Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

[Glenski]

[SEndrigo]

Here are some answers for you Travel Zen:

1. Most foreigners in Japan are absolute tossers

2. Japan is a great country and in spite of its shortcomings is a good place to live

3. You should stay in Mongolia, Korea, or wherever you are at the moment

4. Your original question can only be answered with a "yes" or "no", since it is completely vague. If this is OK for you, then I'll just say "YES" and shake my head at the fact that you have so much free time to waste asking inane questions

best,

[Mike L.]

Sendrigo wrote:

[SEndrigo]

Hey Mike,

There's no need to get defensive, you know exactly what I meant by that statement....let's just be honest, for whatever reason, Japan attracts the best and worst foreigners...

You've been here for 5 years so you can attest to that...perhaps I shouldn't have said "most", but rather, "many". I still stand by that statement, though.

And perhaps it's a Tokyo thing, but I've met few foreigners here who I could hold a basic conversation with, let alone create a friendship....and of course, it wasn't because of language barrier!!

[Mike L.]

[may be going]

well i've only been here 2 months but thus far it has been everything i expected. having lived in korea, samoa and thailand teaching english, i wanted a place that wasn't in the west but had a lot of western traits.

i've lived in some way out places so i wanted somewhere that was foreign but still easy to live in with all your mod cons. i'm just outside tokyo and thus far everyhting has been sweet.

i can buy all the goodies i like back home, or if i choose i can buy whatever japanese goodies i need. i can watch english football, super 12 rugby and all kinds of surfing, or i can go see sumo, kendo or aikido if i choose.

having the option to live like you do at home or live like you're in a new world is, so far, lovely. it's what i hoped for before i came and so far it's panned out. i've even been surfing 4 times already and will buy a car soon and surf every weekend.

not much different from home in a lot of ways but if you want the 'japanese' experience it's very readily available.

[SEndrigo]

Hey may be going,

Japan only seems Western on the outside....it is not, in fact, Western....once you've spent more time here, you'll notice that the mindset of most people here is not Western at all.

Mind you, I'm not making a value judgement and saying this is good or bad, just that Japan is not a Western country in most aspects.

And, other than being able to watch footy, you cannot live here like you did back home...Japan is nothing like Australia.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, only preparing you for the moments where you will get frustrated and punch your 5 cm solid steel door

And, you talk about buying a car.......do you know what buying a car entails?

This is a great place....but it is not like your home country and never will be.

cheers

[Brooks]

true. I bought a car in March. What a pain.
It costs more than it does in the US, and gas is expensive.
I have a parking place in Sagami-Ono, but I had to pay for it six months up front.
In Kanagawa there is only one department of motor vehicles and there were so many people there when I went. Like in a 3rd world country. I want to get a license but I have only completed the first step, which is to get my NY license translated. I don`t have time to take the road test, written test, and `physical` test since I work six days a week.

There will be times when we misunderstand Japan. It is not like how we think it is before we go. My brother preferred Kyoto to Tokyo since he got to see maiko and temples. In Japan we look for things that live in the past but we live in the 21st century.

I find Japanese people to be kind of set in their ways and the challenge is that we have to be flexible. We have to adapt.

[Gordon]

I have not had such a tough time with cars; we currently have 2 cars. You need a Japanese friend whom you can trust. There really is a lot of paperwork and the shaken is a real stupid idea. People throw away perfectly good cars because they don't want to take it through the expensive inspection process (shaken). K cars are the way to go as they are much cheaper for tax and insurance and tolls. Where we live a car is vital, but most people in the city who are single can easily go without one.

[SEndrigo]

Hey Brooks,

I was under the impression that if you're American, you cannot get your licence translated, and that you have to take the driving exam...is this not true?

I figure your parking must have cost 10,000 yen a month eh? That's probably the going price around SagamiOno.

[Brooks]

I am from New York.

Actually I had to pay 9,000 yen a month for my parking place.

Yep I had to get my license translated and I have to take the road test. In fact Americans have to do everything a Japanese person does to get a license. I fail to see why I had to shell out over 3,000 yen to get my license translated.

The only good thing is that the written test is in English in Kanagawa.
(and Chinese, Korean, Spanish, etc.)

Canada and Australia, I think, sent Japan reports on traffic violations from their provinces but the USA has not from the 50 states.
Before 2002 Americans didn`t have to take a road test.

So Japan makes Americans take the road test. The US did a study on driving in Japan, and it turns out that there are fewer violations in the US than in Japan.

[Brooks]

yeah Gordon, Kei cars are the way to go. The one I got is kind of small but the price was right. Insurance is less than the US. My wife got a good deal on it (I guess due to her driving record in Japan).

The previous owner just used it on the weekends, and thought having a car wasn`t worth it.
My wife has a job in Atsugi, Kanagawa, and before she used to have to take the train and a bus, which was a pain.

[Big John Stud]

SEndrigo wrote:

Hey may be going, Japan only seems Western on the outside....it is not, in fact, Western....once you've spent more time here, you'll notice that the mindset of most people here is not Western at all. Mind you, I'm not making a value judgement and saying this is good or bad, just that Japan is not a Western country in most aspects. And, other than being able to watch footy, you cannot live here like you did back home...Japan is nothing like Australia. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, only preparing you for the moments where you will get frustrated and punch your 5 cm solid steel door And, you talk about buying a car.......do you know what buying a car entails? This is a great place....but it is not like your home country and never will be. cheers

Talk about being a tosser SEndrigo who do you think you are That was some pretty mean words you wrote!

And a message to May Be Going: no two people experience a place in the same way anyway!

[may be going]