Current Events > I just moved back from Japan and I am having a hard time adjusting...

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was working in Japan. I loved it, but I came back to kind of rejuvinate my health as summers are really brutal. I lived in Koga, Ibaraki. Not a large place, but it is developed and has a lot of nice things, like plenty of shopping, places to see, game centers, nature...

I was expecting to be excited. Real pizza, cheddar cheese, movies, no humidity, English on a normal basis...

But it is more difficult than I expected. Food does nothing for me, nothing interests me, I miss my friends, my routine, music, even the food I thought I was sick of (there isnt much variety in food).

I cant tell if it is just culture shock, if I am really depressed, or if I really dont belong here anymore.
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It'll take time to adjust but soon you'll regain your lovd of the greatest nation in all of recorded history.

Do you also miss the good internet speeds for reasonable prices?
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How long have you been working in Japan? I know a couple of my cousins felt the same way when they came back from the Philipines/China from their work to relax here during the summer.
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LightHawKnight posted...

Do you also miss the good internet speeds for reasonable prices?

My apartment actually had pretty mediocre speed, but it was affordable. I did use fiber there before, and it was amazing.
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Yeah. An adjustment period is needed but any place you spend a lot of time in feels like home after a while. I lived in Fairbanks Alaska for over three years and still kind of miss it from time to time. Just have to get settled in.
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Fairbanks? I lived in Wasilla when i was younger. I remember that move was weird too.

I get really attached to things, so change is always difficult.
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Glorious nipponland is glorious
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DonaldClinton posted...

greatest nation in all of recorded history.

He moved to Monaco?
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NeonOctopus posted...

Glorious nopon is glorious

FTFY
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CountessRolab posted...

DonaldClinton posted...

greatest nation in all of recorded history.

He moved to Monaco?

'Murrica. Land of the brave, Home of the free

Protip: nobody in japan likes Trump.
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Did you ever visit @The_Doge
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_____Cait posted...

Protip: nobody in japan likes Trump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbM6WbUw7Bs
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No i did not but i saw many smaller doges and one of them had dog boots.
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_____Cait posted...

Protip: nobody in japan likes Trump.

I heard Nationalist in Japan like him though.
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DonaldClinton posted...

CountessRolab posted...

DonaldClinton posted...

greatest nation in all of recorded history.

He moved to Monaco?

'Murrica. Land of the brave, Home of the free

But Monaco is home to the million euro casino chip and marble sidewalks.
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SHADOW0106 posted...

_____Cait posted...

Protip: nobody in japan likes Trump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbM6WbUw7Bs

one of my students used to draw trump getting shot in the head. Everyone else associated him with war and being crazy.

Tokyo might be different. Tokyo is where all the weird stuff and exceptions to everything happen.
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_____Cait posted...

Tokyo is where all the weird stuff and exceptions to everything happen.

So the best part of japan?
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_____Cait posted...

Fairbanks? I lived in Wasilla when i was younger. I remember that move was weird too.

I get really attached to things, so change is always difficult.

Wasilla has the closest Target. Just 5 hours away! Give or take. lol.
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Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.
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Melonfarms posted...

_____Cait posted...

Fairbanks? I lived in Wasilla when i was younger. I remember that move was weird too.

I get really attached to things, so change is always difficult.

Wasilla has the closest Target. Just 5 hours away! Give or take. lol.

Haha but Anchorage (back in 1995 or so) had like, the only JC Penny. Wasilla got its first Walmart around then too :0.
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ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Japan is great but it really isnt what people think it is. Anime is mostly for kids, and there is a TON of crappy anime in between all the stuff other countries love. Diet is completely different, and meat is not the same (beef is disappointing).

However, I love the people and the land itself. Im not so into Tokyo, as it really doesnt represent Japan very well. It is like saying Las Vegas is America. It is a cool place, but it is the only place like that in the country.
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ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

So weeb reasons
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_____Cait posted...

ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Japan is great but it really isnt what people think it is. Anime is mostly for kids, and there is a TON of crappy anime in between all the stuff other countries love. Diet is completely different, and meat is not the same (beef is disappointing).

However, I love the people and the land itself. Im not so into Tokyo, as it really doesnt represent Japan very well. It is like saying Las Vegas is America. It is a cool place, but it is the only place like that in the country.

Kobe beef is literally the best beef in the world
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It is good but it isnt everywhere. Im talking about normal beef for normal meals.
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Returning_CEmen posted...

ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

So weeb reasons

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What up TC I understand what you are going through. Back in the day I used to live and work in Mexico for six months at a time and every time I would come back home it was a difficult adjustment. It was always a feeling of 'here hasn't changed but I have' which was hard to explain to the friends and fam but was acute for the first few weeks back each time.

You will readjust but it will take a few weeks.

_____Cait posted...

ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Japan is great but it really isnt what people think it is. Anime is mostly for kids, and there is a TON of crappy anime in between all the stuff other countries love. Diet is completely different, and meat is not the same (beef is disappointing).

However, I love the people and the land itself. Im not so into Tokyo, as it really doesnt represent Japan very well. It is like saying Las Vegas is America. It is a cool place, but it is the only place like that in the country.

I really don't care much about anime and video games so much as I love their life philosophies. Living healthy, personal responsibility, respect for the elderly, the emphasis on preserving art and the past, etc etc etc... I could go on. I looooove Japanese food (I don't eat beef so that point's irrelevant), specifically their focus on presentation when it comes to plating... The attention to detail in Japan's culture is fucking amazing. I wanna be them. The tacky, zany stuff is just icing on the cake.

My main roadblock in moving there is that I have a fiance. Not in the sense that I don't want to be with her, but more that it's just tougher to get two people over there. I could probably easily get a job as an English teacher since most people say that's the easiest way to get a work visa, and I know basic Japanese. But my fiance doesn't know a lick of it, and I imagine it'd be even tougher to get two work visas...
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Korea is better than Japan in pretty much every way. Less weird too.
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ForestLogic posted...

_____Cait posted...

ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Japan is great but it really isnt what people think it is. Anime is mostly for kids, and there is a TON of crappy anime in between all the stuff other countries love. Diet is completely different, and meat is not the same (beef is disappointing).

However, I love the people and the land itself. Im not so into Tokyo, as it really doesnt represent Japan very well. It is like saying Las Vegas is America. It is a cool place, but it is the only place like that in the country.

I really don't care much about anime and video games so much as I love their life philosophies. Living healthy, personal responsibility, respect for the elderly, the emphasis on preserving art and the past, etc etc etc... I could go on. I looooove Japanese food (I don't eat beef so that point's irrelevant), specifically their focus on presentation when it comes to plating... The attention to detail in Japan's culture is fucking amazing. I wanna be them. The tacky, zany stuff is just icing on the cake.

My main roadblock in moving there is that I have a fiance. Not in the sense that I don't want to be with her, but more that it's just tougher to get two people over there. I could probably easily get a job as an English teacher since most people say that's the easiest way to get a work visa, and I know basic Japanese. But my fiance doesn't know a lick of it, and I imagine it'd be even tougher to get two work visas...

So you are a weaboo

DonaldClinton posted...

cherry picking

Move along, adults are talking.
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ForestLogic posted...

_____Cait posted...

ForestLogic posted...

Man, it's my dream to live in Japan, that I know I'll never be able to attain :( Not even for weeb reasons, but because I genuinely love their culture. You're so super duper lucky.

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Japan is great but it really isnt what people think it is. Anime is mostly for kids, and there is a TON of crappy anime in between all the stuff other countries love. Diet is completely different, and meat is not the same (beef is disappointing).

However, I love the people and the land itself. Im not so into Tokyo, as it really doesnt represent Japan very well. It is like saying Las Vegas is America. It is a cool place, but it is the only place like that in the country.

I really don't care much about anime and video games so much as I love their life philosophies. Living healthy, personal responsibility, respect for the elderly, the emphasis on preserving art and the past, etc etc etc... I could go on. I looooove Japanese food (I don't eat beef so that point's irrelevant), specifically their focus on presentation when it comes to plating... The attention to detail in Japan's culture is fucking amazing. I wanna be them. The tacky, zany stuff is just icing on the cake.

My main roadblock in moving there is that I have a fiance. Not in the sense that I don't want to be with her, but more that it's just tougher to get two people over there. I could probably easily get a job as an English teacher since most people say that's the easiest way to get a work visa, and I know basic Japanese. But my fiance doesn't know a lick of it, and I imagine it'd be even tougher to get two work visas...

They could hire your wife along with you, or she could just tag along and get citizenship. She could study basic japanese beforehand (which is easy), and chill out and study while you work, until she is comfortable to start herself. That is what my married friends did.
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_____Cait posted...

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Through what type of visa did you get?

What kind of job do you have there?
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closetkpopfan posted...

Korea is better than Japan in pretty much every way. Less weird too.

Good freaking luck learning Korean, or Japanese for that matter. They aren't some of the most difficult langauges on Earth to learn for nothing.
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ForestLogic posted...

DonaldClinton posted...

cherry picking

Move along, adults are talking.

That's just the kind of response I'd expect from a child.

weeb level 11/10
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Feline_Heart posted...

Kobe beef is literally the best beef in the world

Seeing as he said his internet was crap over there, I highly doubt he could afford that on a regular basis.
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Sad_Face posted...

Feline_Heart posted...

Kobe beef is literally the best beef in the world

Seeing as he said his internet was crap over there, I highly doubt he could afford that on a regular basis.

My internet was provided through my apartment company so i didnt have a choice.
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DivideR posted...

_____Cait posted...

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in. You cna also work at the factories if you can deal with that.

Through what type of visa did you get?

What kind of job do you have there?

I honestly cant remember. I was only an ALT, but I liked it. I highly reccomend you dont do it if you dont like teaching though.
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_____Cait posted...

I honestly cant remember. I was only an ALT, but I liked it. I highly reccomend you dont do it if you dont like teaching though.

I see, thanks.
I suppose going through the ALT route is the easiest way by far. Not having much luck going through other routes =(
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What routes were those?

I highly reccomend just going on vacation first. The internet really doesnt paint the correct image of Japan.
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_____Cait posted...

I highly reccomend just going on vacation first. The internet really doesnt paint the correct image of Japan.

Oh I got that part covered. Been there 3 times on vacation thus far, and two of those trips I went alone. I speak enough of the language that I didn't have trouble with most things. I might have trouble if people explain to me stuff using vocabulary that I don't know, but I'm able to ask them to clarify using simpler language.
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_____Cait posted...

They could hire your wife along with you, or she could just tag along and get citizenship. She could study basic japanese beforehand (which is easy), and chill out and study while you work, until she is comfortable to start herself. That is what my married friends did.

Isn't it almost impossible to get citizenship as a foreigner unless you marry someone who was born there? I thought the best you can get is like a permanent work visa, and even that's tough?

I feel like between the two of us, we're good candidates to live and work there, but I just feel like it'd be a ton of work to try and coordinate. Like I said, I speak a little bit of Japanese. I've got a bachelor's myself and I love teaching so I could totally see myself doing ATL. My girlfriend meanwhile has a background in art and a master's degree. Though she has very little knowledge of Japanese culture and isn't good with foreign languages... But it's something I might explore more in-depth once we're done getting married.
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_____Cait posted...

If you have a bachelor's degree, it is pretty easy to get in.

How so? Teaching? I'm getting my master's rn but I'm open to anything after that.
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Yeah, teaching is the easiest way, or doing work at a factory.
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Hmm

Maybe I can teach there since my background is in English lol

How much Japanese do you need to know to do so?
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None, although obviously you want to know the basics
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How well are you if you already know chinese