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[I'm an expert]

So your goal is to be me.

 

[Porcile]

Japanese and make another independent short film animation (made a few already). Those are my two current projects and passions. As I've enjoyed teaching and school life a lot so far, I'm considering where that can take me beyond ALT or eikaiwa within Japan.

 

[RetroDLC]

On the whole Brexit, intolerance, dumb people thing. You need to change your expectations on that too. I've been stopped by the police twice for no reason and asked to show my ID card. Been shouted racist stuff by a crazy woman in a train station, and obviously all the usual silly micro-aggression stuff which Japanese people just can't help but do. I don't take any of this stuff personally, so it doesn't bother me at all, but some again people can't let it go and it inflates their sense of negativity, and way they choose to interact with people.

I wholly expect some negativity towards me for being white and/or English, which is understandable given the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I can deal with that, compared to the unfounded intolerance being spouted in the US and USA these days.

 

[Porcile]

Egggggh, it's nothing to do with Hiroshima or Nagasaki lol

 

[bluethree]

lol I don't think a Japanese person has ever given me crap for historical events. A japanese friend even showed me around hiroshima.

 

[Porcile]

Well fuck, didnt realise Real Madrid were in town. Should've bought tickets. Damn. Anyone at the game?

 

[RetroDLC]

I was thinking more about how I've heard the elderly tend to be more judgemental compared to younger generations, though that tends to be a thing everywhere else, I guess.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I'm trying to find something from my family hometown of Oita for my mom. What would be an English translation of 瑠異沙?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm trying to find something from my family hometown of Oita for my mom. What would be an English translation of 瑠異沙?

It's the name of a confectionery... You would just have to explain what it is.

So your goal is to be me.

In terms of living situation? Yeah, more or less.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

It's the name of a confectionery... You would just have to explain what it is.

Yeah, I know it's a confectionery. So what actually goes in it and how do I describe it? When I search that term, obviously all the results are in Japanese and I can't really read the descriptions

 

[urfe]

I was looking at used houses in the south of Chiba yesterday. Reality was less beautiful than how I imagined everything. Areas with good connections to highway buses aren't the pretty type of inaka, and the pretty type of inaka is inconvenient.

So it goes. Hope to buy next year.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Yeah, I know it's a confectionery. So what actually goes in it and how do I describe it? When I search that term, obviously all the results are in Japanese and I can't really read the descriptions

If the Wikipedia page is to be believed, maybe something like this?

"Castella" Japanese sponge cake filled with violet liqueur-flavored sweet bean paste and baked in aluminum foil.

 

[Desmond]

God. Some job applications ask for business level Japanese. Then the fine print is N1 level? I thought N2 would be sufficient. Should've reset the N1 this year haha.

Heading over to Tokyo on a Working Holiday visa next month hopefully, but I'm sweating about going over jobless haba

 

[orthodoxy1095]

If the Wikipedia page is to be believed, maybe something like this?

"Castella" Japanese sponge cake filled with violet liqueur-flavored sweet bean paste and baked in aluminum foil.

Hm alright. Thank you!

 

[I'm an expert]

I was looking at used houses in the south of Chiba yesterday. Reality was less beautiful than how I imagined everything. Areas with good connections to highway buses aren't the pretty type of inaka, and the pretty type of inaka is inconvenient.

So it goes. Hope to buy next year.

If you want convenient inaka you should move to capital cities of actual Inaka prefectures. Wakayama, Toyama, Okayama.. some random examples that all coincidentally have..yama. The inaka of the primary kantou prefectures are really weird. It doesn't get better till you get past the Gunma/Tochigi/Ibaraki border. Imo the best place to move right now, if location for job wasn't a factor, is 100% Matsuyama-shi.

God. Some job applications ask for business level Japanese. Then the fine print is N1 level? I thought N2 would be sufficient. Should've reset the N1 this year haha.

Heading over to Tokyo on a Working Holiday visa next month hopefully, but I'm sweating about going over jobless haba

That's because N2 isn't business level.. neither is N1 to be honest. Business level is business level. That's why there's an actual business proficiency test. But it's not like you shouldn't apply anyway. I've said it before, when I'm bringing someone from overseas in I don't care if they have a piece of paper that says they can speak jozu jgo, I care if they actually have the skill.

In terms of living situation? Yeah, more or less.

No I meant as a person. You want this wit and charm. The money and good looks are just the bonuses.

 

[Desmond]

If you want convenient inaka you should move to capital cities of actual Inaka prefectures. Wakayama, Toyama, Okayama.. some random examples that all coincidentally have..yama. The inaka of the primary kantou prefectures are really weird. It doesn't get better till you get past the Gunma/Tochigi/Ibaraki border. Imo the best place to move right now, if location for job wasn't a factor, is 100% Matsuyama-shi.



That's because N2 isn't business level.. neither is N1 to be honest. Business level is business level. That's why there's an actual business proficiency test. But it's not like you shouldn't apply anyway. I've said it before, when I'm bringing someone from overseas in I don't care if they have a piece of paper that says they can speak jozu jgo, I care if they actually have the skill.



No I meant as a person. You want this wit and charm. The money and good looks are just the bonuses.

Matsyuyama is gorgeous. My girlfriend is from Kagawa but is based in Tokyo so I'm heading. I'd love to settle down in Shikoku.

Honestly regret doing a translation degree over a business plus Japanese dual moderateship. Every translation trail has been a disaster.

Best way to up my business speak? I assume this goes further than simply knowing 尊敬語 and 謙譲語？

 

[I'm an expert]

im in takamatsu at least once a month for various reasons. the giant economic boom ehime/kagawa/tokushima went through in the last decade is insane. shikoku in general, minus kochi, is on a huge upswing. construction and developments everywhere. glad im invested there.

as for the biz jgo, i mean that stuff is important too. i dont know what industry or jobs youre looking at so not sure what the demands are. id say the number one thing that people who think their jgo is hot shit suck at are internal and external emails. like, can you write an email to an imaginary client right now asking them what the status of whether they want to sign an sow with us is? most n1 experts dont even know how to start the email. all the little obligatory phrases and pleasantries, in proper polite form, before you even get to the content. can you write an email to someone on your team above and below you about the same thing?

if vocab is your issue, and you dont have japanese schooling for whatever your industry is, then go to a bookoff, pick up some old edition of a textbook or test prep book and just start reading/learning. like for my industry, if someone didnt know accounting lingo id tell them grab a 200 yen TAC 日商簿記 book and just hit it. not for the actual content.. for the words, kanji, acronyms..whatever.

 

[urfe]

If you want convenient inaka you should move to capital cities of actual Inaka prefectures. Wakayama, Toyama, Okayama.. some random examples that all coincidentally have..yama. The inaka of the primary kantou prefectures are really weird. It doesn't get better till you get past the Gunma/Tochigi/Ibaraki border. Imo the best place to move right now, if location for job wasn't a factor, is 100% Matsuyama-shi.

My wife's from the Bosohanto (just a factory area, not a pretty area) and I have lived in Chiba for 11 years, so we both have many connections/attachments in the area, so there's really no plan on leaving.

I'd like to work from home/locally in the future, but for now it would be continuing my current career path. Finding a job near Tokyo station would be ideal because then my commute would be solely a 90 minute highway bus ride. Planning on taking the sharoshi-shiken in 2018, and need to see if that can have any benefits in inaka, or perhaps in consulting/working from home.

However nothing is decided, and we are just starting to think seriously about houses, used vs. new, areas, (cheap) second houses, etc.

Okinawa is out though. Some may remember I dreamed of living there for a while. 33 now, so I'd like to finalize a lot of this stuff in 2017.

 

[urfe]

Matsyuyama is gorgeous. My girlfriend is from Kagawa but is based in Tokyo so I'm heading. I'd love to settle down in Shikoku.

Honestly regret doing a translation degree over a business plus Japanese dual moderateship. Every translation trail has been a disaster.

Best way to up my business speak? I assume this goes further than simply knowing 尊敬語 and 謙譲語？

Even if you didn't have N1, if you can write a 履歴書 and 職務経歴書, and eloquently express yourself in a job interview, I don't think it's that big of a deal.

For me getting my mouth used to saying various long expressions more than memorizing them. You can have lists of 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 (as well as 丁寧語 or 美化&#35486, but to me it is much better to be able to smoothly use a limited about of expressions. (伺う and いただく come to mind for me personally as ones I use often)

 

[I'm an expert]

yeah trust me i know that, even with all the other factors, the wife being close to home will always be the issue. most married to a japanese woman know this. i know it all too well. but yeah i remember you kicking okinawa around so figured there was a chance at trying something new.

i forget if you have kids or not, but a 90 minute one way commute at your age better be for a hell of a good salary. if not, it will destroy your family life. even with a good salary it will do that, but at least its offset by quality of life for the rest of the family then. not saying 90 minutes into tokyo is long or unusual, just that its usually the younger crowd that do that through their 20s and get it out of the way while they can. when my firm brings in someone around your age, we purposely give them a good enough package so they can just live in minato or chiyoda. we know someone that age usually has a family or just other priorities and so ensuring that even on late nights they can be home in 30 minutes is a must for mental health.

anyway, i know you didnt ask for life advice so you can ignore this. but if you can, id recommend just moving closer to your job then, meaning inside tokyo or like funabashi. probably biggest factor again is whether you have kids or not, then everything gets complicated.. i know.

 

[bluethree]

15 minute commute from tokyo to yokohama is heaven ^____^

i always look at the other side's platform each morning and internally lol

some of my students have those crazy 90+ minute commutes and i have no idea how they do it.

Also +1 on inaka capitals being awesome places to live. My favorite time when I lived in Miyazaki was the 4 or so months I lived in Miyazaki city post-JET.

 

[I'm an expert]

yeah i dont give enough love to kyuushuu in general because ive only been for short term work or play. there and hokkaido are the only two places ive never lived. ive done a month in okinawa so ill count that as living lol. but kyuushuu is just wonderful. its weird because the city areas can be really city but the inaka areas are fuckin REALLY inaka. again..kochi level type shit lol.

 

[urfe]

yeah trust me i know that, even with all the other factors, the wife being close to home will always be the issue. most married to a japanese woman know this. i know it all too well. but yeah i remember you kicking okinawa around so figured there was a chance at trying something new.

i forget if you have kids or not, but a 90 minute one way commute at your age better be for a hell of a good salary. if not, it will destroy your family life. even with a good salary it will do that, but at least its offset by quality of life for the rest of the family then. not saying 90 minutes into tokyo is long or unusual, just that its usually the younger crowd that do that through their 20s and get it out of the way while they can. when my firm brings in someone around your age, we purposely give them a good enough package so they can just live in minato or chiyoda. we know someone that age usually has a family or just other priorities and so ensuring that even on late nights they can be home in 30 minutes is a must for mental health.

anyway, i know you didnt ask for life advice so you can ignore this. but if you can, id recommend just moving closer to your job then, meaning inside tokyo or like funabashi. probably biggest factor again is whether you have kids or not, then everything gets complicated.. i know.

I'm more welcoming to life advice now because I'm now looking at things in terms of what needs to be done, and realizing how overwhelming it all is.

I feel at 33 I'm where a 25 year old would be in their home country in many ways. Need to think about insurance, investment, etc. etc.

I'll reply more later. Lots of translation stuff on my desk.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Even if you didn't have N1, if you can write a 履歴書 and 職務経歴書, and eloquently express yourself in a job interview, I don't think it's that big of a deal.

For me getting my mouth used to saying various long expressions more than memorizing them. You can have lists of 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 (as well as 丁寧語 or 美化&#35486, but to me it is much better to be able to smoothly use a limited about of expressions. (伺う and いただく come to mind for me personally as ones I use often)

I have a hard time imagining anyone who fits that description. Sure, they may not *have* the N1 test, but to able to use Japanese and Keigo proficiently in a business environment without making people cringe means you almost certainly have more than what it takes to pass the N1.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Anyone have a preferred package shipping method from Japan to America? or any international place? Want to send my older brother and his wife some things I've been collecting since they had to cancel their trip here due to a new baby on the way.

Would Japan post be the cheapest/most efficient? I assume I can just go with my box of crap, hand it over with the address/fill it out myself and be done.

 

[Gromph]

so what are the goals then for all you guys

My goal is to die someday.

Because meeting you is out of the table.

 

[Gromph]

Anyone have a preferred package shipping method from Japan to America? or any international place? Want to send my older brother and his wife some things I've been collecting since they had to cancel their trip here due to a new baby on the way.

Would Japan post be the cheapest/most efficient? I assume I can just go with my box of crap, hand it over with the address/fill it out myself and be done.

I always use EMS to send overseas

 

[I'm an expert]

I'm more welcoming to life advice now because I'm now looking at things in terms of what needs to be done, and realizing how overwhelming it all is.

I feel at 33 I'm where a 25 year old would be in their home country in many ways. Need to think about insurance, investment, etc. etc.

I'll reply more later. Lots of translation stuff on my desk.

Yeah I mean, I'm in a spot in life right now where I can actually take a look around and maybe give some helpful advice. I just came out of a 14 year (longer if you go back to school/Jgo studying since 18) non-stop 19 hour a day grueling career. I say 19 hours because I only sleep 5 hours a day..I hate sleep because it means no time for work (video games). I think I hinted at it in this thread but in case I didn't, in August I basically told my firm I'm gonna take a year or two off...

My goal is to die someday.

Because meeting you is out of the table.

..which is why I had to cancel my meetup with Gromph lol. I WILL BE BACK AND WE CAN MEETUP. But so yeah, after getting to a point where I'm good financially, I needed to just stop and look at wtf I'm doing in life. I welcomed my third and final child this year so that was also a big reason of just saying let's slow the fuck down and see what we got.

This is what I mean by the fact that in your 20s and early 30s is when people need to GRIND. So that by the time they're 40 and above they're just chillin. Money ain't an issue because we got shit done. Now we get to relax and not work ourselves to death, do what we want for the next few decades. No one should set their life up so they have to suffer until 60something retirement and then try to "enjoy" what's left.

Anyway..this topic goes beyond just living in Japan and I realize everyone has their own circumstances and goals.

I also have a VERY narrow view on life because for me it was just ALL about this industry. I mean the industry is good and given me a life I could have never dreamed of, but I'm telling you these last 2 months or so where I've gotten to actually just wake up every day and take my kids to school or go to the park.. I dunno man. Watching everyone else go to work in the morning when you don't have to, it's a fuckin mind trip. I was in that race for so long..and I probably plan to go back anyway lol.

So yeah, I'm always down to discuss life. Life is a trip man. I guess my TLDR is, coming from an industry where a commute that long is already on top of a 13-17 hour a day.. try your best to avoid it lol. 180 minutes a day commuting seems like whatever, but the stress it puts on everyone surfaces pretty quickly. Unless the plan is to just make baller status cash and bail when you can.

 

[Gromph]

Yeah I mean, I'm in a spot in life right now where I can actually take a look around and maybe give some helpful advice. I just came out of a 14 year (longer if you go back to school/Jgo studying since 18) non-stop 19 hour a day grueling career. I say 19 hours because I only sleep 5 hours a day..I hate sleep because it means no time for work (video games). I think I hinted at it in this thread but in case I didn't, in August I basically told my firm I'm gonna take a year or two off...



..which is why I had to cancel my meetup with Gromph lol. I WILL BE BACK AND WE CAN MEETUP. But so yeah, after getting to a point where I'm good financially, I needed to just stop and look at wtf I'm doing in life. I welcomed my third and final child this year so that was also a big reason of just saying let's slow the fuck down and see what we got.

This is what I mean by the fact that in your 20s and early 30s is when people need to GRIND. So that by the time they're 40 and above they're just chillin. Money ain't an issue because we got shit done. Now we get to relax and not work ourselves to death, do what we want for the next few decades. No one should set their life up so they have to suffer until 60something retirement and then try to "enjoy" what's left.

Anyway..this topic goes beyond just living in Japan and I realize everyone has their own circumstances and goals.

I also have a VERY narrow view on life because for me it was just ALL about this industry. I mean the industry is good and given me a life I could have never dreamed of, but I'm telling you these last 2 months or so where I've gotten to actually just wake up every day and take my kids to school or go to the park.. I dunno man. Watching everyone else go to work in the morning when you don't have to, it's a fuckin mind trip. I was in that race for so long..and I probably plan to go back anyway lol.

So yeah, I'm always down to discuss life. Life is a trip man. I guess my TLDR is, coming from an industry where a commute that long is already on top of a 13-17 hour a day.. try your best to avoid it lol. 180 minutes a day commuting seems like whatever, but the stress it puts on everyone surfaces pretty quickly. Unless the plan is to just make baller status cash and bail when you can.

I don't really mind postponing things.

Other thing is the complete radio silence about it.

Congrats on your new child

 

[I'm an expert]

what radio silence, didnt i post or pm you guys i couldnt make it

and thanks

 

[Gromph]

what radio silence, didnt i post or pm you guys i couldnt make it

and thanks

Yeah you didn't post or pm it. That's why i said radio silence

 

[I'm an expert]

hey gromph just replying here to make a note to others as well, i actually have a different soubetsukai on the 9th so i will be out and about somewhere.. we can try to coordinate a drunken sloppy meetup after but i dont have details yet for time/where ill be. ill update when i do. in the near future though ill actually be leaving the tokyo area on sabbatical so i wont be around for a bit. going to head to kansai for a bit and recharge my batteries, sort of a spin off of my early discussion here.

hm, i guess i didnt post/pm an exact NO but i sort of warned i probably couldnt.. and i did bring up the fact i was retiring for a bit!

so yeah sorry, i didnt mean to give no word at all.. it was a busy time in my life!!! also charlie never posts here so whatever fuck him!!!!!!!!11111

 

[Gromph]

hm, i guess i didnt post/pm an exact NO but i sort of warned i probably couldnt.. and i did bring up the fact i was retiring for a bit!

so yeah sorry, i didnt mean to give no word at all.. it was a busy time in my life!!! also charlie never posts here so whatever fuck him!!!!!!!!11111

He lost his phone.

Just let me know when you want to meet again

 

[I'm an expert]

we'll try again next september lol

 

[Gromph]

we'll try again next september lol

I can't warranty than you or me will be alive but sounds ok.

 

[I'm an expert]

hai

 

[Darksol]

If the Wikipedia page is to be believed, maybe something like this?

"Castella" Japanese sponge cake filled with violet liqueur-flavored sweet bean paste and baked in aluminum foil.

I need this in my mouth. Right now.

 

[I'm an expert]

Can you guys respond to aizo's question so it sort of looks like we actually talk about Japan here

 

[Porcile]

What was the question?

 

[Aizo]

I'm just glad that I inadvertently brought the thread back to life. Porcile, learn how to use the internet.

He lost his phone.

Just let me know when you want to meet again

Is that why I never get to hear him tell stories about his clients and stressful meetings anymore? I just figured his wife finally killed him.

 

[Desmond]

Where are our favourite places? I've only had the experience of living in Tokushima and Kyoto. So both were pretty relaxed. I've been to loads of places if we're just talking about travelling though.

 

[Dingens]

[...]
Besides JET, I don't think there are many golden egg teaching opportunities here, it's not worthwhile to think about it as a long term plan. Besides, there's a culture of employee turnover and just as soon as you've settled into something you like, you might get moved on to something against your will. That's how it is. When it comes to job stability and visas, you could be working here for ten years and have the same security as someone who has been working here for 2 months. It's not the reality for everyone who comes here but for many it is, especially someone new to the country. Is it something to get angry about? No, not really, but some people can't let it go and create an image of themselves as the perpetual outsider, with Japanese society a huge wall blocking you from getting in. Which is wrong of course.
[...]

I think this is a common misconception when it comes to working in Japan. Outside Japan "we" have the idea of everyone being roughly equal (at least on paper), but in a Japanese working environment, that's certainly not the case. While "full time" employees are enjoying their communism, "part timers" are living in pure capitalism. As you said, it doesn't matter if you're with the company 2 months or 10 years, if you are a part timer, you're fucked. You may do the same work as full-time employees, but without any of their benefits and with way lower wages on top of it. Many foreigners would shoot for a position in a prestigious firm and accept such a contract (usually since many don't know better) and then start feeling discriminated, or as you said, like an outsider who gets blocked by a huge wall.
Thanks to the demographic change, this is also slowly changing though, since getting a "full time" contract should be easier then ever now.
And besides all the negatives listed above, it may also screw you over in the future, since it doesn't look good on your resume. As one japanese friend once put it, it looks suspicious when you're in your 30s and haven't had a "real job" yet.

tldr/general advice: don't accept "part time" contracts, go with the less prestigious position if it comes with a "real" ("full-time") contract.

 

[I'm an expert]

Where are our favourite places? I've only had the experience of living in Tokushima and Kyoto. So both were pretty relaxed. I've been to loads of places if we're just talking about travelling though.

Totally forgot you were in Tokushima.. I was still in America at the time. You were going to Tokudai or something? We have a home there, was there all last month with family. Not sure when the last time you were there was but again, crazy growth since I first came here over a decade ago.

 

[Desmond]

Totally forgot you were in Tokushima.. I was still in America at the time. You were going to Tokudai or something? We have a home there, was there all last month with family. Not sure when the last time you were there was but again, crazy growth since I first came here over a decade ago.

Was in Tokudai the summer of 2013, then did an exchange in Doshisha in Kyoto the following year.

The thing I missed most about Tokushima was how cheap everything was compared to Honshuu.

 

[Porcile]

So does anyone here know anyone who went from bum ALT to becoming an actual licensed teacher in a public school? I know its possible to do without doing a degree course, since the teacher at my school went from being an accountant to a public school English teacher in the space of a couple years. I'm curious about the process.

 

[I'm an expert]

well it's cheap because there's no money there. if i could make even 1/5 of my salary in tokers, id never leave. i mean i could live there forever if i wanted to now, but not if i want to continue my current career (without taking a giant drop). why i envy people like remote coders who can do work from wherever. id just live in aizumi and enjoy life.

if you came in 2013 that means you came to a tokushima that already had starbucks and youme town all the chain kaitens. if you had come in like 2010..none of that. the three fuji grand and the 祭り寿し were it lol. now there's a スシロ or はま寿司 like every few km. like a different world..

geezus porcile, they gave you the best koolaid over there eh. youre going all in eh.

 

[Porcile]

It would be fun to boss around an ALT. Dat tenure too...

Anyone? Surely some non-Japanese real teachers are out there somewhere.

 

[I'm an expert]

ive met plenty of alts/jets that went all the way and work at universities and shit..some probably went the whole license route too. just no clue of the specifics. also i have never heard of someone being a fulltime public school teacher. like..one of the actual staff? just knowing what i know from my own experience with my kids in school, there are so many things outside of teaching that teachers do here. could you imagine rockin up for a 家庭訪問 as a gaijin teacher lol. like i dont know if theyd be comfortable hiring someone without full mastery of not just the language but..the culture..?

if no one here has personal knowledge of it, probably reddit would.

 

[Desmond]

well it's cheap because there's no money there. if i could make even 1/5 of my salary in tokers, id never leave. i mean i could live there forever if i wanted to now, but not if i want to continue my current career (without taking a giant drop). why i envy people like remote coders who can do work from wherever. id just live in aizumi and enjoy life.

if you came in 2013 that means you came to a tokushima that already had starbucks and youme town all the chain kaitens. if you had come in like 2010..none of that. the three fuji grand and the 祭り寿し were it lol. now there's a スシロ or はま寿司 like every few km. like a different world..

geezus porcile, they gave you the best koolaid over there eh. youre going all in eh.

People were so proud of the two Starbucks and three 鳥兄弟 so close to the station haha.

 

[Aizo]

Isn't there a guy that's posted in this thread that was part of the actual staff at a Japanese school? May have been private. I think his username started with a J. Jijidasu or something?