Job Discussion Forums

[Reisender]

[katk]

Yes I will be teaching at an Amity school for AEON.

[Cardinal Synn]

Yes, Americans seem to like visiting Hiroshima.

[goman72]

Yep, I went to GSU and worked for Time Warner. I'm now living in Australia and working as a freelance columnist for a local paper, jingles composer, vocal coach, translator for songs from English to Spanish and a singer/songwriter (plus have a government job too - where does all the time go???)...

Going to Japan for at least a year will be a nice break from all of this but i am hoping it won't be Okinawa, rather Hokkaido !!! (the complete opposite !!!!!).

CG

[katk]

[Reisender]

I've got a funny anecdote about Yanks in Hiroshima. Anyway, my boss who is Japanese-American, mentioned something about a US military base in Hiroshima one day. I expressed surprise at the existence of such. When he asked why, I said it seemed somewhat tasteless for Americans to place a base there after making it the target of an atrocity like the A-bomb. He said, "But that was the Air Force, this is a Marine base we're talking here."

He claims to have learnt black humour from Brits and Aussies.

[katk]

note to reisender: i know what an anecdote is

[Cardinal Synn]

[sethness]

First, let me say "I am SOOOOO jealous of you, man !"
I'd give my eyeteeth to be working somewhere in Okinawa.
(I've been living and working in Hiroshima for 4 years now, where the weather is always terminally cold or terminally rainy. And, I'm a former SCUBA instructor....man I have DREAMS about SCUBA, these, days, because I miss it so much. I crusie teh help-wanted ads, hoping to find something in Okinawa (though Nova wouldn't be my first choice, if I had a choie.)

I've been to Naha, and yes, it's sort of removed from the rest of the world. On the other hand, it's a pretty big city all on its own, with lots to do. I'd recommend the SCUBA, but then you'd never leave the place, and that means one less future job-opening for ME to find. *grin* You could do a LOT worse than living in Naha. Almost any of the other islands would make most people feel a bit...trapped in a small town; the other Okinawan islands have less than 50,000 people on them, and only one movie house. Many of the smaller islands are basically given over to old farmers who get drunk every night. (That, and SCUBA ! YAY !!!!!)

About the American military, particularly in Okinawa, YES, they're a pack of young, stupid, us-and-them, dumb-and-full-of-fight kids trying to prove how aggressive they can be. It doesn't help that they have each other to coax into a testosterone-driven froth, nor that there is SUCH a big cultural barrier between the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood life on a military base, and the Japanese life outside. NOr that Japanese, when threatened, typically try to defuse the situation along by smiling and acting kind. US miltary just don't understand that kind of persuasion. They see it as an invitation to keep pressing their luck.

It's true about the rapes, by the way. There've been several rapes by US military people (alone or in bunches) in recent memory, and at least two of them were against girls under 15 years old. The US military commander in Okinawa doesn't respect the Japanese AT ALL, as proven by an e-mail he wrote that was leaked to the Japanese press, in which he said that he thought the Japanese were a bunch of idiots, and he didn't need to heed their interests & concerns.

If I were you, I would take seriously the suggestion someone else made laughingly: Openly declare yourself (through wardrobe with flags or peace buttons or whatever) and also through hairstyle (no military buzz-cut !!!) that you are most certainly NOT an American military guy. When I lived and worked in a youth hostel in Hawaii, I saw a very large number of Americans who sewed Canadian flags on their backpacks and clothing, just to escape anti-American sentiments.

And...avoid the pubs where they hang out. Near the base, there's a big carousel (big carnival wheel) that's smack-dab in the middle of military nightlife. Avoid that area, or dress neutral, so you don't get into fights with drunken gangs of US military pups.

Up here in Hiroshima, amazingly, we have a US military base. Hell, we even showed "Pearl Harbor: The MOvie" when it came to town. You'd think that America would have more good sense than to plant military here, where tensions would run really really high. (Think, "first A-bomb... nonmilitary target..." and Hiroshima shoudl come to mind.)
Here, some if not many of the local pubs won't let US military folk into the pub unless 1) it's just one guy at a time, not a wolfpack, or 2) there's one Japanese escort per military guy, to help keep the peace.

This is bars...turning down business... because the US military kids can't control themselves. These kids have been trained to be us-against-them, turn-off-your-mind, violent adrenalin-junkies. Killing for a living...it's bad for a man's mind.

Errr....by the way, I'm an American. One of the 49%-or-more who voted against Bush both times. Go for it, man-- enjoy Okinawa, and be anti-American. No doubt you can find a large circle of Japanese friends and places to hang out where the military don't go.

(WHat am I SAYING ?!?!?! Uhhh... you'll hate it ! Quit ! Stay home ! Err...what was the phone number of the place you were gonna work ??? *grin, laughter* Have a great time. Invite us, once you get settled ! )

[homersimpson]

I think you got too much water in your ears.

[Sadken]

Thanks again for all the advice and, katk, you blatantly know you want it.

The difficult thing is that I normally have my hair pretty short because my hair is, basically, rubbish. I can see, however, that I'm gonna have to take one for the team so I am growing it out a bit and I've also bought a couple of England football shirts (including the classic World Cup 90 one). I'm going against the military thing with an open mind now. Not all of them are going to be 18, are they? Some of them may be open to normal conversation and some of them may even let me have a go in their helicopters or firing their guns, so who knows? Could be good.

[goman72]

Yes, a couple of England shirts shoud do it... Man! Why not be a little more original than that? Why not wear the football shirt of your local team? That would mean more than just any old England shirt... I mean, wearing the colors of Bristol Rovers or Scunthorpe United (God forbid!) would make more of a statement...

CG

[Sadken]

I'm a Leyton Orient fan and two steps ahead of you.

[Big John Stud]

A football shirt would not be enough. You should wear the whole uniform of your local team. I mean the whole uniform, the pants, shirt socks and most importantly the shoes! Then no one will confuse you to be an American.

[katk]

yes u make me randy little monkey man