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Japan GAF |OT| I'm not planning a trip; I live here!

I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Upsidedown Fuji said:
I re read what I wrote and I don't even think it came out the right way. I think i meant to ask, why do you have so much knowledge on long stayers either stuck in the system or struggling to get out?

That's what I get trying to post on a phone. Incoherent posts. Doh!
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Oh. Well, because I got to see it from the opposite side I guess? When I first got here (I'll use here as in Japan from now on even though I'm not physically there), I had no clue about what foreigners did - no clue about the English teaching thing. Year after year of changing locations and meeting other foreigners, it was just inevitable that (at my age and the places I hung out at) the majority of non-colleague foreigners I met were English teachers. Over the years I just amassed a ton of stories and experiences with them where, and I'm being serious, 90% of them had the same situation before, during, and after Japan.

There's a certain mold for people that usually does stuff like JET, and the minority are the people who are doing it for professional reasons or reasons other than the usual ones. I know you guys don't like being labeled or "reduced" like that, but it's true for any industry's culture..no? I know we don't know each other personally, but for the sake of argument let's say my online persona was an exact match of my real life persona. I don't think most people would be surprised I work in a field like professional/financial services.

Anyway, it's not like I collected evidence and wrote a book on it, but it's also not like a lot of the English teachers there or on places like here or good, old Big Daikon do a good job of disproving the clichés.

As for the wife/family stuff, I'm doing an overseas rotation and was fortunate to be sent back to my home area of NJ/NYC. Now my wife had lived all over the world before we met, but I figured this area would still make the transition easier. And so the last ~2 years I've had plenty of experience of why that has and hasn't been the case. I've also obviously amassed quite a group of Japanese expat friends here through my job and my wife's efforts so I've seen how other halfie couples have dealt with life on this side of the pond as well. And, unsurprisingly, we share a lot of the same.. issues.
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
I'm an expert said:
Oh. Well, because I got to see it from the opposite side I guess? When I first got here (I'll use here as in Japan from now on even though I'm not physically there), I had no clue about what foreigners did - no clue about the English teaching thing. Year after year of changing locations and meeting other foreigners, it was just inevitable that (at my age and the places I hung out at) the majority of non-colleague foreigners I met were English teachers. Over the years I just amassed a ton of stories and experiences with them where, and I'm being serious, 90% of them had the same situation before, during, and after Japan.

There's a certain mold for people that usually does stuff like JET, and the minority are the people who are doing it for professional reasons or reasons other than the usual ones. I know you guys don't like being labeled or "reduced" like that, but it's true for any industry's culture..no? I know we don't know each other personally, but for the sake of argument let's say my online persona was an exact match of my real life persona. I don't think most people would be surprised I work in a field like professional/financial services.

Anyway, it's not like I collected evidence and wrote a book on it, but it's also not like a lot of the English teachers there or on places like here or good, old Big Daikon do a good job of disproving the clichés.

As for the wife/family stuff, I'm doing an overseas rotation and was fortunate to be sent back to my home area of NJ/NYC. Now my wife had lived all over the world before we met, but I figured this area would still make the transition easier. And so the last ~2 years I've had plenty of experience of why that has and hasn't been the case. I've also obviously amassed quite a group of Japanese expat friends here through my job and my wife's efforts so I've seen how other halfie couples have dealt with life on this side of the pond as well. And, unsurprisingly, we share a lot of the same.. issues.
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Ok, that makes sense. I have some non teacher friends as well. I'm sure their image of English teachers in Japan is probably similar to your own especially after overhearing stories and whatnot. I am sorry if I sounded overly defensive.

I appreciate you sharing your perspective on the matter. I guess life is full of issues, especially when you decide to marry, or even more so when its a marriage between people from two very different cultures.

I think my time in Japan has been valuable, just not in a business minded sense and I'm alright with that. My time here has taught me to be more focused and to actually make plans and stick with them. I am not resentful or bitter about Japan as many other long stayers around me are. I do have my gripes but they don't ruin my impression of Japan where many would just go on full hate mode. It's hard to be around those kinds of people. I want to leave because I feel I've outgrown my job especially because I have a family now. If I were single, I'd probably be as content as ever with the easy money and the long vacation periods I get. It can be a good place if you don't take things too personally and are willing to just go with the flow. But now I yearn for job stability and a steady paycheck to put money down a condo or house in a few years from now.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Question, does the wife work? Would she work in the US? Or more kids? I'm not trying to convince you to stay, I just.. think maybe you should give it your best shot to nail something over there lol. Put aside how you feel about the country, your happiness don't matter. =P
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
I'm an expert said:
Question, does the wife work? Would she work in the US? Or more kids? I'm not trying to convince you to stay, I just.. think maybe you should give it your best shot to nail something over there lol. Put aside how you feel about the country, your happiness don't matter. =P
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She said she expects to get a job when we start living in the US. She also has an ok paying job in Japan currently although she's itching to have a reason to drop it for a new one or the move to the US. No more kids, at least not until we have a more stable job situation either here or in the US. She's not obsessed over popping out babies and being a housewife which is a relief.

I have been searching for work within Japan for the past three years but I haven't managed to get anything to stick. Applying with just N2 credentials really limited the jobs I wanted to apply to. The ones I really want ask for an N1 certificate at the very least. I expect to pass this coming December because I barely missed the cutoff in the reading section in July. I already know the JLPT is only a superficial indicator of a person's command of Japanese, it doesn't even test writing or communication, but it's a peice of paper to add to the resume. Every little bit counts.

Continuing to live in Japan wouldn't make me miserable, but it would close a lot of doors back home. I'm a bit torn. Many people think I'm doing the right thing by moving on, and a few sound a lot like you making me rethink leaving.

I am somewhat committed to my decision to move out as I'm already half way though getting my wife's immigration visa. I've put in a fair chunk of money which is kind of hard to just let go. I haven't told the city I work for that I will resign yet and I still have time to think it over. I suppose losing that money would be better than going down a possible wrong path if I do end up changing my mind. At this point nothing is set in stone but I have started heading in a direction that is getting harder to change by the day.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
Upsidedown Fuji said:
She said she expects to get a job when we start living in the US. She also has an ok paying job in Japan currently although she's itching to have a reason to drop it for a new one or the move to the US. No more kids, at least not until we have a more stable job situation either here or in the US. She's not obsessed over popping out babies and being a housewife which is a relief.

I have been searching for work within Japan for the past three years but I haven't managed to get anything to stick. Applying with just N2 credentials really limited the jobs I wanted to apply to. The ones I really want ask for an N1 certificate at the very least. I expect to pass this coming December because I barely missed the cutoff in the reading section in July. I already know the JLPT is only a superficial indicator of a person's command of Japanese, it doesn't even test writing or communication, but it's a peice of paper to add to the resume. Every little bit counts.

Continuing to live in Japan wouldn't make me miserable, but it would close a lot of doors back home. I'm a bit torn. Many people think I'm doing the right thing by moving on, and a few sound a lot like you making me rethink leaving.

I am somewhat committed to my decision to move out as I'm already half way though getting my wife's immigration visa. I've put in a fair chunk of money which is kind of hard to just let go. I haven't told the city I work for that I will resign yet and I still have time to think it over. I suppose losing that money would be better than going down a possible wrong path if I do end up changing my mind. At this point nothing is set in stone but I have started heading in a direction that is getting harder to change by the day.
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It's a big decision! But you can always move back. And next time you'll be moving back with N1 under your belt.
 
U

urfe

Member
Upsidedown Fuji said:
She said she expects to get a job when we start living in the US. She also has an ok paying job in Japan currently although she's itching to have a reason to drop it for a new one or the move to the US. No more kids, at least not until we have a more stable job situation either here or in the US. She's not obsessed over popping out babies and being a housewife which is a relief.

I have been searching for work within Japan for the past three years but I haven't managed to get anything to stick. Applying with just N2 credentials really limited the jobs I wanted to apply to. The ones I really want ask for an N1 certificate at the very least. I expect to pass this coming December because I barely missed the cutoff in the reading section in July. I already know the JLPT is only a superficial indicator of a person's command of Japanese, it doesn't even test writing or communication, but it's a peice of paper to add to the resume. Every little bit counts.

Continuing to live in Japan wouldn't make me miserable, but it would close a lot of doors back home. I'm a bit torn. Many people think I'm doing the right thing by moving on, and a few sound a lot like you making me rethink leaving.

I am somewhat committed to my decision to move out as I'm already half way though getting my wife's immigration visa. I've put in a fair chunk of money which is kind of hard to just let go. I haven't told the city I work for that I will resign yet and I still have time to think it over. I suppose losing that money would be better than going down a possible wrong path if I do end up changing my mind. At this point nothing is set in stone but I have started heading in a direction that is getting harder to change by the day.
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Mind if I asked how you looked for a job? Do you have a 履歴書 and 職務経歴書 written out? Are you comfortable/had you thought out/memorized a good 自己紹介/自己PR? I wouldn't be so defeatist to be honest. Most people who are "screwed" just don't know how or where to look IMO.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
for job seeking - i cannot recommend the various job fairs enough. The daijob one was pretty underwhealming but the CFN and Disco events were both great.

I only have jp level 3 on paper - i failed level 2 by a couple of % in 2004 and havent been back to it since, but that really wasn't so much of a factor at the job fairs where it may well have struck me down from jobs going through the usual routes.

The events are great - you get to walk up to any of the hundred plus stalls and chat, you may even have a first round interview there and then. From my experience of job hunting i had fairly limited success with recruiters, but had interiews with several companies and ultimately land my current job from attendin the cfn event.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
DCharlie said:
for job seeking - i cannot recommend the various job fairs enough. The daijob one was pretty underwhealming but the CFN and Disco events were both great.

I only have jp level 3 on paper - i failed level 2 by a couple of % in 2004 and havent been back to it since, but that really wasn't so much of a factor at the job fairs where it may well have struck me down from jobs going through the usual routes.

The events are great - you get to walk up to any of the hundred plus stalls and chat, you may even have a first round interview there and then. From my experience of job hunting i had fairly limited success with recruiters, but had interiews with several companies and ultimately land my current job from attendin the cfn event.
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I did Daijob. It seemed really good for IT people. I got a job interview out of it. I've never heard of CFN and Disco though, but I'll keep them in mind, thanks!
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
I've posted about cfn before in other threads. I recruit there for NYC/Boston events. Great fair.
 
B

Beautifully Shaped Monsters

Member
urfe said:
Care to explain? I'm prob going to change in two months, and I'm looking forward to finding the best cash back deal when I do so.
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Well, it doesn't help that I'm a bit of a muppet when it comes to dealing with this kind of stuff.

My old phone was on the blink, and since it was 2.5 years since I got it and my contracts was done anyway, I thought it would be a relatively painfree thing to get a new one.

My carrier was Docomo and naturally thought to stay with them. I was also looking for one of those children's mobile for my kid, and I'd heard that you could get one for free or cheap if you were with Docomo. So I went down to Bic Camera in Yurakocho tried to explain my situation. First my existing contract only entitled me to 10.000 yen towards a new phone, and they weren't really very helpful with options and so on. Secondly the slimy sales guy claimed that all of Japan were completely sold of Children's phones and they wouldn't get any for at least 2 months, and then proceeded to try and upsell me a 2500y/m feature phone instead.

Giving up on that idea I went over to the Softbank stand and it went pretty well. The girl spoke ok English and we put down all the details where I would end up paying a 1000 yen less per month including the subscription for the kid's phone. Only problem was I hadn't thought of bringing my passport.
No worries, the girl wrote down all the details and the next day (today) I came back with everything I needed. Only now I talked with a different girl and suddenly the total month cost was 2000 yen more, and nothing I could say would change that.
Of course she only told me that after I had called up to get my MNP number from Docomo (another depressing experience where Docomo insisted I pay them 10000 yen cancellation fee, even though I wasn't breaking any contract).
So I ended up with a more expensive phone than before, plus I had to go to the Softbank website and unsubscribe from a bunch of crappy extra services you're forced to sign up for when you sign the contract.

I would have tried AU, but nobody at the AU stand spoke English.
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
urfe said:
Mind if I asked how you looked for a job? Do you have a 履歴書 and 職務経歴書 written out? Are you comfortable/had you thought out/memorized a good 自己紹介/自己PR? I wouldn't be so defeatist to be honest. Most people who are "screwed" just don't know how or where to look IMO.
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Yes I have made all of those and edited them according to each job I applied for. I also registered at hello work. They find things for me but its usually not permanent with any offer of becoming a 正社員
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
DCharlie said:
for job seeking - i cannot recommend the various job fairs enough. The daijob one was pretty underwhealming but the CFN and Disco events were both great.

I only have jp level 3 on paper - i failed level 2 by a couple of % in 2004 and havent been back to it since, but that really wasn't so much of a factor at the job fairs where it may well have struck me down from jobs going through the usual routes.

The events are great - you get to walk up to any of the hundred plus stalls and chat, you may even have a first round interview there and then. From my experience of job hunting i had fairly limited success with recruiters, but had interiews with several companies and ultimately land my current job from attendin the cfn event.
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Interesting. I am signed up with daijob and a couple of other ones that have occasional job fairs. I suppose I could visit one. I had no idea they actually had recruiters there serious about hiring people right off the floor. I'll look into CFN and Disco. I never even heard about them till now.
 
O

Oare

Member
Beautifully Shaped Monsters said:
My old phone was on the blink, and since it was 2.5 years since I got it and my contracts was done anyway, I thought it would be a relatively painfree thing to get a new one.
(...) Docomo insisted I pay them 10000 yen cancellation fee, even though I wasn't breaking any contract).
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Chances are you were on an auto-renewable 2 years plan.
In which case, if your phone was 2.5 years old, you were actually 6 month in on your renewed contract. Hence the cancellation fee.

I know it's a little bit late to say that, but really, these days, depending on your phone usage, the cheapest option might be to buy a second hand phone and go see an MVNO.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Upsidedown Fuji said:
Interesting. I am signed up with daijob and a couple of other ones that have occasional job fairs. I suppose I could visit one. I had no idea they actually had recruiters there serious about hiring people right off the floor. I'll look into CFN and Disco. I never even heard about them till now.
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ElectricKaibutsu said:
You know, I'm planning to move to Boston. Maybe I'll run into you at one of those.
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There are annual fairs in Japan and all over the US. A bit focused when it comes to industries but still worthwhile to check out. Just get ready to unsub from their endless email updates.
 
matt360

matt360

Member
Can any of you who have been here for more than a couple years still stomach Japanese tv? I just can't do it anymore, aside from a few novelty shows like Sasuke and 逃走中, and of course 笑ってはいけない during New Years.

Maybe it's just a form of culture shock, but over the last two years or so I've noticed that watching Japanese tv actually makes me like living in Japan less. So I just don't do it anymore. D-Life on BS all the way, and I recently got a VPN sorted so I've been watching lots of Netflix.

I guess I just realized that I'll never find manzai funny. And watching people have orgasmic reactions to eating the most mundane things is stupid. There's rampant sexual harassment (but it's ok, because they are comedians and the girls know what they're signing up for, right?) on shows like London Hearts and Shabekuri 007. And seemingly all the rest of Japanese tv consists of "What does gaikoku think about this aspect of Japan? Isn't Japan cool?" type shows. Either that, or "Let's go to gaikoku and be surprised and appalled because they do things differently than we do!" shows. There's also no such thing as a decent Japanese drama.

Anyways, just needed to let that out. Japanese tv is garbage. Maybe some of you guys know how I feel.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Depends what's on I guess. Sometimes I turn the TV on, go through every channel twice, see that it's all garbage variety shows and people feigning excitement at food, then turn the TV off.

If Ongax is on TV I'll watch that. I also like some of the Japanese travel programs. The international ones are always shit but the traveling to random Japanese towns or finding hidden Tokyo spots are good.

Also Sumo bashos are always watched. One starts this weekend.
 
M

Mailenstein

Member
matt360 said:
Can any of you who have been here for more than a couple years still stomach Japanese tv? I just can't do it anymore, aside from a few novelty shows like Sasuke and 逃走中, and of course 笑ってはいけない during New Years.

Maybe it's just a form of culture shock, but over the last two years or so I've noticed that watching Japanese tv actually makes me like living in Japan less. So I just don't do it anymore. D-Life on BS all the way, and I recently got a VPN sorted so I've been watching lots of Netflix.

I guess I just realized that I'll never find manzai funny. And watching people have orgasmic reactions to eating the most mundane things is stupid. There's rampant sexual harassment (but it's ok, because they are comedians and the girls know what they're signing up for, right?) on shows like London Hearts and Shabekuri 007. And seemingly all the rest of Japanese tv consists of "What does gaikoku think about this aspect of Japan? Isn't Japan cool?" type shows. Either that, or "Let's go to gaikoku and be surprised and appalled because they do things differently than we do!" shows. There's also no such thing as a decent Japanese drama.

Anyways, just needed to let that out. Japanese tv is garbage. Maybe some of you guys know how I feel.
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Japanese TV is garbage. There are only a few shows worthwhile to watch, but that sums up to probably 2% over the year. If we watch TV, we watch basically Hulu at home.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
I could never get into J-TV which is kind of a shame since I think it would be good listening practice. When my TV broke and I just bought a monitor instead.

I do like the show Tetsuwan Dash. I've only caught it a couple times though. I wish I could watch that streaming.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Can any of you who have been here for more than a couple years still stomach Japanese tv? I just can't do it anymore, aside from a few novelty shows like Sasuke and 逃走中, and of course 笑ってはいけない during New Years.
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the only shows i've actively enjoyed have been um... 水曜どうでしょう and, lol, 相棒.

Suiyou ... i find actually funny. The Singapore --> jungle camp episode is fantastic. Aibou is great for Japanese practice and has a nice feel to it.

Everything else ? Painful stuff.
 
matt360

matt360

Member
Mailenstein said:
Japanese TV is garbage. There are only a few shows worthwhile to watch, but that sums up to probably 2% over the year. If we watch TV, we watch basically Hulu at home.
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Hulu Japan, or the US version? I signed up for Hulu Japan when it first came out but didn't renew because, while they had plenty of good shows, several of them only had, for example, seasons 2 and 4, or some random number like that.

ElectricKaibutsu said:
I could never get into J-TV which is kind of a shame since I think it would be good listening practice. When my TV broke and I just bought a monitor instead.

I do like the show Tetsuwan Dash. I've only caught it a couple times though. I wish I could watch that streaming.
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Yes, I do like that show. That's the one where the guys from Tokio do the farming and the zero yen shokudou and all that stuff, right? I can also enjoy 行ってQ every now and then.
 
M

Mailenstein

Member
matt360 said:
Hulu Japan, or the US version? I signed up for Hulu Japan when it first came out but didn't renew because, while they had plenty of good shows, several of them only had, for example, seasons 2 and 4, or some random number like that.
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Hulu Japan. My wife's english is not good enough to fully understand the plot without subtitles. But yeah, they do that with many shows like this month season 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7. Next month season 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. It's weird, but it's not a deal breaker for us.
 
T

TheBryanJZX90

Member
Upsidedown Fuji said:
She said she expects to get a job when we start living in the US. She also has an ok paying job in Japan currently although she's itching to have a reason to drop it for a new one or the move to the US. No more kids, at least not until we have a more stable job situation either here or in the US. She's not obsessed over popping out babies and being a housewife which is a relief.
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What kind of work does your wife do? Can it translate easily to the job market in America?

For my wife and I, she was making a decent salary for Japan, but in a job that didn't necessarily help in America. Despite that, it was pretty easy for her to find work in LA, as there are a number of Japanese companies that will look favorably on really any native Japanese with some kind of office experience. Only, it's pretty much the mirror of gaijin working in Japan. Temp or contract work, poor pay, little chance of becoming a full employee with benefits. So not the most fulfilling positions. After working there for awhile my wife discovered maybe she just wants to be a housewife, ha.

Man, we moved to LA because of the Japanese community. And it absolutely is strong here, it makes it a lot easier. But LA is an expensive place to live, and we really don't have any family in the area. It's tough.
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
TheBryanJZX90 said:
What kind of work does your wife do? Can it translate easily to the job market in America?

For my wife and I, she was making a decent salary for Japan, but in a job that didn't necessarily help in America. Despite that, it was pretty easy for her to find work in LA, as there are a number of Japanese companies that will look favorably on really any native Japanese with some kind of office experience. Only, it's pretty much the mirror of gaijin working in Japan. Temp or contract work, poor pay, little chance of becoming a full employee with benefits. So not the most fulfilling positions. After working there for awhile my wife discovered maybe she just wants to be a housewife, ha.

Man, we moved to LA because of the Japanese community. And it absolutely is strong here, it makes it a lot easier. But LA is an expensive place to live, and we really don't have any family in the area. It's tough.
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Thanks for sharing your story. It's nice to hear from someone that's gone through what I'm going through now.

My wife in simple terms is a secretary. Not an OL, but more she works in a college library office handling calls, meetings, teachers workshops, guest speakers, book keeping, data entry as well as managing the stacks at the library as well. She's a librarian and secretary all rolled into one. Office work with a Japanese business would be fairly easy for her to pick up in San Diego. I'm fine with her working or being a housewife, but it's pretty much expected the souse works as well because it's the only way to make life more affordable in so cal. I'm just glad I'm not moving to San Fransisco. That place is even worse as far as the cost of living goes.

If you want to share any more of your experience moving back and living in LA with your wife, I'd totally like to hear about it if you're cool with it.

Just like LA, San Diego is a pretty pricey place to live but the access and scenery is totally worth it I think, as does my wife.
 
A

Ayumi

Member
Desmond said:
.
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Hey, in case you use LINE, here is something familiar:

ダメよ。ダメ！ダメ！
https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1014216/en

main.png
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Office work with a Japanese business would be fairly easy for her to pick up in San Diego. I'm fine with her working or being a housewife
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one thing that does some what scare me is that both my wife and I work but we have two kids - right now the in-laws help us get stuff done

the issue is that if anything happened, one of us would have to change jobs or possibly stop working altogether - but then, whilst we could survive on one salary, it would be pretty tight going (and without being crass we "do alright")

The flip side is that we could move - we'd both be pretty confident that we'd have no issues getting work. I guess ultimately - i love japan but the costs and the relative value of what you get for those costs starts to look a bit poor over , say, the total time of both kids education. Then there is thoughts like "what would we have gotten for the mortgage we pay here if we were in <other country>?" etc - but i suspect there in lies the road to madness.
 
I

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Upsidedown Fuji said:
Thanks for sharing your story. It's nice to hear from someone that's gone through what I'm going through now.

My wife in simple terms is a secretary. Not an OL, but more she works in a college library office handling calls, meetings, teachers workshops, guest speakers, book keeping, data entry as well as managing the stacks at the library as well. She's a librarian and secretary all rolled into one. Office work with a Japanese business would be fairly easy for her to pick up in San Diego. I'm fine with her working or being a housewife, but it's pretty much expected the souse works as well because it's the only way to make life more affordable in so cal. I'm just glad I'm not moving to San Fransisco. That place is even worse as far as the cost of living goes.

If you want to share any more of your experience moving back and living in LA with your wife, I'd totally like to hear about it if you're cool with it.

Just like LA, San Diego is a pretty pricey place to live but the access and scenery is totally worth it I think, as does my wife.
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Totally anecdotal and my observation, but the wives in this area who do the secretarial type jobs have the rockiest marriages. I know from their side and the husband's. The ones with the career job or my coworkers seem to have much better family lives. I totally agree with the above dude, it's probably going to be her feeling the way you do now about your job. Though, in general, I think it affects a man differently being in an unfulfilling role.
 
Upsidedown Fuji

Upsidedown Fuji

Member
ponpo said:
Too much deer hype IMO. kyoto tsukemono > boring deer.
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Why not both? It's not a shabby place to walk around. It's not like he would have to feed every deer he encounters. Lol. I enjoyed watching others freak out when they got swarmed by deer for those crackers sold by the street vendors.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Upsidedown Fuji said:
Why not both? It's not a shabby place to walk around. It's not like he would have to feed every deer he encounters. Lol. I enjoyed watching others freak out when they got swarmed by deer for those crackers sold by the street vendors.
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Must spend as much time as possible buying pickled goods inside nishiki market. No time for deer!
 
EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Parakeetman said:
How you enjoying the food out there EviL?
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Food has been consistently good in Japan, across all styles of cuisine. I'm not really eating enough since the portions tend to be small and I'm not going to eat two dinners, but it's functioning like a hardcore weight cut, so whatever.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
EviLore said:
Food has been consistently good in Japan, across all styles of cuisine. I'm not really eating enough since the portions tend to be small and I'm not going to eat two dinners, but it's functioning like a hardcore weight cut, so whatever.
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Very glad to hear you are enjoying the food here. :) One thing for sure is Kyoto has some great dishes that use vegetables out there.

If you are still hungry try check out the convenience stores you would be quite surprised how good the foods are in there.
 
C

cvxfreak

Member
What made you interested in Japan?
Games, particularly Resident Evil.

Why did you learn the language?
It's necessary so you can live here without major hindrances. I actually enjoyed studying it all those years ago.

Are you currently living in Japan?
Yes, in Tokyo.

How long have you lived in Japan?
Just over 7 years.

What is your favorite place in Japan?
Bizarre answer, but Haneda Airport. All the terminals are pleasant, and I can watch the airplanes take off from the windows. (I'm an avid airplane traveller)

What is your favorite Japanese food & drink?
Sashimi and cold green tea (particularly Oi Ocha).

What is your favorite season to be in Japan?
In terms of weather, fall (for me, fall is when I don't have the air conditioner or heater on). In terms of festiveness, definitely December. It's very cold, but for some reason I tend to feel more energized thanks to the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Where are you from, and which languages do you speak? (conversational and above
English (native), Japanese (close to fluent), Tagalog (conversational, when I'm not too embarrassed to try it)

What should we call you if we ever met you IRL?
Alex, although some people do call me CVX, which is amusing.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
EviLore said:
Food has been consistently good in Japan, across all styles of cuisine. I'm not really eating enough since the portions tend to be small and I'm not going to eat two dinners, but it's functioning like a hardcore weight cut, so whatever.
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There's always all you can eat Korean BBQ if you get really hungry.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
only a week left before I'll move to Japan and I got to admit, the prospect of leaving my "socialised medicine" comfort zone is really scary to me. Even though I haven't been sick in years, not being able to just walk into a clinic and getting treatment without having to pay is something very foreign to me.

I got student insurance which is cheap, but from what I could gather, I still have to pay about 30% out of pocket.

Are there any other options I could look into?

or maybe I should ask: what can I expect as far as medical costs go?
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
Zornica said:
only a week left before I'll move to Japan and I got to admit, the prospect of leaving my "socialised medicine" comfort zone is really scary to me. Even though I haven't been sick in years, not being able to just walk into a clinic and getting treatment without having to pay is something very foreign to me.

I got student insurance which is cheap, but from what I could gather, I still have to pay about 30% out of pocket.

Are there any other options I could look into?

or maybe I should ask: what can I expect as far as medical costs go?
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Healthcare here is cheap cheap cheap. You can get supplementary insurance, sure, but I don't know how necessary it is. For example, if you get sick and need antibiotics, expect to pay about ¥3000-3500 for doctor visit plus medicine. Maybe less depending on the medicine.

Edit: you know what... 3k is probably way higher than reality. I haven't gone in awhile but I'm always surprised how cheap it is.
 
K

Kenshin001

Member
Zornica said:
only a week left before I'll move to Japan and I got to admit, the prospect of leaving my "socialised medicine" comfort zone is really scary to me. Even though I haven't been sick in years, not being able to just walk into a clinic and getting treatment without having to pay is something very foreign to me.

I got student insurance which is cheap, but from what I could gather, I still have to pay about 30% out of pocket.

Are there any other options I could look into?

or maybe I should ask: what can I expect as far as medical costs go?
Click to expand...

My last visit to a doctor to see a specialist about a calf cramp cost less than $10. Ambulances are free. What sort of medical expenses are you expecting?
 
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