Job Discussion Forums

[Gordon]

Cha muir,
It seems some of your experiences are similar to mine in Japan. If you do plan to come here one day, let me know.
I figure I should give my two yen worth since families are my fave topic.

limitations of job choices and country choices
This is a biggie. I'd have to say that anyone who brings families overseas, is very serious about their work and profession.
I know that money isn't everything, but if you have a family you do need to make a little more as you have more mouths to feed. I certainly look at the salary a little closer now than when I was single. You can't fly home as much, unless you're in the ME or work for a big organization and they include return yearly flights. I have 3 full fare flights now to think of when we travel. When I work overseas, I wouldn't consider staying only for a year as it isn't worth it to uproot a family for such a short period of time. I've been in Japan almost 2 years and don't plan to leave any time soon.

health care
As far as the country goes, I want to go somewhere relatively safe and where disease isn't rampant.


education for children including university
University is a long way off, but home schooling is certainly an option. I don't like the education system in Japan and the kind of students it produces.

stability
This can be a plus for employers as they know you won't do a runner with a newborn.

cultural adaptation for children and wives or husbands
Your family has to agree 100% to want to be overseas. My wife loves travel and adventure, having kids hasn't changed that. She also is gifted at languages, Japanese will be her 4th language. My daughter was so young when we came, she only knows Japan. Canada was a holiday and the food was terrible in her eyes. Kids can adapt easier than we can and can pick up the language like a sponge. They'll soon be translating for you.


One benefit of raising a family overseas, is you don't have the same family pressures telling you how to raise your children. We miss the family support and babysitting (and Mom's cooking), but we don't miss the unwanted advice.

Lastly, I'd say don't put off having kids because you think you won't be able to travel or live abroad. In the past 14 months, we've had vacations in Bali, Canada and the Philippines.

[cha muir]

[Sherri]

but we don't miss the unwanted advice.

Really Gordon and cha muir? You don't get unwanted advice? I get it all the time and so do my friends with kids here. Advice on how I should be dressing them, carrying them, feeding them, all from from complete strangers in my neighbourhood.
Sherri

[Gordon]

We hardly ever get unwanted advice. Mind you we don't speak Japanese like you do so have no idea if a neighbour is giving it to us. I think many of the neighbours are scared of us anyway, there are very few foreigners around here. My wife's J-friends don't really give advice, but always ask her for it.

[Glenski]

cha muir,

You're entitled to your own opinions and lifestyle, but I can tell you and your wife that you are dead wrong about your "facts" concerning vaccinations. My background is in infectious diseases and the biotechnology required to make such things as vaccines, so I am an expert in these matters.

[gugelhupf]

It's a matter of individual choice whether to have vaccines or any other form of medical intervention. I won't lecture anyone for making their own, informed, choice.

What does get right up my nose, however, is the amount of soft-baked new age claptrap all over the www about how vaccines are sinister things that serve only to make profits for drug companies and contain nasty ingredients.

1. The immune system can only attack invaders that it recognises as malevolent. Many of the most devastating diseases sneak past this machinery because they don't "look" like anything the body has dealt with before.

2. Immunity against a given pathogen can only arise if the immune system has contact with that pathogen. This is why once you have had chickenpox then (usually) you won't contract it again even if you are in contact with the pathogen. Relying on this sort of immune response to guard against crippling diseases is folly - where's the fun in getting immunity to polio the "natural" way??

3. Vaccination involves exposing the body directly to benign material derived from otherwise virulent microbes so that the body can develop its own immune response to those microbes if and when it encounters real live ones.

Good diet and environment help guard against a lot of illnesses and ailments but they DO NOT protect you against the likes of polio, Hep B, TB and tetanus - all of which can seriously f*^& up your day.

[Capergirl]

[Gordon]

My how this post has changed. That's too bad.

[cha muir]

What a can of worms. What a hot topic. I have started a new thread so we can get on with talking about other issues concerning our families.
For those of you interested in reading about the dangers of childhood vaccinations go to www.thinktwice.com. Real sobering.

a snippet:

According to Dr. Sandra Huffman, head of Nurture: The Center to Prevent Childhood Malnutrition, “Increasing Americans' breastfeeding rate would prevent more childhood diseases—and deaths—than [vaccination programs endorsed by the government].”(125) A distinction must therefore be made: breastfed babies are immunized;(126-128) children who are injected with germs and other toxic substances are vaccinated.

Calling the shots “preventive medicine” is deceptive as well. According to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, pioneering author of Aerobics, “My concept of preventive medicine is trying to prevent the things that kill us. Infectious disease is way down the list.”(129) (Dr. Cooper was ostracized from the medical community for promoting exercise to improve health!)



Lets direct all future vaccination response to the new thread.

cha

[willy]

Well, I just want to thank everyone for bringing to mind all the scary stuff and to say that we have been relatively happy even my low pay. My daily worries are mostly how angry my wife will get when she sees someone smile at me and me smile back!!

Education: not yet she is only 1year old

Health care: Don�t want to thin about it �even if I had the $$ their aren�t any good
Hospitals here

Limitations of job choices: that�s a big one here two of my friends have left for that reason

Cultural adaptation for children and wives: she will have a big problem with that if we go home but the baby? Well maybe she wont like the food.

[Glenski]

I will read more of that web site, cha muir, but I have to say that it is on the surface one of those "sources" of information that is quite dubious at best.

For those of you who wonder, here is just one clip from the title page link entitled Secret Government Database of Vaccine-damaged Children: (shades of X-Files fiction!)
The general public is essentially unaware of the true number of people (mostly children) who have been permanently damaged or killed by vaccines. In fact, most parents would be surprised to learn that the government has a secret computer database filled with several thousand names of disabled and dead babies, children who were healthy and alive just prior to receiving the vaccines. Of course, the medical establishment and federal government don't readily disclose this information

[guest of Japan]

While I find the vaccination topic interesting, I'd be very appreciative if the topic could return to its origin. I don't think it has reached its natural conclusion yet.

[cha muir]

[Gordon]

Enough about vaccinations , let's talk families.

Depending on their age, I feel education is the biggest factor in choosing to go abroad or not. Homeschooling is one option if one of the parents is able to spend the time doing this.
My wife and I haven't decided what we will do when our daughter reaches grade one (she's only 2.5 now). We'll see, we may not even be in Japan then. Int'l schools are not an option as there isn't one anywhere near us and who has an extra million or two yen/year lying around.

[cha muir]

Hi Gordon, I agree with you that schooling is a big consideration. Our boy is five and soon ready to go to school. Thus far we have been getting him educational computer programs (cheap bootlegs from saigon), jump start, reader rabbit, magic schoolbus. Giving him access to beginner writing books. Reading aloud to him. Talking to him all the time, using advanced vocabulary, about the world around us, and, yes, the things we watch on TV. For us the hardest part is him not having english speaking playmates. We had some Dutch children in town for three months and we enjoyed playing with them very much, and they enjoyed being away from the mandatory government school system there! The life we are leading is quite isolating, and I think if we continue living abroad it will be after i get my teaching certificate and can work at an international school.
As indicated by the interest in the vaccinations, health is also another major issue. Japan seems like a good choice from this perspective.
Is your daughter learning Japanese? Does she have playmates?
Do you have support in looking after her? Are you able to spend a lot of time with her? This last two years we have been very lucky that I have not had a lot of teaching hours and have had a lot of vacations. I think with young children it is most important to be close to the parents. But now we are feeling that J. needs to get away from mom and dad.

Besides Homeschooling there is also something called Unschooling that you can look into.

cheers,

cha