Decamping exit strategy

[Osakadave]

So, I'm planing on GTFO of Japanland next April, for a long list of reasons that I won't get into here, after 19 years.

So what advice do the FG hordes have...

[IkemenTommy]

Convert all your yen to the dollar.... now and GTFO.

See ya.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

what kind of advise are you looking for?

congratulations though!

[kurohinge1]

So, I'm planing on GTFO of Japanland next April, for a long list of reasons that I won't get into here, after 19 years.

So what advice do the FG hordes have...

Obey the Court order.

;)

Oh - and get ready for reverse culture shock.

Good luck

:cheers:

[American Oyaji]

- and get ready for reverse culture shock.


Thats the big one.

[Osakadave]

what kind of advise are you looking for?

congratulations though!

Pretty much everything - dealing w/ the reverse culture shock, finding work, etc., etc.

No strings (no J-wife, kids, house) attactched for complications, though. :)

[Taro Toporific]

CONGRADS!

... dealing w/ the reverse culture shock, finding work, etc., etc. I go back to the Real World for 6-week vacations once a year and I think "reverse culture shock" is wildly over-rated.
The big problem is finding work and the resume' hole that life in Japan creates. Most HR departments in major companies are wise to the fact that in general Japan experience is at best no experience (and normally is a big negative).

[wuchan]

The big problem is finding work and the resume' hole that life in Japan creates. Most HR departments in major companies are wise to the fact that in general Japan experience is at best no experience (and normally is a big negative).
This. Also, the fact that being able to speak/read japanese is almost totally useless outside japan.

[IkemenTommy]

Obey the Court order.

And pay off the child-support fund, if you have any.


The big problem is finding work and the resume' hole that life in Japan creates. Most HR departments in major companies are wise to the fact that in general Japan experience is at best no experience (and normally is a big negative).
That's why most Japanese with no skills stick with their same shitty company for the rest of their lives taking it up their ass by their buchos, only to get pushed around from one department to another (usually in some backwards ghetto inaka like Mizushima or Kochi) until you find your sweet spot.

This. Also, the fact that being able to speak/read japanese is almost totally useless outside japan.
Unless you want to be wacking off to hentai anime porn all day on your computer, be my guest.

[james]

while i am still undecided, after 11 or 12 years out here in shimane, i'm looking at potentially moving back in a few years, hopefully with enough money for a decent downpayment on a very modest house near family. i've been taking advantage of the strong yen / cheaper canadian dollar lately to send back what i can. much easier to do at 85 yen than 120 yen..

since my resume was not particularly impressive before i left, i doubt the 14 or so years that i'll have been here, if i leave, will do much damage. nor, quite frankly, do i care, one way or another. i'm willing, for awhile to earn less and work less so that i have time with my kids in the evenings and on weekends and to have them in an english speaking environment for awhile.

as for job prospects, it's certainly not what but whom you know, so if you're serious about going back, i'd start looking at those connexions to see if you can hook something up. it's certainly what i'm doing. i'm not setting my sights too high to start but i may have a couple of leads already.

while japanese is not so useful outside of japan, perhaps there's something available somewhere that it's advantageous to have (say tourism or trade or something) so that you can at least have a job, just to get on your feet. being canadian, in addition to ontario, i've also been considering alberta (banff) where they get a lot of japanese and french-canadian groups coming in.

my two yen, from someone in a similar position.

[FG Lurker]

So what advice do the FG hordes have...
1) Don't burn any bridges as there is a decent chance that the grass on the other side is in fact not any greener. Hell, after 19 years away the grass on the other side could be dead...

2) I'd move back a good portion of any JPY funds you have sometime soon. The yen could get stronger (85 or so is not unthinkable) but it could also get a lot weaker before April, back up over 100 not an unreasonable estimate.

3) Reverse culture shock. You know it is coming and that makes it a lot easier to deal with. If you have work (or school) lined up before you go back that will help a lot too. Having nothing to do (no routine) makes readjustment much, much harder.

[FG Lurker]

I go back to the Real World for 6-week vacations once a year and I think "reverse culture shock" is wildly over-rated.
I think it depends greatly on the individual, their reasons for leaving Japan, and what reality they go back to at "home".

Someone who has "finished" with Japan and is really looking forward to leaving will typically have quite a different returnee experience to someone who left Japan not really wanting to leave.

Likewise, if you have something in particular to return to -- a job or school -- it is a lot easier to readjust to life outside Japan than if you have nothing to go back to.

I know when I left the first time (1993) it was a really rough landing. The web didn't exist then, and there were no forums like this to seek advice or just shoot-the-shit on. I had no idea what I was about to be hit with and I didn't really have anything to occupy me upon my return. Felt like I was going insane, ended up leaving "home" after about 2 weeks and spent 2.5 months driving all over Canada and the US... Was a great trip and I arrived back quite a bit better adjusted and ready to return to reality.

[Osakadave]

Thanks all.

One bit I'm kind of positive about is the resume. While the eikawa jobs are a black hole, the union organizing work I've been doing with the General Union is less so. I'm working on lining up stuff with contacts there.

And yes, I've finished with Japan, and that's a big part of the leaving. I'm finding I have less understanding/patience. I've been considering it for a while. I was actually originally planning on last November, then this November. Making sure I was done was a big part of that.

A good friend returned 2 years ago, about 2-3 years past when he should've gone home. I don't want to end up in his shoes. I kind of see myself in his place in a year or two.

[Yokohammer]

After being here 19 years? I wish you he best of luck with that ... and that's not meant to be snarky in any way.

Three of my acquaintances -- a Brit, an Aussie, and an American (sounds like a "three guys walk into a bar" joke doesn't it) who left after being here for extended periods of time, claiming they were fed up and that Japan had nothing more to offer them, were back in less than a year and are still here. On the other hand, I also know quite a few who left and never returned. The variables are just too numerous to count, but as others have mentioned, if you have some kind of routine to go back to it might not be too tough.

Once again: good luck!

[rooboy]

Decamping to where? Fucking hell, if youre a Yank then living in that Japanese slum not far from the Emperors palace looks a better bet.

If you're an Aussie think of what you saw and heard if you went home for a visit.

Went home in Jan this year for 3 weeks, heard how Aus population will only get bigger (21 million or whatever and counting) in a country where most of the land is desert.

We're gonna have a huge water supply problem very soon. Though I hear about how fucking strict our immigration policies are everywhere I go I see newcomers like Africans, Indians and Middle Easterners who are already too reliant on social security (our version of welfare).

In Aus Social security is too generous for a country that soon is going to have even more part time employees than now (and there's lots) and where there's not much going on re employment opps in general, and already taxes people very high. If you earn over 7,000 bucks a year you pay tax. Yep, you heard right. You'll get most of it back on that very, very low income but get to figures like 15,000 bucks a year and you're paying more tax in real terms than people earning much more.

Its clear to me that we're producing generations of more Lebanese like the cunts in Sydney who Imentioned on another thread who are on the dole, and new generations of African/Afghan/Middle Easterners who likewise are goingn to be reliant on social security. There's tensions already in Aus cities with refugees and new low income migrants being given housing that once students and other low income Aussies needed because it's close to the city etc.

Stay the fuck in Japan if you're American or Australian. I get paid and laid in Japan and I was smart enough to always pay the fucking national health insurance tho it's crap. Now all these people are whinging about back pay etc.

[sillygirl]

It was hard leaving after 11 years for me. There have been so many times when I thought I regretted leaving .

A trip to Japan last year reinforced the reasons of why I had had enough of Japan but at least you can go back for a visit if you start missing the place.

Reverse culture shock is a factor - it's taken me 4 years to get back into living in England and I fricking hate it. Waiting for other half to graduate and whisk me off to foreign climes.....

[TennoChinko]

If you've been paying into the Japanese pension system, figure out ahead of time 1) how to claim back any refund you might be owed (or whether it can be credited toward your home country's pension plan) 2) if you do opt for a refund, figure out someone who'll be your representative so you can claim the additional withheld tax.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'd get the fuck out tomorrow if there were anywhere worth going, but given the economic situation world-wide, I don't see any place to make a nice soft landing.

[Greji]

It was hard leaving after 11 years for me. There have been so many times when I thought I regretted leaving .

I didn't regret you and the red lizard leaving.
(Ducks flying china, objects and incoming motar rounds)
:cool:

[Ketou]

It was hard leaving after 11 years for me. There have been so many times when I thought I regretted leaving .

A trip to Japan last year reinforced the reasons of why I had had enough of Japan but at least you can go back for a visit if you start missing the place.

Reverse culture shock is a factor - it's taken me 4 years to get back into living in England and I fricking hate it. Waiting for other half to graduate and whisk me off to foreign climes.....

You are in the same position as most of us that have lived long term in two different countries. You no longer belong anywhere.

[Mike Oxlong]

For those decamping to the US...

Geography of Jobs (http://tipstrategies.com/archive/geography-of-jobs/)

[Yokohammer]

You are in the same position as most of us that have lived long term in two different countries. You no longer belong anywhere.
Truer words were never spoken!

Although sometimes it's comforting be somewhere where at least you look like everyone else.

[Takechanpoo]

It was hard leaving after 11 years for me. There have been so many times when I thought I regretted leaving .

A trip to Japan last year reinforced the reasons of why I had had enough of Japan but at least you can go back for a visit if you start missing the place.

Reverse culture shock is a factor - it's taken me 4 years to get back into living in England and I fricking hate it. Waiting for other half to graduate and whisk me off to foreign climes.....
I prepare to pick up you if you become my mother

[sillygirl]

I prepare to pick up you if you become my mother


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: Aw, fuck Takeapoo, you slay me.

Don't belong anywhere? Bugger, hit the nail on the head there...other half is from Italy and I could suffer living there but he wants to go to the States. Fine by me.

And Greji - me and my new son are now throwing stuff at ya!

[CrankyBastard]

I chose to hang my hat in Japan over forty years ago and have no regrets.
I don't want to belong, just want to get along.
Life's what you make it.
:cool:

[Greji]

I chose to hang my hat in Japan over forty years ago and have no regrets.
I don't want to belong, just want to get along.
Life's what you make it.
:cool:
Well, I don't like to give advice to somebody just off the boat Cranky, but apparently, you need to develop your exit plan. I'm gonna start on mine here real soon. Probably after happy hour, one of these days...
:cool:

[CrankyBastard]

Well, I don't like to give advice to somebody just off the boat Cranky, but apparently, you need to develop your exit plan. I'm gonna start on mine here real soon. Probably after happy hour, one of these days...
:cool:


My exit plan is the same one I've always had; change of socks in one pocket, bus fare in the other, and a straight run down to the docks to sign on the first freighter that's short-handed.
:cool:

[Taro Toporific]

Now here's a real EXIT STRATEGY...for the mastermind of the Balloon Boy (http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?p=232006#post232006), Richard Heene who used to be a fucked gaijn from Kobe and is a, "bad ass--Don't forget... (http://gawker.com/5383866/introductory-emails-between-richard-heene-and-robert-thomas)"

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/images/vbimghost/1294adab984b733d.png

[Greji]

My exit plan is the same one I've always had; change of socks in one pocket, bus fare in the other, and a straight run down to the docks to sign on the first freighter that's short-handed.
:cool:

Sounds like a plan Cranky. I would have forgot the socks!
:cool:

[CrankyBastard]

Sounds like a plan Cranky. I would have forgot the socks!
:cool:

Greg, waiting for a passage out, the best places to pass the time are, as I'm sure you well know, the dockland palaces. And a clean pair of socks prove essential to a decent night's bagging.(Gotta leave a good impression, you never know, you might be back again and next time not so flush, needing a freebie!)
:cool:

[Osakadave]

The day is almost here. I fly out of KIX Wednesday morning. Last of the sayonaras is tonight.

Edit: How appropriate that this is post #100... :cool:

[james]

The day is almost here. I fly out of KIX Wednesday morning. Last of the sayonaras is tonight.

Edit: How appropriate that this is post #100... :cool:

congrats!

[Taro Toporific]

The day is almost here. I fly out of KIX Wednesday morning... :cool:
I'm envious! I go back to the States for a month every year---Every time I return to Japan my stomach turns when that first blast of the miso/soy/kerosene/fishy funky stench of this place hits me as I step off the plane.:confused:

[FG Lurker]

I'm envious! I go back to the States for a month every year---Every time I return to Japan my stomach turns when that first blast of the miso/soy/kerosene/fishy funky stench of this place hits me as I step off the plane.:confused:
You'd miss all the concrete if you ever left for good Taro. :p

[Osakadave]

You'd miss all the concrete if you ever left for good Taro. :p

I may miss it pretty soon myself - Osaka to small town Iowa is gonna be massive. Hoping to get on my feet and set up in Chicago eventually.

[IkemenTommy]

that first blast of the miso/soy/kerosene/fishy funky stench
Nothing beats spraying the aforementioned cocktail juice all over the toilet bowl in the morning.

[McTojo]

Seriously,

I think I may have contemplated returning to America a dozen times. Reason being, cheeseburgers, chili-cheeseburgers and fatty fast food like Taco Bell. I also miss using English to communicate most of my needs and to challenge my career more. However, the quality of life and standard of living is low in comparison to Japan. I'm so used to the quality of food you can buy in Japan, the diversity of choices when it comes to restaurants. I love the efficiency of the mass transit system. I love the safety and the orderliness in society. How can you leave??

[Yokohammer]

Seriously,

I think I may have contemplated returning to America a dozen times. Reason being, cheeseburgers, chili-cheeseburgers and fatty fast food like Taco Bell. I also miss using English to communicate most of my needs and to challenge my career more. However, the quality of life and standard of living is low in comparison to Japan. I'm so used to the quality of food you can buy in Japan, the diversity of choices when it comes to restaurants. I love the efficiency of the mass transit system. I love the safety and the orderliness in society. How can you leave??
Seriously.

If my major life decisions had to be predicated on junk food, I'd hang myself.

[GomiGirl]

Seriously.

If my major life decisions had to be predicated on junk food, I'd hang myself.

+1

McTojo you are a McTool.

[Greji]

Seriously.

If my major life decisions had to be predicated on junk food, I'd hang myself.

Ahhh, could I borrow your rope. I'm a slop hog for junk food and will even forgo a night with Noriko for the right chillicheeseburger with a double on the grease. Damn, what am I thinking. Make that almost forgo.....
:cool:

[Samurai_Jerk]

I think I may have contemplated returning to America a dozen times. ... However, the quality of life and standard of living is low in comparison to Japan.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Man, you're a fucking moron.

[McTojo]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Man, you're a fucking moron.


I'm a Japanese mommas boy!

[Cyka UchuuJin]

The day is almost here. I fly out of KIX Wednesday morning. Last of the sayonaras is tonight.

Edit: How appropriate that this is post #100... :cool:

take care, dave! hope to still see you here on the FG, reporting from the other side. :)

[xaristides@yahoo.com]

I
I know when I left the first time (1993) it was a really rough landing. The web didn't exist then, and there were no forums like this to seek advice or just shoot-the-shit on. I ha

I started sending e-mails and reading the USA Today online in 1991 at my university (Wisconsin).

[FG Lurker]

I started sending e-mails and reading the USA Today online in 1991 at my university (Wisconsin).
I had various email accounts from about '85 onwards and had full Internet access starting in 1989. The web however is a different beast. The first package considered to be a web browser came out in 1992 but it wasn't until mosaic came out a year and a bit later that the web actually started to grow. It was nothing like today though (obviously).

Services like compuserve offered online content much earlier (late 70s) if you were willing to pay the price.

I suppose I could have found usenet discussions in 1993 but the signal to noise ratio of usenet was already bad by that time and it certainly never got better.

[BigInJapan]

I had various email accounts from about '85 onwards and had full Internet access starting in 1989.
I was around e-mail and BBS etc. from the mid '80s through working with "XT/AT clones" back home, but didn't actually have e-mail myself.
However, I was the only foreigner I knew at the time to have e-mail in Japan when I started working at a Japanese software company in 1994 (it was also the first ISP in that part of inaka).
The Internet (via Mosaic - later Netscape - RIP) was just taking off in Japan (at a snail's pace). Finding the brand new playboy.com and showing my J co-workers their first "hair nudes" was a blast.
Ah memories - the gold ol' days...

[maraboutslim]

I had used online services for alternative news sources back in my college/public radio days (late 80s - early 90s) and so when I came to Japan I joined Twics (Japan's first public isp, and run by gaijin) before mosaic really worked. So our internet world was all text based bulletin board style stuff but quite entertaining nonetheless. And of course the topics and content back then are pretty much the same thing we talk about on this site now!

[Osakadave]

Heh - I was wondering why this popped up to the top.

Still looking (sort of) for a job here. Just got turned down by the library.

[kalebb1999]

like they say... after 1 minute of conversation.. no one really cares you were in Japan.. good luck finding a job... EFL teacher on a resume isn't a door opener...

[McTojo]

like they say... after 1 minute of conversation.. no one really cares you were in Japan.. good luck finding a job... EFL teacher on a resume isn't a door opener...
I'm a door opener!