Job Discussion Forums

[Canuck2112]

I may be offered a teaching position in a smallish city (around 120,000 people). The school in question has a small amount of teachers, and from the impression I've gotten so far there may be a significant generation gap between myself and the other teachers (I'm in my early 20's, most of the others are mid 30's and older). My question...do you find that if you're gaijin in a smaller city it's easy to form a good friend base with other teachers/foreigners? I'm pretty easy to get along with, but in the past most of my friendships have been formed through introduction from others. I'm sure I'll be introduced to many cool people through other teachers but many of them may not be up for same activities I am; again I'm worried about the age difference.

[khmerhit]

HELLO! MY NAME IS
KHMERHIT

Canuck2112 said:

[TokyoLiz]

Yep, I'm 32 and nearly dead.

My idea of a good time is shuffleboard, I partake of lime cordial once a fortnight, no drink stronger than that, thankyou, bedtime is promptly at 10pm nightly, weekends a half hour earlier, and I discreetly hang my depends out of sight of the neighbourhood kids, so as not to shock them about the perils of gettin' old.

I can't remember who said it, because you see, for so long age and crepitude have assaulted my faculties, but some wise old fart once said 'Young men think old men are fools. Old men know young men are fools'.

Yep, kid, you probably couldn't keep up with us old timers!

[denise]

I've only been here for a couple of months, and I've done OK. The other teachers (whose ages range from late 20s, like me, to 40s--no problems so far relating!) have been great--introducing me to people (both gaijin and Japanese), showing me around, etc. I'm in a tiny little town of 30,000, so it's easy to meet people.

Good luck! I hope things work out for you.

d

[Canuck2112]

I see sarcasm ripens with age, much like a fine wine

I'm glad you two still party hard. Age is irrelevant to me, I'm looking for like-minded people to party with. Where I'm from, the people in their 30's tend to hang at their own bars, and the people in their 20's tend to hang at theirs...except for those interloping cougars, which is another story altogether. I'm hoping those molds are broken in Japan

[TokyoLiz]

[Glenski]

[Canuck2112]

I meant no offense, TokyoLiz, with the term "cougar". It's a term designated by behaviour, not necessarily age or sex. The Oxford English dictionary (OK, not really ) defines cougar as "an extremely sexually aggressive woman who preys on young, naive males". Just because a woman is in her late 30's/early 40's doesn't mean she's a cougar. In my experience, the overwhelming majority aren't. It isn't inherently intertwined with age or sex, although a man in that age bracket who hit on a girl in her late teens would probably be labelled a much harsher term than "cougar" by others.

I used to work in a university bar, and during my one year there I witnessed two incidents of cougars putting roofies into the drinks of freshmen males. I also saw countless "cougar-instigated" fights, as well as a heineken bottle smashed over the head of a young girl by a cougar who's prey happened to be her boyfriend. I do have a bit of a jaded view of them, and would fancy my chances against an actual B.C. mountain cougar over a bar cougar

Hope I clarified things, sorry if I offended you

[TokyoLiz]

Wherever you go, you'll meet aggressive, oversexed people. Don't expect anything different here.

But I'm sure there are lots of gems to be found. You have to look and have an open mind.