I live in Japan!

[Henbaka]

Sure seems sweet Sangetsu. Would you say most days are sunny now, or cloudy?

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

To answer your questions:

- I am totally fluent, although my handwriting skills could use a little polishing. --; I`m good enough that no one can tell over the phone or intercom.
- I never use English, unless I am online or talking with someone else whose first language is English/can speak better English than Japanese... Which is around once every 3 months. Our home life is 100% in Japanese.
- Japanese citizenship is not an easy thing to get, I`m still in the paperwork stage. If you`re from one of the participating countries, you don`t even need a visa for a 3 month stay.
- I am not and have absolutely no plans to become an English teacher. (Although I did work part time as one for a bit to save money for our move. NEVER AGAIN!!!) If you actually want to learn Japanese and have a life... Do not, I repeat, DO NOT be an English teacher in Japan. You will be speaking simple English 99% of the day, and end up hanging out with other teachers all the time - you`d do better to stay at home and study alone. Plus it seems like most of the people who do come to Japan to be teachers hate Japan and just want to make a bunch of money to take home. Seriously, they all seem to bash Japan left and right.

- My life now is quite wonderful. We own a home with a YARD (A big thing in Japan), have lots of cool stuff, and I`m really truly happy.

I don't necessarily agree. I find that I really enjoy teaching. I have a degree in English, which somewhat limits my opportunities back home, but it opens a lot of doors in Japan. I'll admit my Japanese skills aren't that great, but they are improving regularly, being the only foreigner in the area makes speaking Japanese rather necessary.

As for those sad souls on gaijinpot, I know many of them, and they would be just as unhappy at home (and a few are) as they have been in Japan. The fact that they are/were teachers in not really relevant.

My own upbringing was not very pleasant; you can't pick your parents, and there are no entitlements. You simply have to take what you are given and try to make the best of it. That said, I wouldn't have had it any other way. It seems that many who come from "perfect" families are often the most dysfunctional of people.

I enjoy my life in Japan very much as well, but I wasn't unhappy with my own country when I left. A variety of circumstances occurred, and I'm here. Moments come from time to time when I wonder how my life's road happened to lead me here, but it has, and I'm happy for it. I haven't had a dull moment since I arrived, I've made many friends since that time (all Japanese, as I said, I don't know any foreigners here), and I often need a day off from my days off just to catch up on a little rest.

For those of you who are dreaming of coming here, Japan is not some fantasy land where everything is perfect. Happiness is not a place that exists outside yourself.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by Henbaka

Sure seems sweet Sangetsu. Would you say most days are sunny now, or cloudy?

They are a mix. It can be sunny at one moment, and then rainy the next. It's always wise to bring an umbrella with you during the summer months. June is the rainy season here, but the weather doesn't seem to read the calender very often, I think it rained much more in July. And there has been some ridiculously heavy rain in some parts of the country over the last couple of weeks.

I prefer the days to be a little cloudy, I like the mountain scenery more on such days. On brighter, sunnier days, your pupils constrict, which makes it hard to see the scenery under the trees or in the valleys. The clouds soften the light, and disperse it, which allows you to see much more detail.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by Henbaka

Is it sunny still...

...in Tokyo?

I'll be there on monday, let the adventures begin!

Also, if someone here is living in Tokyo, can you then please enlighten me as to the winter weather of the area? (trying to decide what clothes to bring..) How cold does it get at best (read: 'at the coldest')? How about snow?

It's very hot now, but it will get quite cold in the winter. It falls below zero on many days. Snow in Tokyo is not common, but it usually occurs at least once every winter. The concrete buildings seem to store up the cold and pass it to the wind which passes between them, when the wind hits you, you can feel the cold bite in.

If you like winter sports, there are many places to enjoy them in Japan.

[Henbaka]

I see. So atleast it will feel like a winter then, nice. But only like 0-10 (C) degrees below, or can it get even colder?

Yeah, I know of Sapporo etc which is famous for winter sports. I don't ski really myself, but I like snow and really cold winters, so I was thinking about doing a hokkaido trip sometime in the winter.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

I don't necessarily agree. I find that I really enjoy teaching. I have a degree in English, which somewhat limits my opportunities back home, but it opens a lot of doors in Japan. I'll admit my Japanese skills aren't that great, but they are improving regularly, being the only foreigner in the area makes speaking Japanese rather necessary.

I`ll both stick to my opinion, and agree with you at the same time. You sound like you`re a real teacher - that makes a big difference, and puts you in a category apart from the remaining 95% that are "teachers" in Eikaiwa.
I know of quite a few people who came to Japan with big dreams of learning Japanese - and who jumped on with the quickest path here of a chain school....
Only to end up working the entire day, and spending the rest of their time in an apartment with 3 other foreigners or out with the rest of the teachers - never learning more than a few phrases, and going home with a bad opinion of Japan.

As for those sad souls on gaijinpot, I know many of them, and they would be just as unhappy at home (and a few are) as they have been in Japan. The fact that they are/were teachers in not really relevant.

Being a teacher isn`t necessarily what made all of them the way they are - they`re just concentrated in that field. But I think that English teaching, as a whole, pushes a whole lot more people in that direction. If you`re alone in a foreign country, and feeling stress from it, chances are your feelings are going to be a mess... And you`ll be looking for friendship/support from others in the same boat. If they`re negative, that is going to make a big impression on you.

My own upbringing was not very pleasant; you can't pick your parents, and there are no entitlements. You simply have to take what you are given and try to make the best of it. That said, I wouldn't have had it any other way. It seems that many who come from "perfect" families are often the most dysfunctional of people.

Somehow I get the feeling that our families are in different categories of "unpleasant". I`m not an angsty teen complaining that my mom didn`t let me do a lot of the things I wanted.
There are dysfunctional families, and then there are dysfunctional families.

[Sangetsu]

The majority of ekaiwa teachers in Japan begin teaching just out of college. Many have never worked at a "real" job before. Quite a few are socially dysfunctional who think that living and working in Japan would be better than living and working where they are.

These people have little experience in life outside childhood and school. Then they arrive in Japan not speaking the language, not knowing the customs or manners, and not understanding that as much as they may not have been able to fit into society in their home countries, it's even more difficult for them to do so in Japan.

This is just a generalization, but it's fairly representative, and describes those teachers who spend more than one year in Japan. Most ekaiwa teachers spend only one year here, and then return home to move onto bigger and better things.

As for myself, I'm not exaggerating about my upbringing. I grew up living in motels, foster homes, or was simply homeless. I dropped out of school in the 10th grade and went to work doing whatever job I could find to eat. I worked in a junkyard, at a carnival, and I painted addresses on curbs for donations. I was 3 years old when I last saw my father, and though my mother was not a bad person, she was terribly irresponsible. I more or less raised and educated myself. I got my high school diploma when I was 22, and began university when I was 24. I didn't arrive in Japan until I was 40. But I have no complaints, any other life would have been too boring, and would have left me as soft as some of those about who you complain.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by Henbaka

I see. So atleast it will feel like a winter then, nice. But only like 0-10 (C) degrees below, or can it get even colder?

Yeah, I know of Sapporo etc which is famous for winter sports. I don't ski really myself, but I like snow and really cold winters, so I was thinking about doing a hokkaido trip sometime in the winter.

It will rarely get colder than that. Winters here are warm for those who come from Canada or much of Europe.

The Japanese are proud of the fact that their country has 4 seasons, apparently very few of them have experienced places with only 1 season, like San Diego or Miami, where you can wear the same clothes all year round.

[uchimizu]

As this si more or less this post thema, you may be interested in this story summing-up the 10 years I spent in and out of Japan.

[Henbaka]

So... Almost 15 hours on planes later, I now arrived in Tokyo. Damn, it's hothothot!! (atleast a big. fkn. difference. from where I came from, and when carrying around 3 big ass bags it tends to get worse)

Sitting by an AC now tho, so it's all good