Move to Japan?

[Akisa]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

[ahochaude]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

Why not? You only live once.

[leathernick]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

do you mean moving as in short term or permanantly? either way, you'll have to deal with getting a job. i don't care how much they like you in her family, it's another thing to mooch off of them the whole time you're there.

[Taro Toporific]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

Why not? You only live once.

WHY BOTHER? You already have a Japanese girlfriend. Bringing one with you sort of defeats the purpose unless you really want concrete and a resume hole.

[kamome]

WHY BOTHER? You already have a Japanese girlfriend. Bringing one with you sort of defeats the purpose unless you really want concrete and a resume hole.

AWESOME post, Taro. This is very true. The minute you set foot in Japan with your J-girlfriend, you would become a dependant. Why do that to yourself?

[Akisa]

I really want to learn to speak Japanese, and I used to teach English to Japanese people here in the States and I would like to do it again. If I have to learn the hard way then so be it. As for being a dependent, at first of course, but I will not be financially dependent. Also, I am used to being a minority, I am caucasian, but I went to school in New York and being a minority doesn't bother me at all.

[Taro Toporific]

I really want to learn to speak Japanese, and I used to teach English to Japanese people here in the States and I would like to do it again..

So... get an ESL/EFL certificate in a decent Masters program in N. America, England, or the Real World. Learning Japanese will NOT further your ESL/EFL career in the States: Without valid certification your career path is very limited. Specifically, English Schools and of course public high schools look at your certification above all over things. Most English classes for foreigners are taught in the target language. Has anybody ever heard of
" Title VII Bilingual Ed for Japanese"?

[ramchop]

Also, I am used to being a minority, I am caucasian, but I went to school in New York and being a minority doesn't bother me at all.

Sorry for my antipodean ignorance here, but whites are a minority in NY?

[Taro Toporific]

Also, I am used to being a minority, I am caucasian, but I went to school in New York and being a minority doesn't bother me at all.

Sorry for my antipodean ignorance here, but whites are a minority in NY?

How did the topic of "being a minority" come up?

[Taro Toporific]

Also, I am used to being a minority, I am caucasian, but I went to school in New York and being a minority doesn't bother me at all.

Sorry for my antipodean ignorance here, but whites are a minority in NY?

US Census 2000
NEW YORK White persons, percent, 2000 67.9% (USA 75.1%)
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36000.html

[Akisa]

In my school whites were a minority. I will be more explicit next time, sorry.

[cstaylor]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

My vote: don't do it unless you already have a marketable skill, or you have absolutely no job prospects in New York.

She'll get tired of translating for you, and learning Japanese isn't easy if you're working all the time.

[kamome]

I really want to learn to speak Japanese...If I have to learn the hard way then so be it.

I just don't understand this kind of thinking. You're coming here with no qualifications and only your girlfriend's family to support you just to learn Japanese? What is the point of doing that to yourself just so you can pick up the language? You should be focusing on improving your own leverage in the US job market. No need to rush to Japan just for the sake of teaching some kids English.

[cstaylor]

You should be focusing on improving your own leverage in the US job market. No need to rush to Japan just for the sake of teaching some kids English.

Exactly. Like all other service jobs, you're not creating any equity when teaching English.

I'd suggest sending the girl back home alone, with a promise to come six months later. If she's back home, and doesn't call you or send you email everyday, that's a good indicator that it's "out of sight, out of mind", and maybe you need to set your sights on someone who wants to stay in the U.S.

[cstaylor]

What do you guys think about the idea of moving to Japan with my girlfriend? I have been to Japan once for about 2 weeks and met almost everyone in her family. I had a really great time. Is it a good idea? I am 28 and she is 27 we have been together for 6 years. My Japanese level is improving, but I have alot of work to do.

This sounds eerily like my situation three years ago, but I had a few customers in the U.S. (IT) that I could do work for remotely while I was getting situated in Japan.

Two weeks is too short a time: I made three two-week trips over a couple of years before I decided to move to Japan, and even then it's tough to judge. It takes about a year or two for the tatemae to wear off your future in-laws. Has your girlfriend explained to your parents what you're doing?

[Snapped]

You have to do what you want, of course. But spending two weeks in Japan isn't really very long to judge if you want to settle here. Plan it carefully. Moving to another country is a big undertaking and shouldn't be done on a whim.

[Andocrates]

Well, I say go for it. Even if it fails you will grow as a person in ways that will forever change your perspective on life and people. (although you might develop a real prejudice against Japanese, no kidding)

Just as a guy born in raised in NYC has a bigger outlook on life then some Amish farmboy in Indiana, world travelers have a bigger outlook on life then someone who never leaves the safety of the familiar.

But, this board is fucked gaijin. For more constructive comments you might try someplace like http://www.jref.com/forum/

[gomichild]

I came here on a whim - I hadn't even been to Japan before I decided to move here...7 1/2 years later and still lovin' it.

I also agree with Andocrates - the experience is worth it just for reasons of personal growth.

[mr. sparkle]

I came here on a whim - I hadn't even been to Japan before I decided to move here...7 1/2 years later and still lovin' it.

I also agree with Andocrates - the experience is worth it just for reasons of personal growth.

Hey GC, how was the gig? Did you ROCK?

[tiger tanaka]

Go for it. It can only make you a better person (I hope). And if it doesn't work out, you can always leave. I have lived in Japan two times, and when it started to yank my tits, I left. It's great if you really want to learn Japanese. Don't set yourself up for misery by worrying about the career/resume crap too much, but that is my strictly my personal opinion only and I may be wrong. Who knows, you maybe find that perfect groove that you will never find in the States. A good test for your relationship, also, see if it holds water outside the States. Anyway, Japan is not a bad place to live (try Vietnam! India!), and teaching English to Js is easy, so get on the plane. It doesn't have to be forever, just a temporary gig if it doesn't work out. You don't want to be sitting around like my sorry-ass friends in the States, wishing they should have done something different when they had the chance. But they got that job promotion.. So what? They certainly do whinge a lot when I visit, and they reek of boredom. I have lived in four countries, all on a "whim", and I don't regret it. Whimsical can be fun. The unknown can be exhilirating. Remember, you can always LEAVE.

Fortune favors the brave, etc. blah blabbity blah blah..................