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Nyororin 11-26-2006 02:28 PM

I live in Japan!
 
Just thought I`d volunteer any info that anyone needs...

I live in Japan, not in Tokyo, and have lived here for almost 9 years now. I basically came to Japan with nothing (On my own, not part of any program, not as a teacher, with almost no money, etc) when I was 17, and have been here pretty much ever since.

I`m now married, and *own* a home. I`m willing to answer pretty much any questions about real life in Japan - not the English teacher in Tokyo type stuff... Because that`s only like 0.1% of reality. (Not to offend any of the English teachers in Tokyo or anything though.)

We usually try and help other people who are/were in the same boat as I was when I came to Japan (Bad family life, etc), but last year a girl we let stay with us really screwed us over so we have stopped for the time being. But I really want to help people, so if I can in any way please ask!

(Oh, and I think I mentioned a lot more stuff in my intro in the introductions thread, so...)

Vesperd 11-26-2006 07:02 PM

Hello Nyrorin, im interested in hearing your life story.. how you got into Japan, it would help so i could decide the many options and routes there is, so i can live there oneday.. so first question.. how did you get there :)

Nyororin 11-26-2006 11:08 PM

Well, as far as a life story goes... My mom was a total piece of crap - selfish and certainly didn`t care about me. She was one of those women who dates a bunch of guys, milks them for everything they`re worth, and then dumps them. She was NEVER at home, and wouldn`t *let* me go to school as she "wanted to go out that day" and needed me to watch my brother and sister. It was an almost everyday event. Life really REALLY sucked.

I took a short summer Japanese course at a local university (with money from my grandparents, while secretly staying in a friend`s dorm room for the length of the course - my mother would NEVER have paid for anything for me.) when I was 15 and I found it really easy. I also got along really well with the teachers and exchange students who would volunteer for the class. I`m a fairly shy and polite person, so I guess I just "fit in". That pretty much started my dream to go to Japan - It seemed like somewhere that I could be me and find happiness.

When I was 16 I graduated from high school (I took HS classes from 6th grade and did summer school in HS for two years) - and got a job. I explained the home situation to my boss and they would give me a second fake pay slip each month so that my mother would only be able to demand all of that money. (Like half?) I secretly saved the rest.

I had originally planned to stay with a friend in Osaka, but his mother became seriously ill and we had to cancel it... Another friend I had made online offered to ask their mother (In Aichi) if she would be willing to put someone up for a few months - she agreed and I jumped on the chance. I turned in the life insurance policy on me, combined the money with what I`d saved, and bought a ticket just before I turned 17. At the time it was like $1800... I saved up all the money I made in the 3 months before I left, and had around $600. $500 to pay for room and board, and $100 to spend. That was it. I stayed in Japan for 3 months the first time, went home for a few months and repeated (Although the second time I stayed with friends I made the first trip...) and, well, before I knew it, here I am. :P

I`ve been pretty broad with the descriptions, so if there are any details you want to know ask away.

Okimoto_Tatsuki 11-26-2006 11:43 PM

oooh I wanna go back to japan. I had to leave Okinawa at young age because of some similar problem, and come to England...im 16 now XD

That is an interesting life story you have. and to pull it off at 17?

Do you mind me asking,

+how much japanese do you know? (fluent in speaking writing or just a lil?)
+do you use english most/less of the time?
+did you need to get citizenship for staying 3 months or for good?
+English teacher jobs suck in my opinion XD

+how is you life now? ^^

Maester 11-26-2006 11:57 PM

Grtz for you, hope you having a good life there now...

May i follow in your footsteps.:)
*looking up 2 you*

Nyororin 11-27-2006 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okimoto_Tatsuki (Post 10124)
oooh I wanna go back to japan. I had to leave Okinawa at young age because of some similar problem, and come to England...im 16 now XD

That is an interesting life story you have. and to pull it off at 17?

Do you mind me asking,

+how much japanese do you know? (fluent in speaking writing or just a lil?)
+do you use english most/less of the time?
+did you need to get citizenship for staying 3 months or for good?
+English teacher jobs suck in my opinion XD

+how is you life now? ^^


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. :happypika: We own a home with a YARD (A big thing in Japan), have lots of cool stuff, and I`m really truly happy.

GitarisutoKao 11-27-2006 12:23 AM

yyayy!!I am totally going to japan one day,but my parents hate japan and my fascination with it...they would have totally disowned me if i wasnt only 14...:whiteflag:

Maester 11-27-2006 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GitarisutoKao (Post 10158)
yyayy!!I am totally going to japan one day,but my parents hate japan and my fascination with it...they would have totally disowned me if i wasnt only 14...:whiteflag:

Come live with me !!!!

- last post for today -

GitarisutoKao 11-27-2006 12:25 AM

I shall!!Thank you David-kun!!LUV YA!!!!

Harajuku_Pimp 11-27-2006 01:00 AM

hm. interesting.

Nyororin 11-27-2006 01:14 AM

Or you could come live with me. :P

Oh, wait, that means you`d have to actually get to Japan first. And your parents would no doubt think I`m some sort of weird child molester or something. I`m 26... :whiteflag:

We used to lend our spare room out, but last year a girl really wasted our time and screwed us over so we haven`t done so since. Never had anyone younger than 16 stay though.

Harajuku_Pimp 11-27-2006 01:17 AM

what are u some sort of child molester?:mad:

Riku8 11-27-2006 02:53 AM

dude thats totaly uncalled for, dont say things like that. appologise

Gwen_Goth 11-27-2006 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harajuku_Pimp (Post 10205)
what are u some sort of child molester?:mad:

he just said he's not


Nyororin, i think its really kind of you to offer up your home to stranger, its a pity you got burned

maybe we could talk online?, i really want to learn Japanese, but im a slow learner when it comes to languages and some sort of tuition would be wonderful :)

thanks for being so kind and open with us, im glad your life is better now

Nyororin 11-27-2006 05:01 AM

I`m happy to talk online with anyone who wants...
The girl who screwed us over seemed really serious... before she got here and for the first week or so. After that she seemed to think that by sitting around in her room, playing video games, and randomly flipping through our manga that she would somehow magically become fluent. I guess she believed Japan was some magical paradise where you never had to put forth any sort of effort to accomplish anything. When I forced her to go out and attend some free Japanese classes, she freaked out and started blaming me for ruining her trip to Japan and destroying her dream, etc etc.

It really sucked. Yes, real life does continue even when you`re in a different country. :rolleyes:

And I guess I forgot to mention, I`m female. :P

MasterHien 11-27-2006 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyororin (Post 10230)
I`m happy to talk online with anyone who wants...
The girl who screwed us over seemed really serious... before she got here and for the first week or so. After that she seemed to think that by sitting around in her room, playing video games, and randomly flipping through our manga that she would somehow magically become fluent. I guess she believed Japan was some magical paradise where you never had to put forth any sort of effort to accomplish anything. When I forced her to go out and attend some free Japanese classes, she freaked out and started blaming me for ruining her trip to Japan and destroying her dream, etc etc.

It really sucked. Yes, real life does continue even when you`re in a different country. :rolleyes:

And I guess I forgot to mention, I`m female. :P

wow reading all the things you were saying was interesting
when you said attend some free japanese classes are you saying that japanese class down there are for free?

Nyororin 11-27-2006 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterHien (Post 10304)
wow reading all the things you were saying was interesting
when you said attend some free japanese classes are you saying that japanese class down there are for free?

There are free classes offered all over the city. You could probably attend a 2 or 3 hour class every day for free if you wanted.

MasterHien 11-27-2006 03:55 PM

thanks for the info your info helped me very much when me and vesperd hit 16 we both working haha

Nyororin 11-27-2006 04:06 PM

Good luck. If you have the determination (and forgiving/neglectful enough parents) it can be done.
One thing I do suggest is making sure you are not around ANY other English speakers... Because no matter how much you may want to learn Japanese, everyone ends up taking the path of least resistance (Ie. talking in English). If you don`t have that option you can`t take it, so you learn MUCH more quickly and efficiently.

I only heard English in the English classes, a couple hours every couple days. Otherwise, it was 100% Japanese. No English speaking friends or anything. It sucked at first - but I was good enough at Japanese to hold an hour long phone conversation after only 3 months. Better than ANY of the English speaking exchange students I encountered were after an entire *year* of being here. They would get stressed and speak to each other in English all the time, so their Japanese never improved much.

MasterHien 11-27-2006 04:30 PM

wow cool learning japanese easy in 3 month i think i could handle that

Vesperd 11-27-2006 04:37 PM

thats cool, you say you bought a ticket to Japan, what type of Visa did you apply for? how was you allowed to stay that long.. thanks in advance :)

Nyororin 11-27-2006 11:02 PM

My first stay was only 3 months, I came to Japan from the US so I didn`t need to apply for a visa. There is a visa exemption policy between the US and Japan - up to 90 days and you receive an automatic tourist visa upon entry to the country.
What I did was stay here 3 months, then go back to the US for 3 months work really hard and save up enough to come back again... for 3 months. I did the same thing twice again after that 3 months - The next time I borrowed some money from friends and instead of going back to the US I took a 3 day long trip to Korea and then came back to Japan. If you leave the country at all they refresh your visa, so I was able to stay 6 months that time, during which I met my future husband-to-be. I went home to the US again after the 6 months, and my boyfriend came and visited me after a couple months (I was in the US again for 3 months working through the summer - he stayed with me for the last 3 weeks of it), and we came back again together. We decided to get married, so when my visa ran out that time I went home for Christmas, broke the news to everyone. I came back to Japan after the holidays (he paid) and we got married in the end of January. I got a spousal visa, and no longer had to worry about the going home mess and was able to legally work in Japan. So... I`ve only been home a couple short visits since then. (6 years ago)

Phew.

Okimoto_Tatsuki 11-28-2006 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyororin (Post 10230)
I`m happy to talk online with anyone who wants...
The girl who screwed us over seemed really serious... before she got here and for the first week or so. After that she seemed to think that by sitting around in her room, playing video games, and randomly flipping through our manga that she would somehow magically become fluent. I guess she believed Japan was some magical paradise where you never had to put forth any sort of effort to accomplish anything. When I forced her to go out and attend some free Japanese classes, she freaked out and started blaming me for ruining her trip to Japan and destroying her dream, etc etc.

It really sucked. Yes, real life does continue even when you`re in a different country. :rolleyes:

And I guess I forgot to mention, I`m female. :P

wow that sucks. One should understand life is not layed out on a yellow brick road, that gives you an easy path to where you wish to be or want to have. and cool female XD

Is there any like technique as to learning japanese? Anything in particular you need to learn first? (this was a questionfrom my friend)

Nyororin 11-28-2006 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okimoto_Tatsuki (Post 10515)
wow that sucks. One should understand life is not layed out on a yellow brick road, that gives you an easy path to where you wish to be or want to have. and cool female XD

Is there any like technique as to learning japanese? Anything in particular you need to learn first? (this was a questionfrom my friend)

To answer your questions -

I never really studied. When I first got here, I could tell people the very basics - my name, whether I was hungry or thirsty, ask where the toilet was, etc. And I knew the simplest sentence patterns so that I could pull words from a dictionary and stick them in to be understood.
As for any technique... I just tried my very best to communicate with those around me, especially the woman I was staying with. She was wonderful, and is like my Japanese mother now. I also tried my very best to understand what everyone was saying through the words I knew and their body language.

The things that I would suggest learning first would be the basic grammar patterns, without much focus on vocabulary. It`s MUCH easier to add words later via personal experience than it is to add grammar. You can always point at something and have somebody tell you what it`s called, or look it up in the dictionary, but you can`t do that for a whole sentence. No matter how many words you know in Japanese, if you don`t know how to put them together to make a coherent sentence no one will have a clue what you`re trying to say.

So... Study grammar! Forget most of the vocabulary until you know enough basic sentence types and are confident enough with them to really be able to *use* those words.

GitarisutoKao 11-29-2006 01:15 AM

wow...im kinda in the same position,my parents hate japan...and never seem to let me do anything...

Nyororin 11-29-2006 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GitarisutoKao (Post 10902)
wow...im kinda in the same position,my parents hate japan...and never seem to let me do anything...

No, that sounds like your parents care about you. Not letting you do something is basically because they`re worried about what will happen to you (whether they NEED to worry is a totally different matter though)

My mother really honestly did not care. I could have stayed out all night, every night, and she wouldn`t have even noticed as long as I was there to watch my brother and sister when she wanted to go out "partying". The things she wouldn`t let me do? - GO TO SCHOOL. How many parents stop their children from attending school because they were up all night partying and don`t want to take care of their other kids the next day?
She would eat out and bring her leftovers home to eat in front of us, while never buying groceries for *us* to eat, and then blow up at me for not magically producing enough food to feed my siblings from the 2 or 3 things left in the cabinets. No, wait, not my sister - my brother. The one who was the son of the guy we were living with - his opinion mattered more than whether we starved or not.

If you`re *really* in a similar situation, then I apologize, but I highly doubt it.

Vesperd 11-29-2006 04:24 PM

thanks for the reply Nyororin, are there any shortcuts to live in Japan? permantly not moving back and forth, is there any other way?

SamuraiAlchemistNinja 11-29-2006 04:33 PM

tell me everything!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by GitarisutoKao (Post 10158)
yyayy!!I am totally going to japan one day,but my parents hate japan and my fascination with it...they would have totally disowned me if i wasnt only 14...:whiteflag:

My parents are the same way, except I'm 16 and I am going to Japan whether they like it or not, I'm sick of their arguing over me and my brothers and everything...*sigh*
The more I plan my trip to Japan, the more inclined I am to stay there permanently.
>>and my mother stopped me from going to school for almost an entire week b/c I had made her upset somehow...and yet, I felt guilty...why do mothers have that affect? (on me, anyway...always making blame myself!)
Believe me when I say I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I AM ON A PLANE (yikes!) ON MY WAY TO JAPAN!! Me waving goodbye--> :ywave: :mtongue: so long, suckers!

Vesperd 11-29-2006 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamuraiAlchemistNinja (Post 11204)
My parents are the same way, except I'm 16 and I am going to Japan whether they like it or not, I'm sick of their arguing over me and my brothers and everything...*sigh*
The more I plan my trip to Japan, the more inclined I am to stay there permanently.
>>and my mother stopped me from going to school for almost an entire week b/c I had made her upset somehow...and yet, I felt guilty...why do mothers have that affect? (on me, anyway...always making blame myself!)
Believe me when I say I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I AM ON A PLANE (yikes!) ON MY WAY TO JAPAN!! Me waving goodbye--> :ywave: :mtongue: so long, suckers!

you sound excited, yeah Japan is an awesome country, being there the first time would make you wanna jump up and down or kiss the floor etc :D

MasterHien 11-29-2006 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamuraiAlchemistNinja (Post 11204)
My parents are the same way, except I'm 16 and I am going to Japan whether they like it or not, I'm sick of their arguing over me and my brothers and everything...*sigh*
The more I plan my trip to Japan, the more inclined I am to stay there permanently.
>>and my mother stopped me from going to school for almost an entire week b/c I had made her upset somehow...and yet, I felt guilty...why do mothers have that affect? (on me, anyway...always making blame myself!)
Believe me when I say I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I AM ON A PLANE (yikes!) ON MY WAY TO JAPAN!! Me waving goodbye--> :ywave: :mtongue: so long, suckers!

i guess everyone wanna go japan
but the way you wrote it down doesnt it sound like your mother is worried about you instead

Okimoto_Tatsuki 11-29-2006 06:34 PM

you are so interesting and helpful :3 ありがとうございます、にょろりんーさん!

do you know the requirements to be a translator/interpreter in Japan? and how much it earns? Im still in highschool but interested.
Also re-learning japanese again. Once you done speak it for 7 years it drifts XD and im surrounded by english speakers XD

Nyororin 11-29-2006 06:49 PM

To be quite honest, I really have no clue as to the requirements. I just know that whatever I had worked. I never had to secure a working visa, as I got married before I started working. When I got my job I had a degree in Linguistics - (Specialty in Language Acquisition), and I had the JLPT 1. I got the job through the World Expo thing, as it was just across town from us. (Although I never even once did anything to do with the Expo...?)

I do know that if you want to get a work visa, you *need* to have a university degree. In your case, if you`re part Japanese, there are special allowances... So I`m not exactly sure how that would work. But you`re likely eligible for Japanese citizenship if you don`t already have it.

For everyone who is planning on just coming over here and staying forever... It doesn`t quite work like that. :P Or at least it isn`t that easy. You WILL have to go home at least once, so DO NOT BURN YOUR BRIDGES. Should something go wrong, the last thing you want is for your family to never forgive you.

Shion 12-02-2006 11:36 PM

Hi Nyororin !

Wow, がんばった ! What you have done is admirable.
Also your second japanese mother is admirable.
And eventually you've even found a happy life.
Thank you for your suggestion, to "learn grammar first", I will definitely go forth this direction.
I'm from Switzerland and going to move to Japan in January with my wife and I think I will have an intense time learning japanese as fast as I can...and working too (as farmer).

I agree, to learn a language, one must be immersed in the local language experience.
Happy to have read your life. :ywave:

cesarkohl 12-04-2006 03:20 AM

What a history!

jasonbvr 12-04-2006 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyororin (Post 10155)

- 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.

I just want to give a short response to Nyororin's comments. I am not certain as to what sort of English teacher he was, but I will speak a bit for those doing the ALT/JET programs in public schools. It is true that some of us hang out with English teachers a lot. The reason being is that we face a lot of the same everyday difficulties at work and adjusting to life here. Many new English teachers must rely on the goodwill of our elder teachers to show us the ins and outs of living in Japan because our companies often just drop us off at our schools/apartment and only come to our assistance when we need official business taken care of.

Why are teachers so focused on making money? Quite simply most of us are fresh out of college with loans that need to be paid and the expense of moving abroad as well. None of us expect to get rich doing this and most of us are here for the chance to travel overseas. Most if not all of the teachers I know are very dedicated to their jobs and work full time in schools and part time getting private students or side jobs.

As far as learning Japanese I think teaching in a public junior high or elementary school will really force you to learn Japanese. I am still in the process of improving mine and conversing with the students requires a bit of Japanese mixed with simple English. This is especially true at elementary schools where the kids are just beginning to learn kanji and speak simple Japanese.

Now I will address one of the biggest advantages of teaching English in the public schools. You get a first hand experience of what it is like to grow up Japanese and working in the office with the other teachers gives you a better idea of the Japanese work environment. You learn quickly that your students in junior high are at a very difficult age and facing a lot of tough tasks ahead. A lot of them study twenty-four/seven and take on a lot of responsibilities in club activities. I respect my students a lot and have a lot of sympathy for them as well.

As far as Nippon bashing, I understand that a lot of us (English teachers) complain/whine about life in Japan even when it was our choice to come here on our own. Part of this is a result of a rosy picture painted by our employers and some of it is a general lack of knowledge of Japanese/Asian culture. The school you work for may have a confusing way of teaching English and ask a lot of their ALT that we were not prepared for. In my case, I am replacing a teacher that already had one year of experience at a previous school and so they have had a difficult time understanding that I need a certain degree of explanation concerning course goals and target grammar. What you end up with is teachers that are fairly stressed out because we want to do our jobs well but face an uphill battle in that many of us are not trained teachers and have different opinions on how English should be taught. My school insists that I do something new each time, but I know good and well that my students can hardly remember lessons from two days ago much less a week.

The second reason it may seem that we complain a lot about Japan is that we (foreigners) are fairly open and outspoken about Japanese people, culture, food and so on. Outspoken and open are two things that Japanese are fairly unaccustomed to since they often mask their true feelings to make work/society run smoothly. We often point out differences in ways of life or thinking that comes off as being negative, but many of us our simply airing our opinion or offering a comparison.

Well I said it would be a short response, but I guess I was wrong. Best wishes to Nyororin in Nagoya. Maybe after the snowboard season I will make it down your way. Ja nin.

Nyororin 12-04-2006 01:11 PM

Thank you for your long and thorough response, but I fully intend to stand by my advice that teaching English is not a good way, or even a decent way, to learn Japanese. (Oh, and by the way, I am female.)

The place where I worked for a bit was actually a very nice school, with a lot of programs and the like for new teachers. It wasn`t a drop off at the school with no help sort of deal. There was teaching in the school, and also short term stints at JHS, HS, and corporate offices.

I made friends with the Japanese staff there, and I am still in contact with them. In the 5 years that have passed since I worked there, there has only been one other person who actually had a real interest in learning Japanese or about Japan.

The teachers in Japan are free to do what they please. They are free to learn or not learn anything about Japan. This is all up to them. But there is nothing that will make me waver from my position - Teaching English is not a good way to learn Japanese. It never will be. Sure you may have to pick some up, and of course you may learn to speak beautifully. But it is in spite of your job, not because of it. If someone is serious about learning Japanese, English teaching is not the best route.

If, and ONLY IF, you are working in a normal Japanese school will any of the advantages you speak of come into play. But MOST of the English teachers in Japan do not work in real schools. They work in English schools. Working in an English school puts you into an almost entirely English environment, with very little contact with Japan. As it appears you are working in a regular school, congratulations! But that is not what would happen with most people should they try to teach in Japan. Not everyone is lucky enough to be a JET/ALT. Those are the types I am speaking of.

The teachers who I have encountered so far have bashed every little bit of Japanese culture. I don`t think it has all that much to do with English-teaching stress, as none of it has much of anything to do with English. Cultural ignorance? Yes. My point is - Do you really want to be around such negative people while you`re trying to learn the language? Do you really want to hear the other teachers make quips about "He just has penis envy! HARHARHAR" any time a Japanese guy glances in their direction? Or if you`re a girl (Like me) who happens to have a Japanese SO - being told you`re a "monkey lover" or that "you must like pencil dicks!" That is the type of crap I got sick of - and it was in no way confined to my coworkers. I`ve had similar remarks made to me by a wide range of foreigners I encountered back in my silly days of actually thinking I might make a friend, or find someone else in a similar situation as myself.

I *know* foreigners tend to be more "open" and "outspoken". I wasn`t born in Japan. There is a huge difference between being open and outspoken and being downright cruel and insulting - which is what I see far too much of. Pointing out differences is fine, but that isn`t where it stops. If your coworkers are wonderful and kind people who do not do those sort of things, consider yourself very lucky.

I guess I sound a lot like I`m snapping at you, but it seems the picture you are painting is far too sweet and pretty. I worked as an interpreter for quite a while. Most of the people I interpreted for were English teacher groups on break, touring Japan. I must have interpreted for around 400 to 450 people. Never once did I have a good experience. In fact, I had some of the worst encounters with people in my life - everyone hated Japan but felt they had to get one good trip around the country when they had the chance, so they could go home and say they "saw" Japan. To put in perspective how horrible most of these "teachers" were - an example: I was taking a group of 6 around, and at the end of the day we were having dinner. They asked about me and I told them I was married to a Japanese man, and had a son in the hospital. I was asked why I`d marry a monkey, didn`t I crave a big white dick? And that my son being sick was god`s way of telling me not to mate with animals. They all laughed at this, and continued on to ask which primate my husband resembled - an orangutan, like that guy over there? etc. Similar conversations happened almost any time I was asked about my personal life by a group. I stopped answering, but even without using my life as a starter point Japanese people and life was always ALWAYS insulted.

Your school and coworkers may be the most wonderful people teaching in Japan. But that does not change the teaching majority at all the big name Eikaiwa joints.

jasonbvr 12-04-2006 11:38 PM

I am sorry I misread your posts and thought you were a guy. Although I am not personally responsible for the trouble you've had in the past, I am sincerely sorry you have such horrible experiences with English teachers. You are right when you say that I am offering only the brighter side of the argument and will admit that I have come across a few English teachers that resemble what you have encountered in the past. I don't stick around these types for long and the ones I call my friends would certainly never harbor such racist thoughts. Best wishes to you and your family. Happy holidays too.

Okimoto_Tatsuki 12-05-2006 10:25 PM

your son is okay now?

Nyororin 12-06-2006 05:13 AM

Jasonbvr - It`s good to know there are decent people out there. I just want everyone to know that a large majority of the English "teachers" in Japan are not though. (Although, as it appears you`re actually a real teacher, you don`t quite fall into that category.) Thank you for your well wishes. I hope you have a nice holiday season.

Okimoto_Tatsuki: He is pretty much alright, but there are problems that aren`t so easy to erase.

Vesperd 12-06-2006 08:41 AM

Nyororin, one other question.. must all english teachers in Japan be white?


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