Going "home" is getting old

[Samurai_Jerk]

I try to make it back to The States once a year. I used to really enjoy it but with every year that passes it's becoming more of chore done out of a sense of obligation to my family than something I like doing. Between the cost of going, jet lag, and boredom I feel most of the time I'm there about the only thing I do look forward to is the food. I definitely prefer taking vacations somewhere closer by in Asia. I can't be the only one who feels this way.

[Wage Slave]

I know what you mean. For me luckily there is still quite a lot of Europe unvisited since I sort of did Asia first. I'm not bored with that, so we usually do a side trip to keep the boredom at bay.

[Yokohammer]

Getting old and jaded SJ ...

Maybe you should try making it every other year or three.

[canman]

SJ, I know exactly how you feel. I've been going home at least once a year, especially after my brother was killed in a car accident, but it is only for my parents. I would love just to stay here, or explore more of Japan, but I'm trying to be a good son, and my parents won't be around forever, so I suck it up and fly home. I feel some Japanese think that it is a little selfish to take off two weeks to go home, but for most if them it isn't a 25 hour trip just to get to your parents front door. As well as the cost involved, I want to get my money's worth!

[legion]

I found I would head home then spend hours on the motorway dutifully visiting relatives, who would tell me about their plumbing. It does wear thin.

Heading home with the family this summer, mostly to visit the aged parents, and if anyone wants to see us they can make the trek up north. I will be shopping for clothes that fit and visiting places like http://www.vindolanda.com/ http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=6646 and http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunstanburgh-castle/

and eating kippers http://www.kipper.co.uk/

[kagemusha]

Since we have spread over different continents in the last decade we have our family grand meeting in a different place every year.

[yanpa]

I've only managed it twice in the last 7 years (most recently the other week) for various reasons, though the parents have swung through here a couple of times. I'll probably be upping the frequency a bit as they're not getting any younger, maybe also combine with work trips.

Not that I really consider it going "home", it's a country I haven't lived in since I was 18, there's no "furusato" there for me and my parents live somewhere else where I have no roots.

[matsuki]

some Japanese think that it is a little selfish to take off two weeks to go home

I would tell these people "I'm sorry your family doesn't want to see you" or "fuck off" depending on previous experience with them.

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work, Christmas is a must as the extended family gets together as well. I still love going back but the more I travel, the more the trip gets to me. (night driving, ariport BS, flying, customs, more driving, and hey, it's still noon!! ) I usually end up with a ton of stuff to lug back with me so for cheap/durable/useful goods, the trips are always worth it!

[Coligny]

Went back once in 11 years after the death of grand'pa Coligny 8 years ago to get a ring that was always to be mine before the rest of the carrions pawns it.
Spend more time with the cat's french vet and my 70-90 Yo former coworkers than the family.

[Taro Toporific]

some Japanese think that it is a little selfish to take off two weeks to go home[/quote]
I would tell these people "I'm sorry your family doesn't want to see you" ...

I always med-evacuate from Japan's heat for 30 glorious days during last part of summer's hell. Home never gets old, but Japan sure does.

(Then again, Japan is/was an exile for me because
of the lack of national health care in the States.)

[wuchan]

I go every year to bring the kid to summer camp and to get a break from the heat. Every year that passes the more my old friends suck. A few are doing well and are happy but most are living paycheck to paycheck and spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid. They complain about everything. They get mad when I don't visit them at their connivence, nevermind the fact I only have a few weeks. Their smartphone is more interesting than anything else and when we do get together they barely look up from the dam thing.

Last year I bought a bunch of beef tenderloin and ate steak every night. That was the highlight of my "vacation".

[Grumpy Gramps]

Haven't seen the inside of an airplane since the very early noughties. Though now, that my age/health makes traveling somewhat troublesome, I kind of regret that I didn't make it "back" at least once to enjoy watching the misery in which my old friends live (as that's what I imagine )

[sillygirl]

SJ, I know exactly how you feel. I've been going home at least once a year, especially after my brother was killed in a car accident, but it is only for my parents. I would love just to stay here, or explore more of Japan, but I'm trying to be a good son, and my parents won't be around forever, so I suck it up and fly home. I feel some Japanese think that it is a little selfish to take off two weeks to go home, but for most if them it isn't a 25 hour trip just to get to your parents front door. As well as the cost involved, I want to get my money's worth!

Sorry about your brother. I had a sister die, so it's good for your parents for you to visit x

[kurogane]

Every year that passes the more my old friends suck. A few are doing well and are happy but most are living paycheck to paycheck and spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid. They complain about everything. They get mad when I don't visit them at their connivence, nevermind the fact I only have a few weeks. Their smartphone is more interesting than anything else and when we do get together they barely look up from the dam thing..

Wow. Somebody else from Vancouver, eh!??? However tired Japan can get at times it isn't nearly as idiot filled as this otherwise beautiful corner of the world. Self-satisfied navel gazing debt laden provincial consumer drones permanently attached to their dumbphones, complaining about the taxes that pay for their social security blanket while they insist on tipping 25%.

Maybe the world really is Turning Japanese????

[matsuki]

Every year that passes the more my old friends suck. A few are doing well and are happy but most are living paycheck to paycheck and spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid. They complain about everything. They get mad when I don't visit them at their connivence, nevermind the fact I only have a few weeks. Their smartphone is more interesting than anything else and when we do get together they barely look up from the dam thing..

Wow. Somebody else from Vancouver, eh!???

You mean the entire west coast??

[J.A.F.O]

I've only managed it twice in the last 7 years (most recently the other week) for various reasons, though the parents have swung through here a couple of times.

Pretty much this. My parents have been through here as well. Its gotten to the point that it's easier for me to pay for family members flight here than for me to take my clan back to the states. If they don't come... well, oh well.

I guess its kinda like the old social - ism, people love to tell you what you should do until they have to pay for it or get personally involved.

[kurogane]

You mean the entire west coast??

We are an imperialistic little city, after all. I was joking about how well Wuchan had just described the current vibe in the Vancouver area. I could easily imagine Seattle and Portland to be about the same. I haven't been past the Oregon-California border in years, but the vibe he described does sound rather Californicated as well from what I know.

[wuchan]

Every year that passes the more my old friends suck. A few are doing well and are happy but most are living paycheck to paycheck and spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid. They complain about everything. They get mad when I don't visit them at their connivence, nevermind the fact I only have a few weeks. Their smartphone is more interesting than anything else and when we do get together they barely look up from the dam thing..

Wow. Somebody else from Vancouver, eh!???

You mean the entire west coast??

Ewwwwwww. Not west coast and dam sure not canada.

I'm a masshole.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I go every year to bring the kid to summer camp and to get a break from the heat. Every year that passes the more my old friends suck. A few are doing well and are happy but most are living paycheck to paycheck and spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid. They complain about everything. They get mad when I don't visit them at their connivence, nevermind the fact I only have a few weeks. Their smartphone is more interesting than anything else and when we do get together they barely look up from the dam thing.

Last year I bought a bunch of beef tenderloin and ate steak every night. That was the highlight of my "vacation".

Most of the guys I grew up with are doing really well and I like seeing them but since they all married Americans (i.e. controlling cunts) it's hard for them to make it out more than once when I'm in town. The fact that my dad has downsized his home and there's no longer a comfortable guest bed doesn't help much either. Yeah, steak, tacos, pizza, BBQ, deli sandwiches, stiff cocktails, and $4 pints of micro brew are the only things that make these trips bearable for more than a few days.

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

[matsuki]

Most of the guys I grew up with are doing really well and I like seeing them but since they all married Americans (i.e. controlling cunts) it's hard for them to make it out more than once when I'm in town.

Dude...I pointed that shit out to a few of my friends when they got married and they were like "not me" and "no no, I'll still have some freedom." Few years later and they're whipped. To be fair though, there are quite a few FG I know married to controlling J-cunts as well.

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

The most I ever stay is 2 weeks but I'll bite, what rule are you referring to?

[Samurai_Jerk]

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

The most I ever stay is 2 weeks but I'll bite, what rule are you referring to?

I meant more than 30 days total in a year not at one time but I was wrong. It's 35 days (I guess 36 in a leap year).

5. Were you physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months?
a. Yes. You CAN claim the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign housing exclusion or the foreign housing deduction.
b. No You CANNOT claim the foreign earned income exclusion, the foreign housing exclusion, or the foreign housing deduction.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Then again, Japan is/was an exile for me because
of the lack of national health care in the States.

Are you thinking of going back now that insurance companies have to cover preexisting conditions or do you want to wait and see if the ACA actually sticks?

[Taro Toporific]

Then again, Japan is/was an exile for me because
of the lack of national health care in the States.

Are you thinking of going back now that insurance companies have to cover preexisting conditions or do you want to wait and see if the ACA actually sticks?

Yeah, the Forces of Darkness have already sabotaged a lot of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and it may not actually stick.
Right now, Obamacare actually isn't covering preexisting conditions for non-indigent, working handicapped like myself very well. I have a bunch of handicapped friends in living in the gimp ghetto* in Denver who have had ACA coverage for 6 months but they are waiting for surgery--It's sort of like the US only got the bad parts of the Canadian national health system.

Anyway, my escape from exile of this Concrete Butthole(c) is a moot point since the youngish Mrs. Taro has a high-paying job here and I have the occasional-but-highly-lucrative patent jobs tossed my way, meh.

*Yes, there is an actual gimp ghetto in Denver called Englewood.
It's a district centered around the regional/federal neurocare center
where 30% of the households have at least 1 disabled person.

[Coligny]

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

Chokonen... carefull..

you new here ?

[Coligny]

Anyway, my escape from exile of this Concrete Butthole(c) is a moot point since the youngish Mrs. Taro has a high-paying job here and I have the occasional-but-highly-lucrative patent jobs tossed my way, meh.

p1mPz uN1t3dZ...

[matsuki]

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

Chokonen... carefull..

you new here ?

I thought he was referring to something else. Tis not a problem.

[IparryU]

I go back 3-6 times a year depending on work

Are you careful not to stay more than 30 days a year or do you just ignore that rule and hope you never get audited?

The most I ever stay is 2 weeks but I'll bite, what rule are you referring to?

I meant more than 30 days total in a year not at one time but I was wrong. It's 35 days (I guess 36 in a leap year).

5. Were you physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months?
a. Yes. You CAN claim the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign housing exclusion or the foreign housing deduction.
b. No You CANNOT claim the foreign earned income exclusion, the foreign housing exclusion, or the foreign housing deduction.

also... there is some funky tax rule that they made because of athletes, actors and finance and what not... if you go to the USofA on business for x amount of days, they can tax your income by those days /355 (or 356) based on your annual salary. Also dependent on the state with CA and NY being the major cunts when it comes to this rule.

I believe that I heard this at the ACCJ E&Y Tax luncheon at the TAC a year or two ago... need to dig up the slides where I have my notes on it though to double confirm it.

SJ/Taro, do you have the details on this?

[legion]

spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid.

T'other day I was walking past the group of smokers clustered outside the office block where I pretend to work and it suddenly struck me how much nicer it would be if they were passing doobs to each other.

Probably not in our lifetime

[sillygirl]

spend all their spare cash on weed, beer or something else stupid.

T'other day I was walking past the group of smokers clustered outside the office block where I pretend to work and it suddenly struck me how much nicer it would be if they were passing doobs to each other.

Probably not in our lifetime

Well, not in Japan

[Hijinx]

Yeah, food, booze and weather are the only things that make my trips back bearable.


And, if you meet the Bona Fide Residence Test, you can spend as much time out of Japan as you like and still earn the FEIE.