ever get sick of Japan its off to America for me, Australia will never rival Japan!!!!

- Luke

[elrodeo666]

I presume candy is a euphemism for 19~28 year old broad minded females who want to play ride the gaichinchin?

Cause that really is great stuff...

YEP...Candy how sweet it is!

Edited November 20, 2008 by elrodeo666

[StageaNaWa]

Wow sounds like my experience in Australia, Australia sucking as vs Japan sucking ass in time to come.....hmmm Japan.

And also it costs less to make macaroni cheese here then it does in Australia so thats a huge plus for me, also cheese pizza's in Japan rock my socks aswell.

Im a simple person, if i ever get sick of Japan its off to America for me, Australia will never rival Japan!!!!

- Luke

Dont' be so sure you'd want to go to the States after being in Japan.....

I was in Okinawa for only a year and a half and went back to the States (home) and went through LAX...30 minutes off the plane I wanted to cancel my trip and go back to Okinawa!! Now it's been another year and a half, (three years total) and getting pressured into coming to the states for another visit....I really don't want to waste the money to go back. I'd much rather go see Australia again! or visit SE Asia..

[radix]

Keeps me in Japan......

Edited March 8, 2009 by radix

[akeenan]

ive got 23 more days left in Japan,. and counting

love the pidgeon toes above ...

[Laurence]

おつかれさま！

Let us know what it is like on the other side! I am going to keep flogging this dead horse for a while!

[akeenan]

im not out of here yet though, still 22 more days.

seems as though I have chosen the right time though, with the exchange rate starting to increase a little . .

My horse is well dead and has been for some time ,.

[Streeter]

^^LOLs

wonder if/when Ill get to that stage.

getting on towards 6 years for me now. My japanese is still woeful... maybe thats the secret? LOL I still enjoy it here. I think I like cars and being a hooligan too much

34 now, best thing about Japan is that it seems you can get away with being an idiot a lot later in your life than in aus?