I want to go to Japan, please!

[Behan]

... some of them (Yale) are mired in the ancient past and are still teaching from outdated methods like the Jorden textbook.

I hated the Jorden text we used at my uni. Students called it the Jodan (joke) method. They made us memorize dialogues and had us recite them verbatim in class. This was about 80% of our grade. I can't even remember PIN numbers so it was hell! The woman who co-authored the book with Jorden was a prof at my university and is perhaps one reason why they used it.

The main textbooks were all romanized without any kana or kanji, even in the graduate level classes. The only things those books were good for was to start fires!

[kusai Jijii]

Once you are here you can look into Sokka Uni. too.

Of all the advice I have seen on these boards...

[Jeimuzu]

In my travels I have seen very few major US universities that do not offer japanese courses. If you are in a community college, get good grades and transfer to a better school that offers japanese. If you have good grades try to get into Havard for an MBA program. Harvard has one of the best japanese programs in the US.

Hmm, Harvard is going to cost me $80k or more, I just don't think that would be possible. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Move to Southern California and go to either OCC or IVC for 2 years, then transfer to UCI. Each school has lots of Japanese, Japanese courses, etc. We also have the largest communities of Japanese people and Japanese stores in the US, excluding Hawaii. Japense girls study here so they can try out the natives. See if they are as godly as they have been made out to be. Once you are here you can look into Sokka Uni. too. Now the Sokka people are fuckin nutz but they promise every student gets to study abroad, kinda like the Mormons.....

Oh ya, looks like they are onto us foreigners.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081128/wl_asia_afp/japanimmigration

Pheyton, could you tell me more about this? I'm not sure what OCC is, but I assume IVC is Irvine Valley College and from what I've read it looks really cheap. This sounds like a great idea as I even have a sister in California. Visiting the Japanese community there sounds great, too. Please, anything you can elaborate on please do!

[Adhesive]

Move to Southern California and go to either OCC or IVC for 2 years, then transfer to UCI.

Do we have a fourth anteater on the board?

[pheyton]

Of all the advice I have seen on these boards...

That is why I put in the loon disclaimer. Some people will do anything to get to where they are going. I'm just being honest

Hmm, Harvard is going to cost me $80k or more, I just don't think that would be possible. Thanks for the suggestion though!



Pheyton, could you tell me more about this? I'm not sure what OCC is, but I assume IVC is Irvine Valley College and from what I've read it looks really cheap. This sounds like a great idea as I even have a sister in California. Visiting the Japanese community there sounds great, too. Please, anything you can elaborate on please do!

OCC is Orange Coast College, just up the road from IVC and UCI. Every year the Japanese teachers from IVC take some of their students on a trip to Japan which might be something of interest to you. Of course it is outside of school and costs a lot, but you have a tour guide.

There is a catch to going to school in Cali though, residency. You must be a California resident for 1 year in order to get that cheap rate. Still, it would be much cheaper than a 4 year anywhere.

As for the community, we have Mitsuwa and Marukai shopping centers, Book Off, and more than enough Japanese eateries for example Ikko, Honda-ya, Italian Tomato and Kitayama. The travel agencies, HIS, IACE and Amnet are here as well if you do plan on visiting Japan.

Torrance, about 40min north is another very large Japanese community with many of the same stores, restaurants, etc. Major Japanese companies are located in Torrance like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki and Key International

As for being an anteater, unfortunately no. I had hoped to transfer there, but life threw me a few curveballs and it never happened. I did grow up in OC though. Did you ever go to Metropolis?

[Iraira]

Did you ever go to Metropolis?

He used to go on Sunday nights.....Boys night.

Just a little side note: for IVC or OCC to be cheap, one needs Cali residency, otherwise you get nailed for out-of-state fees.
If you go to UCI, you'll need to get a Honda dropped to w/i a milimeter of the ground (speed bumps in front of your apartment prevent Vietnamese from coming over to your place), you'll need a spoiler rising up from the back of your car that makes it look like a shopping cart. You'll need a Viet gf for when you go to Pho 75 and a few Viet guy friends to take you to the Viet coffee shops with the surgically enhanced waitresses in lingerie.

[Adhesive]

As for being an anteater, unfortunately no. I had hoped to transfer there, but life threw me a few curveballs and it never happened. I did grow up in OC though. Did you ever go to Metropolis?

I didn't grow up in Orange County, I only moved there for school. Did you ever take any classes at OCC? I always hated that school because they would hand us our asses every time we raced against them in crew. I guess that's what happens when the local high schools all have rowing teams.

[kamome]

Jeimuzu, when you say that you are an adult, what do you mean? Are you 18 or 28 or 38? If 18, then going to college and then applying to JET is a good way to go. Any four year university will set you on your way, but it is fairly competitive to get into the JET program and you will be interviewing against people who have degrees from more prestigious universities. You can always contact your nearest Japanese consulate for more info - they usually have a JET liaison who can give you more accurate information. If you are older than 18, then we would need more information about your life and your experience if we are going to provide any useful information for you.

In any case, getting a degree from a university in your own country (and not from a Japanese university) is paramount. And not just because it is a prerequisite to doing anything worthwhile in Japan. It is just a basic requirement to get by in life. Hasn't anyone taught you this? Forget about Japan for now and concentrate on getting your own life in order, starting with an education, before thinking about hopping on a plane and going to a country that you know very little about. In other words, learn to walk before trying to run.

[Adhesive]

He used to go on Sunday nights.....Boys night.

Just a little side note: for IVC or OCC to be cheap, one needs Cali residency, otherwise you get nailed for out-of-state fees.
If you go to UCI, you'll need to get a Honda dropped to w/i a milimeter of the ground (speed bumps in front of your apartment prevent Vietnamese from coming over to your place), you'll need a spoiler rising up from the back of your car that makes it look like a shopping cart. You'll need a Viet gf for when you go to Pho 75 and a few Viet guy friends to take you to the Viet coffee shops with the surgically enhanced waitresses in lingerie.

UCI= University of Civics and Integras, University of Chinese Immigrants, or my personal favorite; Under Construction Indefinitely.

Still though, I have fond memories of it, and I by the time I graduated the rice-rocket phase was dying out...most of the kids were driving much nicer cars.

[pheyton]

[quote="Adhesive"]UCI= University of Civics and Integras, University of Chinese Immigrants, or my personal favorite]

LOL, you'll be happy to know they just added a huge new building straight across from the post office and razed a parking lot 1 signal down the road for something else they are building. You guys probably wouldn't recognize Irvine because they have done so much building here in the last few years.

Ya, I took classes at OCC and more recently IVC. IVC de nihongo benkyou shimashita. OCC de omoidasenakatta...

[Iraira]

[quote="Adhesive"]UCI= University of Civics and Integras, University of Chinese Immigrants, or my personal favorite]

My personal favorite acronyms for UCI ICS majors were
1) I Can't Socialize
2) I'm Chinese, Stupid.

[Jeimuzu]

pheyton (or anyone else), do you have any opinions (on majoring Japanese there in particular, but anything at all is good information) on Foothill college in California? Or De Anza too, but I'm mainly considering Foothill at the moment.

[Buraku]

With JET, there are some happy tales but don't do it. and NOVA yes some happy tales there also
but last year there were lots of tales of unpaid work, lots of teachers with no money for food or rent wandering the streets like a bunch of homeless bums. These are people who put a lot more of their lives into Japan than me and some also probably also had a few investments. For a modern city like Tokyo this was a shock since this homeless Nova tee-churs accepting food for Engrish lessons sounds more like something from the Great Depression

best case scenario is you end up like this annoying bitch

[yt]R51K9_t_0v8[/yt]


pick some big company thats got connections to Tokyo, if the company want you to travel then that's a big bonus for you but whatever you do don't give your sanity to Nova or their ilk

If you missed the 80s and early 90s then unfortunately you missed Japan,
each month it sounds more like China or some other Asian country will be for the winners this coming century.
Avoid the ME like the plague, Dubai and their ilk will be imploding in the next five year if not sonner.

[Blah Pete]

pheyton (or anyone else), do you have any opinions (on majoring Japanese there in particular, but anything at all is good information) on Foothill college in California? Or De Anza too, but I'm mainly considering Foothill at the moment.

Ex-Foothill College student here (way back in '79) but studied Japanese at UH (that's Hawaii not Houston....).
Why do you want to come to Japan? Have you ever been here? Have any idea what it is like? The economy here is crashing just like every other Asian country, the EU, and the USA.
If you ever really hope to come to Japan stay in the US and earn a engineering degree (Mech or EE) and study Japanese. In a few years after the economy rights itself then maybe think about coming over.
The basic survival skill you will need though is drinking until 5AM with co-workers at the bonnenkai and try to type coherently on FG.

[Yokohammer]

Foothill college!

I was there in '72~'73, when I lived in Palo Alto for a couple of years.
Nice place. At least it was then.

[Adhesive]

My wife went to foothill for a while, nice college. Can't say anything about the Japanese program. I've known of some first year university classes that taught in romaji, while their community college equivalents required students to do everything in hiragana and katakana. So, it all depends on the teacher and books used. I would check that out, and whether or not they have native speakers in class to work with you through all of the drills. That's the way it was when I took Japanese in college, and it was very very helpful. Basically like a private tutor five days a week.

[kusai Jijii]

OK Jaemuzu,
here is the 'advice' you are waiting to hear...

If I were you, I'd just hop on the next plane over here. Everything will sort itself out. Dont even worry about a visa; a friend of a friend of a friend of mine told me that you dont even need a visa to come to Japan anymore. As far as work goes, it'll be a piece of cake finding a good job, especially with the economy pumping like it is. Most companies like their employees young and without any qualifications - they are easier to "mould", aparently. Probably the easiest line of work you might be interested in is either "consulting", international law (dont worry about the degree, they'll train you on the job), IT (again, you'll learn as you go), or even a movie star (the pay is great, and being "White", you'll have more work than you can handle). Dont waste your time with the Japanese study. You should be able to just "pick it up" in, say, about six weeks living here full-time. Oh, and the women. Be sure to marry the first thing you fuck here, you'll be so happy with your 'subserviant, gentle, exotic oriental bride' - especially 20 years down the road. Japanese women dont give you any shit like gaijin chicks. Right Jack?

[omae mona]

OK Jaemuzu,
here is the 'advice' you are waiting to hear...

jijii, I almost think your response should become a "sticky"! It would save everybody a lot of time.

However, I think maybe you should add the part about how housing is cheap here, and not to worry about bringing any savings with you.

[GomiGirl]

Also, you can have the biggest car that sucks back 2 miles to the gallon as gas is cheap and the streets are wide avenues and you can park anywhere for free.

[GuyJean]

Ha, ha. Funny thread.. Shame I was avoiding it based on the title.

GJ

[Samurai_Jerk]

Ha, ha. Funny thread.. Shame I was avoiding it based on the title.

GJ

I was thinking the same thing.

Anyway, what is it with all of these jackasses that ask these fucking vague lame questions and then get pissy when we try to get clarification or give advice that's not exactly what they want to hear? My advice to anyone like that is don't go anywhere ... ever.

[kusai Jijii]

...and the streets are wide...

and paved with gold!;)

[Behan]

[quote="kusai Jijii"]and paved with gold!]

Speaking of streets paved with gold and it being the holiday season....

[YT]Ff3aoSyYOVs&feature=related[/YT]

And if that's not enough...

[YT]NrAwK9juhhY[/YT]



Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

[Jeimuzu]

When did I ever get mad?

Okay, here's the deal. Since you're all so intent on knowing more about me, I'll spill. But it's not going to change anything.

I'm 19. I work a dead-end job. I live with my girlfriend of 5 years. She's 22. We both have no career interests, so we haven't gone to college. We have plenty of money saved up to move and get our bachelor's degrees. We intend to live in Japan.

I don't know what else you want to hear, but if it's just so you can say "don't go to Japan" or "grow up, kid" or "pick a career and then visit Japan as a tourist" etc., you can just ignore this and save your own precious time.

So, no complaints on Foothill? Any more info on IVC would be appreciated too!

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Speaking of streets paved with gold and it being the holiday season....

[YT]Ff3aoSyYOVs&feature=related[/YT]

And if that's not enough...

[YT]NrAwK9juhhY[/YT]



Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

looooooove the pogues. my bestest is currently touring with their support act.

[Behan]

Welcome back, Cyka. Hadn't seen one of your posts in a while. I was wondering if you were back in Kenya or somewhere else around the globe.

Your bestest must have some interesting stories.

[kusai Jijii]

I'm 19. I work a dead-end job. I live with my girlfriend of 5 years. She's 22.

If you plan on coming to Japan with a girl you have been dating since you were 15, you sure as hell aint gunna be with her long once you get here.

[Iraira]

looooooove the pogues. my bestest is currently touring with their support act.

I'm not on tour with the Pogues.

[Yokohammer]

If you plan on coming to Japan with a girl you have been dating since you were 15, you sure as hell aint gunna be with her long once you get here.:

Remedial math for you, KJ (19 - 5 = 14).

But stellar advice.

Seen it oh-so-many times: young bright-eyed fast-tracker arrives in J-land accompanied by GF with whom he's been in a monogamous relationship for a few years. They're going to experience J-land together. So while she's off learning flower arranging he's discovering that it really is possible to to get tired of sex with a variety of partners. Tears, breakup, and a comforting relationship with a J-girl that implodes a few years down the line when reality kicks in.

Back to square one.

[Greji]

They're going to experience J-land together. So while she's off learning flower arranging he's discovering that it really is possible to to get tired of sex with a variety of partners. Tears, breakup, and a comforting relationship with a J-girl that implodes a few years down the line when reality kicks in.

Back to square one.

Well, that pretty well covers it....