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nomadder

I think this was an old song. Anyone know it or who sang it?

Well here are 5 reasons off the top of my head:

While in Japan I thought:

STAY:

1) Good money/satisfying work
2) Karaoke Rolling Eyes

3) Gentler(less in your face), interesting culture
4) Good food and drink
5) Better weather

RUN AWAY:

1) Needed to understand the language around me better/slash dose of home culture
2) Tired of being a sore thumb
3) Not enough vacation time for travel/too many classes in the final year
4) Limited choice in social life
5) That noisy drain all the cars drove over by my apt.

In the Homeland(Canada):

STAY:

1) Unlimited English-TV, books, all shops etc.
2) Lots of peace and space
3) Easy
4) Lots of food choices and an oven and cookbooks
5) My cat

RUN AWAY:

1) Not much culture
2) Too much scary American TV
3) It's going to be cold soon
4) Boring-while I was away friends moved, things changed, I changed....
5) Job options suck-ridiculous interviews for soso jobs or no interview-in Japan I got every job I applied for.

This is a good exercise in figuring your life out. Now playing-Japanese music on tape made by friend.

AND YOU????

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

what do you mean by a sore thumb?

stay
1) money
2)good job in my field
3)girlfriend

leave
1)ugly neighborhood, a lack of trees, but there are bosozoku and yakuza
2)have to be at school on Saturday even though there are no classes
3)boring, lame social life (I spend a lot of time on the train to get to places and it gets expensive because g-friend lives far away)
4)students are getting worse, discipline becomes more of an issue every year

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

stay:

1) to get more teaching experience in what is, so far, the exact context that I want (with the twin goals of improving as a teacher and making myself more competitive when I finally decide to return to the States)
2) to try to successfully learn the language--my two years in Prague were a major disappointment in this respect
3) to minimize my exposure to, or at least get an outside perspective on, American media, propaganda, bull$hit, etc.
4) because teaching jobs in the States are hard to find these days, and teaching is what I have chosen to do with my life--much more redeeming than the office work I was doing before I got into this wacky field
5) for the challenge of coping with odd customs, the thrill of seeing new places, etc.

leave:

1) food, food, food--Oh, how I miss all of those great little vegan cookies, cakes, donuts, etc. that I could either buy or bake in California
2) men--there have been several threads on the whole dating issue, so no need to go into it in depth, but as a foreign woman in Japan I kinda feel lonely, and eventually the loneliness might send me running back home
3) deep, deep down, though I am often ashamed to admit it, I know that my roots are purely American, and that I will always fit in more over there than "abroad." I don't mind being an oddball for a few years at a time, but a lifetime of it might drive me crazy.

d

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

nomadder · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 2:17 am Post subject:

Right on Steiner!

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Stay
1. it's only by staying that I will REALLY get to know my Japanese friends
2. good salary
3. nice apartment
4. feels like home after five years
5. settled in job

Go
1. it's only by going that I will get to know any other cultures/people
4. salary isn't everything is it
3. there are nice apartments in other countries apparently
4. it ISNT home so if it feels like it it might be time to move
5. settled in job so better get out there and rattle the career cage

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

Stay: 1)Convienient Challanging job w/good employer.
2)Never ending stream of translators/aid when I need it.
3)Cost of living is negligable (now that I have a partially
funcioning cable modem....)
4)Enough stability to get a good start on my MA.
5)Some truly friendly people.

Go: Starestarestarestarestarestarestare....
Salry - MA cost = nothing.
Having trouble to adapting to life in a rural area where I stand out
and can't speak the language.
Limited opportunity for social interaction.
Vague feeling of malcontent. . . hard to explain. . . .

SweetOne · Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 109

Nomadder, I believe the song you are looking for is by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones..... it went as such:

If I could have my way you wouldn't leave
There's nothing I can do about it
Nothing I believe
There's got to be a million reasons to stay
A million more to not walk away

If I could have my way you wouldn't leave
and I could list each one What would that get me?
It's been said and done
It's just a list A million reasons
That I missed.
I realize I probably brought this on

What good's that going to do me
Probably no good
When you're gone
There's got to be a million reasons to stay
A million more to not walk away

I realize I probably brought this on
I could list each one
Where would that get me
It's been said and done
It's just a list A million reasons
And I don't want to list the reasons
That I missed.

I was caught off guard
I've never been hit so hard
I've never been hit as hard as this

Too hard to be explained
Nothing will be regained
And I'll gain nothing from the list
from the list from the list

If I could have my way you wouldn't leave
I realize I probably brought this on 1
, 2, 3, 4 A million reasons why to stay.

Will. · Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 783 Location: London Uk

We stay because we feel we are valued, because we are making 'progress', headway, advancing ourselves in our chosen career (if we consider it a career) because we have personal ties because it is 'fun'. Sometimes we earn good money, make good friends all the positive reasons to stay.
We leave because it is not the way it should be and seek pastures new and better conditions .... or we get fired.

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

China (Shanghai)

STAY:

(1) Great, eager, motivated students
(2) Helpful locals
(3) Nice variety of Chinese food
(4) Gazillions of intersting travel options
(5) Good standard of living, convenient

LEAVE:

(1) Crowds
(2) Pollution
(3) 24 / 7 Construction & Demolition
(4) Cluttered atmosphere that drains creativity
(5) Fast pace of life

Thailand (Bangkok)

STAY:

(1) Food!!! - Daresay, it's even better than Chinese
(2) Friendly people
(3) Low cost of living
(4) Relaxed pace of life
(5) Tropical weather and beaches

LEAVE:

(1) Low salary for teaching jobs
(2) Too many backpackers
(3) Traffic jams
(4) Culture is too "Westernized" and individualistic
(5) Political uncertainty (i.e. relations with Myanmar)

Cleopatra · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 8:14 am Post subject:

I"m leaving Saudi Arabia in just a few weeks so my mind is already made up, but it wasn't an easy thing to do.

STAY
1) Money - the chief attraction for any Saudi ex-pat
2) Light work-load and laid back working atmosphere
3) Great weather for much of the year
4) Fascinating culture (but see below)
5) Nice, rent-free apartment all to myslef.

GO
1) BOREDOM - the plague of any Saudi expat!
2) The claustrophobic, suburban atmosphere of ex-pat society.
3) The all-pervasive materialism
4) Near impossibility to really get to know about Saudi culture.
5) Very limited social opportunities
6) Lack of chance to progress in career
7) General lack of stimulation at home or at work'
Guess I"ve made my case ...

nomadder · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 12:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks for all the great replies-very informative and interesting. The song lyrics are great Sweet One but I don't think it's the same song.

Now off I go to enjoy the homeland life-driving on uncrowded roads through beautiful scenery wherever the road takes me.

SweetOne · Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 109

There is one more possibility, Nomadder, but I don't recall the words. It was by Paper Moon and was titled "Then Thousand Reasons to Stay, One to Leave".

Enjoy your drive. Smile