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Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

You'll be able to get a better looking girlfriend than you could in your home country. Girls won't treat you like a rock star, but if you are reasonably attractive and have conversation skills exceeding those of a dish rag you'll have no problems.

If you learn the language you'll be able to make friends. Be careful though, a lot of the young guys here will sabotage your efforts in picking up a girl. I've had so called "friends" tell girls that I a.) am gay b.) sleep with a lot of dirty girls or c.) might have aids. I'm not joking about this. Suffice to say I have very few Japanese male friends. The ones I do have have all, without exception, lived abroad for extended periods of time.

If you want to use NOVA as a springboard to get a visa and a better job, by all means do so. Lots of people do. 1 month is sufficient notice for quitting at a Japanese company.

As far as the gold diggers go, they've never bothered me. Probably because I could only afford to splurge on a "Mos Burger" for them instead of the Louis Vuitton Handbag they were coveting.

Just one guy's opinion. Hope it helps.

zorro (3) · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 202

Zzonkmiles · Joined: 05 Apr 2003 Posts: 309

OP:

Just be honest with yourself. If you wanna talk about the women, go to the Young Dudes in Japan forum. You can find it on Google. Denying on this forum that the women are not a priority for you when 4 of your original 10 questions have to do with them makes you come across really lame. Rolling Eyes

muji · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 23

What is OP? Original Poster?
zzonkmiles, you misunderstand. Getting into a good relationship when Im there IS a priority for me, and that is why I'd like information on how things go down in Japan. However, I'm not FIXATED on women, as was suggested. Its not like Im coming to Japan to get laid - I can get that anywhere in the world - but finding a good partner can be hard when, as in some places, foreigners are preyed upon by manipulative women with agenda. So it helps to figure out if this is a big thing in Japan, no?

Canuck, thankyou that's extremely helpful. Do the japanese you socialise with generally speak english, or do you speak in japanese? Is english widely spoken in Kyoto? Generally, how did you make friends with Japanese people who'd spent time abroad? Meet them at work, or in bars etc?

Can anyone tell me, do the NOVA jobs suck compared to other eikaiwa jobs? Also, is eikaiwa teaching generally very challenging, or is it very easy and boring? Is it a stressful profession?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Your friend may own a business in Japan, but I think there is a minimum limit on how many staff he must employ before he can be eligible to sponsor a work visa (or perhaps it is the type of business). Also, if he plans to try helping you by pulling the wool over immigration's eyes, that's his prerogative, but is he going to try sponsoring you for a visa that would also permit work as a teacher? You couldn't, for example, get a work visa through him as an IT engineer, then work as a teacher on that visa.

muji · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 23

Thanks again Glenski, very helpful.

Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

Like it matters here.

Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

Almost all of the Japanese people I hang out with can speak English very well. However, I have my 3kyu Japanese rating...which is FAR from fluency but in general allows for daily conversation (I can actually say quite a bit more). I speak in Japanese to them quite a bit. They laugh at how badly I suck, but they are perfectly happy conversing in their own language.

This is key. You will almost inevitably get invited to a "drinking party" at some point where your purpose will be "English *beep*". You're there as a live study tool. A common phrase that should tip you off is "Lets speak English!" any time you try to speak Japanese. I avoid these parties like the plague.

I meet friends literally everywhere except my school. My school allows socialization with students but I don't really want to...it feels like work.

As far as Eikaiwas go, in my opinion the workload is mentally draining but not mentally challenging, if that makes sense. A well-scrubbed monkey could do my job but he'd be wiped at the end of the day. A lot of people hate NOVA but based on some of the posts here it seems more than a few enjoy it as well.

muji · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 23

Thanks Canuck. Any idea if it's possible to work part time for Nova?

JonnyB61 · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 216 Location: Japan

Don't know if you will take a blind bit of notice of this but here are the results of a completely unscientific survey I conducted yesterday evening.

I showed your OP to my wife, (Japanese and fluent English speaker), her sister, (same), and her sister's best friend, (Japanese and high intermediate English speaker). Here are the results:

Wife: He's a creep!

Sister: He really is a creep!

Friend: Mmm, Cureepu!

Food for thought!

Also, I've noticed that every time someone answers one of your questions, you respond by asking yet another. So, Muji my son, here's a question for you. Just exactly what does our bright-eyed Japanese girl get in return for her investment in you? I'll tell you. She get's a boy with no experience, no earning power and an obsession with his nasty little nudger. To my mind, it's more a question of the girls of Japan avoiding you.
Before you rush to post another ill-considered reply, just take a moment to reflect on how you are coming across in this thread. It's not good, I assure you. How about printing your OP off and keeping it. Look at it again in ten years' time and I'll offer you 10 / 1 that you'll be squirming with embarrassment!

muji · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 23

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

You can request an area, but it is at the discretion of the company where you actually end up. They will generally try to accommodate you but where you go is based on the staffing needs of the company at the time.

Kyoto is a very, very commonly requested location as you can imagine, and each eikaiwa only has a couple of branches there as far as I know- it is actually quite a small city.

My guess is that if you requested Kyoto you would end up in a) Osaka- huge city with many branches, or possibly b) somewhere in the backblocks of rural Kyoto prefecture, a long way from the city.

As for some of your other questions, I know: a) guys who have dated Japanese girls and were dumped because they couldn't afford the Cartier watch/ LV bag the girls wanted. b) Guys who dated Japanese women, had fun while they were here but didn't end up in a lasting relationship and have now gone back to their home country. c) Guys who are happily married to Japanese women and d) guys who were married to Japanese women and are now divorced (and in some cases denied access to their children).

Just like in your country there are all types of people here and relationships can go in many different directions. It's not really something we can predict for you. Maybe you will find a nice girl, maybe you won't.

Eva Pilot · Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:05 am Post subject: Re: Local Survey

zorro (3) · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 202

For the record, I don't think you sound like a pervert. After all, reproducing is a key aim in human kind. But perhaps you should just wait and see what happens with the women.

Good luck.

muji · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 23

Thankyou very much everybody. You've all be extremely helpful

Eva, I'm not sure how I gave that impression as it's absolutely not the case at all, but I guess I must be doing something wrong to make you think that, so I'm sorry.

Again, thanks everybody.