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  • fuckedgaijin ‹ General ‹ Gaijin Ghetto

Sick of Japan

Groovin' in the Gaijin Gulag
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Re: Sick of Japan

Postby Taro Toporific » Fri Jan 10, 2003 12:01 pm

Big Booger wrote:But I want to fit in. To mesh, and I just cannot do it here....Any of you feel this way about Japan? I wonder if some of you mesh like sugar in a glass of kool-aid...
Or if some of you stick out like a boner in a church house.


For almost 20 years, I've been a "boner". I LOVE BEING A CULTURAL GUERILLA! Relax and enjoy ruining their sad-sack Japanese day.
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Postby ramchop » Fri Jan 10, 2003 12:36 pm

I'm still enjoying the novelty of my first few months so I probably can't comment... but I will anyway :wink:


I spent a couple of my adolescent years in Indonesia and remember thinking it was a total shit-hole and couldn't wait to get back home. However, a lot of the fondest memories come from my time spent there.

Went back for a 2 month holiday 4 or 5 years ago and loved the place. (just had to emphasise to the locals that I'm not American or Australian, and that no, I've never burned the Indonesian flag).


So you both like and loath Japan, sounds like life anywhere on the planet. Hopefully the balance will tip the other way sometime soon.
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Re: Sick of Japan

Postby GuyJean » Fri Jan 10, 2003 12:47 pm

Booger,

I think a lot of us have felt, and sometimes still do feel the same way. (This forum aint called F*cked Gaijin for nothing!)

About 2 years ago, my anger towards Japan changed to appreciation. How did this transformation take place?

1: I dont' ride the trains. I work either from home, or in my area.

2: I don't live in Tokyo. The Yokohama area is newer, cleaner, and more spacious.

3: I bought a BS dish and decoder. BBC, CNN, McNeil Hour, Nightline; American baseball, football, and basketball. That touch of home without being home.

4: Learn to appreciate minimalism. Who needs a 12 room house?

5: Accentuate the positives.

6: Enjoy being 'different'.

7: I realized I will NEVER be accepted into this society. And I relish in that fact. :wink:

Tips that helped me keep my sanity in Japan.

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Re: Sick of Japan

Postby Taro Toporific » Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:02 pm

GuyJean wrote:7: I realized I will NEVER be accepted into this society. And I relish in that fact. :wink:
GJ


Yes, that's the spirit:
"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."
--Groucho Marx
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Added good news...

Postby Taro Toporific » Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:31 pm

GuyJean wrote:3: I bought a BS dish and decoder. BBC, CNN, McNeil Hour, Nightline]

Here's more good news for all you FG with a satellite dish....

Televiews Daily Yomiuri, Jan 9
...CNN provided the New Year's first major good news. The network will give birth to CNNj in March, a CNN designed especially for Japan, with 126 hours a week of bilingual coverage and more programs from the U.S. side of the operation, starting with Paula Zahn and Connie Chung.

One press release quoted a CNN vice president who noted the new network was born out of market research showing a desire for more U.S. news on CNN in Japan.
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Postby Maciamo » Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:33 pm

That's funny ! Since I got up this morning I feel exactly the same as you booger. It must ne the weather because that is the first time in 1,5 year (same as you !) that I feel like I really want to leave Japan. BTW, mI am also married to a Japanese (one more coincidence :wink: ). I am also going back to the US, though I am not American and have only been there once as a teenager (well, I am taking a break in Hawaii 8) ).


@ramchop
I also had the feeling that Indonesia was a shithole after 3 weeks there at the end of 6 month travelling around Asia. First time I felt that, but now I have good memories as well.

I guess we all have highs and lows. Sometimes a good break abroad (a few weeks or months) can do much good to recharge batteries. When you are fed up :cry: , do something completely new, that'll do you much good. :wink:
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Postby Blah Pete » Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:56 pm

Big Booger I hear ya. Can't say I haven't thought the same things about a zillion times.
I have lived way in the country too and the only thing worse than being a FG is an isolated FG.

Or if some of you stick out like a boner in a church house.

Yeah, but here in the church house my boner sticks out a lot farther than the Japanese guys boners and I been enjoying the advantage.

Any advice for a fucked gaijin who is fed up?

Try to find something to get interested in as it will make the time pass quicker. Cable TV is a must. Sat TV a 2nd if cable unavailable.
But don't feel like it is only you that can't stand Japan. Why do you think drugs and alcohol sale are up? Apparently the natives are having trouble too.

Ramchop, Maciamo;
I lived in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and spent about 6 months in Indonesia. When I was there about the only thing I bitched about was the traffic because those countries are on a different level. You expect certain things in countries that are not as developed.
Japan, on the other hand is the #2 economy, has 2000 year history, etc. and you should expect more from them.

Best of luck Big Booger.
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Postby ramchop » Fri Jan 10, 2003 3:12 pm

Blah Pete wrote:I lived in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and spent about 6 months in Indonesia. When I was there about the only thing I bitched about was the traffic because those countries are on a different level. You expect certain things in countries that are not as developed.
Japan, on the other hand is the #2 economy, has 2000 year history, etc. and you should expect more from them.


Maybe that's a source of the problem, the high expectations.

It's the history and accompanying culture which make living here a struggle. Expecting a Western culture because Japan has a Western affluence is just asking for problems.
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Postby GomiGirl » Fri Jan 10, 2003 5:53 pm

ramchop wrote:Expecting a Western culture because Japan has a Western affluence is just asking for problems.


This is right on point.

Big Booger.. would you like some cheese with your whine?? Sorry but your post sounded really self indulgent.

But perhaps you are just having a bad day - which we all have from time to time.

The others have made some great suggestions regarding cable TV etc. I know that I would go stark raving looney (even more than I am now) if it wasn't for my collection of English videos.. Watching in Japanese is all fine and good, but no matter how fluent you are it is still an effort to understand when not in your native language. When I watch TV (all too rarely) I do like to watch in English so I can just veg...

Perhaps you need a hobby (don't copy your friend doing the rooster impressions on the train - which is a bit lame.)
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Postby GomiGirl » Fri Jan 10, 2003 8:07 pm

Check the regular tv schedules, its amazing how many english movies and programs are broadcast, especially after midnight


That is where my collection has come from (ssshhh). It is just for personal use. Certainly at this time of year, the best movies are on.

Also after midnight is the best time for me as I don't normally get home until then..

BUT my biggest pet peve is the way that the commercial stations (Other than NHK, or BS) handle the movies. While I completely understand the need for commercial breaks before and during the movies, I hate the fact that the movies have whole scenes cut to make room for the commercials. The shows are on late at night and are usually followed by the test pattern or home shopping, but the movies are cut to make space for the ads. Why they can't allow time in the schedule for the entire movie and add time for the commercials... sometimes it does ruin the continuity of the movie.
:evil:

OK just my whinge for the day.. it seems to be contagious. :roll:
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Postby GomiGirl » Fri Jan 10, 2003 10:38 pm

It is really annoying!! For example in Matrix, they chopped out the bit where the kid with the broad Australian accent was bending the spoon and said "There is no spoon". So then when later in the plot, Keanu baby was going up the elevator shaft and said "There is no spoon" it didn't make sense.. and it was a major theme in the whole movie!! uurrgghh..

But also in JFK, they cut out about 30 minutes worth.. practically the whole of Sissy Spacek's bit.. sure her character was the whingy winey wife, but it was annoying none the less. But if they have bought the rights to a movie, it seems dumb to just show parts of it... :evil: :evil:

I guess I am such a movie junkie that it really bothers me...
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Postby bluepxl » Sat Jan 11, 2003 3:48 pm

Finally I am sick of the language. I hear it constantly at work, in the car, on trains, on buses, at home, every fucking where I hear the garble gabble of Japanese. I am tired of the nasally produced konnichiwas and arigatougozaimasus.. I would give my left testicle to hear a "fuck you", or kiss my ass every now and then...


i guess i simply cannot see where you are coming from there. i'm absolutely in love with the language, moreso than the country and people believe it or not.

but then again, i'm kind of a linguist dork ;)
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Postby GomiGirl » Sat Jan 11, 2003 3:58 pm

Big Booger wrote:But I think it is just a matter of being a little homesick. In time I think I will get better at accepting my fate, and dealing with it. I just needed a chance to vent and this forum seemed like a great place to do it.


That's the spirit!! :thumbs:

And vent away.. as you can see we have all been there - it is just how you deal with it that matters.

But also, it sounds like you need a hobby... something that you can call your own and be passionate about. Preferably with like minded persons. I am really into Karate and it really does give me something to look forward to in the week. Sure I am a bit of a token foreigner at times but during class I am just the same as everyone else.
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Postby bluepxl » Sat Jan 11, 2003 4:05 pm

well i'm glad to hear you are accepting it as it is. you'll learn a lot and grow and have a lot of cool experiences in the end, and just remember that phrase they say, "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but you still have to mow it." no matter where you go, you'll find things that suck about food, people, language, culture, whatever. even the place that you are born and raised. i know i can find tons of things that bug me about from where i'm from... but i guess i've learned to accept it and enjoy what i do like.

but ya, i'm from texas and so the one thing that i always think i will hate about japan is the weather. i HATE cold weather. it's horrible. you have to wear all those clothes and do all that crap. i guess it's just my natural habitat though-- i love the fact that while our northern friends are snowed in and can't go anywhere without putting on 1000 lbs of clothes, my friends and family and i are outside with t-shirts having BBQs and enjoying nice 60-70F weather. i love those kind of winters. while snow is fun i'd rather look at it on tv, and cold winters do not appeal to my body at all, but to me, it is something i will simply have to accept if i ever plan to live in japan for any amount of time. also, i LOVE mexican food (but who doesn't?). and i hear that in japan it's small, crappy, and expensive. here it's cheap and really really good. i also hear a lot of american goods are really pricey out there... but anyway at the same time, i'm sure i'll find many things i love about japan that in contrast i hate about america or wherever, and so i would expect it to balance out in some way or another.

kyotogaijin put it best too-- you tend to feel most comfortable where you are from and where you call home, because that is all you have known. if you were japanese you would probably feel more comfortable back there.

well anyway, after tokyo, i think i'll head over to rio de janiero in brazil. i hear it's like 60-80F year round, beautiful (and relatively clean) beaches, beautiful & friendly people, with a population of about 8M so there is a lot of stuff to do. with such warm weather and beautiful beaches it sounds so nice, but OF COURSE there are problems and quirks about it that i'm sure i will hate. just like that phrase i said "grass is greener on the other side of the fence you still have to mow it", rio is not exempt no matter how nice it sounds, japan is not exempt, and america is also no exception. there are many places that sound really nice to me and i would like to spend some time in, but i realize that there are things about it that i will have to accept instead of constantly focusing my hatred on those things. Image
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    Postby GomiGirl » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:11 pm

    I think your handle is appropriate reality_bites.. reality has set in?

    It never ceases to amaze me what sometimes happens when people are sent to a foreign country by their company... Have seen it a zillion times and at the risk of alientating some people on this list, I will give some of my observations.

    Young single guys sent as expats now are away from home, in a huge apartment, earning much more than the local hire staff in their company.

    Away from the social norms/rules they are used to.

    Getting more dates/attention than they would normally have at home.

    It is a false sense of reality and for a while you are king of the world and think that you can get away with anything. Exhibit - the charisma man!! (Personally guys as this stage are very boring IMNSHO)

    Then the novelty wears off, new expats arrive, you become jaded and unless you have some quality of character behind you it is a very rude shock to the system.

    Now actually it all makes me a little angry because of all the opportunities that get pissed away. (Perhaps it is just a bit of jealousy over the expat salaries and huge apartments... well just a little) Look around you and appreciate what you have for christs sake!! Treating everybody and everything with arrogance is shallow and soul destroying. Your attitude to women is appalling!! It has all caught up with you!!

    But all hope is not lost.. change your routine and get some freshness back into your life. Sounds like the drinking has caused some depression and altered your perception. Becoming jaded has caused an attitude shift.

    I know I am being a bit harsh, but I have been there too - not the same but similar. I was a full-on party girl, burning the candle at both ends but then at some time you realise you have to grow up and recognise that everything you do has consequenses. The world and everybody in it doesn't owe me any favours - it is me who owes...

    Swings and roundabouts my friend. I made a huge change in my attitude as I didn't want to be in 20 years time, the sad, bitter and lonely old woman who whines because she is not the princess of the party anymore.

    Do yourself some favours and explore other parts of your personality.. you could start liking yourself again and then others like you more too...

    Just my two cents.. take it or leave it.
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    Ahhhhh, the bad old days...

    Postby Taro Toporific » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:18 pm

    kyotogaijin wrote:
    Big Booger wrote:BB


    Just imagine what it was like before you could even get even the internet or satellite tv... :wink: amazing to think that was only 5 years ago...


    The Internet was semi-illegal in Japan for some time, but I've had satellite TV for more than nine years now.

    The trick to getting sat-TV in the old days was I had to sign up as a love hotel to get the "hotel plan" satellite service plan.

    Ahhhhh, those were the bad old days...
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    The Japanese Way

    Postby Taro Toporific » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:24 pm

    GomiGirl wrote:reality_bites.. reality has set in?


    The Japanese have a better Way to deal with the delight of living in Japan...
    Check out their translated thoughts at...
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    Re: ups and downs

    Postby Taro Toporific » Tue Jan 14, 2003 4:24 pm

    reality_bites wrote:bottom line is, regardless of where you are, there's always going to be highs and lows.


    Here's a banal version of those "ups and downs" of a expat woman posted today on the Daily Telegraph entiled, "Big trouble in the valley of the dolls".
    I am the only gaijun [sic] - Westerner - in this Japanese company, and so my Western eccentricities, such as wearing trousers, smoking with the guys, speaking my mind, even blowing my nose in public (a faux pas), are tolerated only to a certain extent. I am less an editor here than an editorette.
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    Postby Big Booger » Tue Jan 14, 2003 11:22 pm

    I still feel like I want to change the Japanese way into what I feel is the best way. I know it is ethocentric and that most of my ways are from my culture and to impose that on the Japanese way is wrong. It is just that some things are so absurd. Like paying twice for internet. I pay NTT and a provider... it is really stupid to pay NTT anything... why not combine them both.. one payment, simple and easy...

    There are several more of these little annoyances that I deal with that when added up over the year and a half or so that I have been start to get to me.

    Another thing is stupid parking lot guards... what are they needed for? They direct the traffic in and out, but are they really necessary? They get in the way, some are very rude and some actually do more harm than good... yet they are everywhere...

    Just little things that get on my nerves. I also realize at the same time that there are good things too.
    I like how Japanese toliets are generally separate from their baths. Their bathtub is usually much larger and deeper than those in the states. Enkai and Bonenkai ROCK!!!
    And there are tons of other interesting and great things about Japan. I just wished some of the old antiquated and seemingly inefficient things would change. But then I guess I could say that about every country...
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