Job Discussion Forums

[David]

Some advice for newbies on how NOT to behave when you arrive in Japan.

1. (for men) Trying to hit on every Japanese woman you run into. For every Japanese woman interested in western men, there are hundred who could care less about them.
2. (for men) Rating the appearance of Jpn women on the train in loud English, thinking that no one understands what you're saying.
3. Ranting and raving about the injustices of Japanese society in the presence of Japanese co-workers.
4. Complaining about things like riding the train, small apartments, the cost of getting a telephone line. It grows tiring very quickly.
5. Complaining that there's nothing to do. I live in Tokyo and I still hear this.
6. Asking Japanese office staffers to do favors for you such as calling NTT to find out why your phone service was cut off. (hint, try paying your bill on time).
7. Not making an effort to learn Japanese and then complaining that people don't understand you.
8. (For men) Touching your students in class. Especially female students. I've seen more than a few teachers lose their jobs on that one.
9. Saying that you hate the locals and hate the country, but love the money you're making.
10. Eating only at McDonalds or restaurants that have English menus during your entire time in Japan.

[denise]

David--these are great tips for all countries. I cringe when I witness violations of them...

[Brooks]

there are some weird people here.
Some of them have strong religious beliefs they want to share or they can`t fit into the US so they come here. Thankfully not all gaijin are strange. Maybe we notice the strange ones because there aren`t so many foreign people. We do stick out.

Brooks

[tjpnz2000]

Good post.

One for veterans, I catch myself doing it constantly, is talking to yourself out loud under your breath as you think know because you know nobody will understand you. They still see this wierd guy talking to himself

T

[Brooks]

number seven may be the most obvious.
Japanese is a tough language. Learning kanji is tiring, but that is just the way it is. With learning Japanese we need to learn the language and the culture.
Our students are learning English and it certainly is not easy for them.
Why some people come to Japan but don`t want to learn Japanese - that I will never undestand.

Brooks

[David]

Yeah, it took me forever to just learn hiragana and katakana. Kanji is still a challenge. Take it step by step. I chose to at least learn how to read a menu, order in a restaurant, and read a map just for survival purposes. It takes time, but its not impossible. Many students will respect an English teacher who is making an effort to learn the language.

[diomedes]

I spent over four years in Seoul, and now only four months in suburbs of Tokyo, but living in Japan is so much easier than Korea. It's more international and there is a more developed ex-pat infrastructure. What you write is true of either country.

I guess the biggest problem I have is with people who refuse to eat the local food. Korean food is very spicy and I can see how that could be a problem for people who don't like spicy food.

One of the teachers I worked with in Korea said she wouldn't eat Korean food because, "I like who I am and I don't want to become Korean." What is that suppose to mean? I was puzzled by it then and still am today.

So, I come to Japan and the first thing I do is explored the local Yoshinoyas and Matsuyas and the cheap Japanese lunch counters. It's great. I just belly up to the counter and eat with the salarymen and high school kids.

So, a few days one of the teachers was complaining about the high cost of food and I mentioned a couple cheap places I go to in the neighborhood and she went off on a riff for 10 miuntes about how she hates Japanese food.

What's up with that?

[Lynn]