Okay, first post here, this thread got my attention a helluva lot more than the torrents (imagine that), so I thought I'd write back to C69... first off, I'm half and speak Japanese (not fluently, though 2nd gen. here), my girlfriend is a Japanese national who lives in Mejiro, and I have no problem getting around the city on my own (thanks to those nifty suica cards). No degrees, I'm a 29 year old paramedic. Let's look at where I stand:
Japanese mother, familiar with the language and culture, Japanese girlfriend, and being able to tell people that I do something other than teach English (yes, saying you're an English teacher is that bad).
Do I think I have a snowball's chance in hell of making it here? No. Hell no. Seriously, everything that aquamarine said in his first post that destroyed your self esteem was spot-on. Or at least in my opinion. It's nice that other people here are attempting to help you perpetuate your dream of becoming a citizen there, but if you think that you can just show up without knowing the language or having an education and work part-time at a ramen shop while you put yourself through college, you are making a very big mistake. For one thing, what you would deem racism is actually the norm. Their country, their rules, that's just how it goes. You could be totally fluent in Japanese, live there half your life, and still put up with crap because you look like a foreigner. It's not like America where everyone's race is all mixed up and speaking fluent English is enough to pass yourself off as a national.
See, I'm not trying to dispute your claims, but this is why I asked my question here - I was hoping for one solid answer. Because one website will have people claiming Japanese people are the nicest people you will ever meet, really nice to foreigners, not racist, etc. etc. And then other websites... the exact opposite. And this topic doesn't really clarify anything - you have some people that say one thing, and others that say different. It's all just one big confusing jumble, and in the end, it's going to just come down to picking one side of the argument and blindly believing it, until I save up enough money to visit the country and see for myself.
As for what I would do in order to go to college there, if, hypothetically, I was - I really don't know. I have so many different plans for my life, all of which I can't decide between. And the funny thing is, I could be much less prepared. I've been planning everything even back when my peers were planning the best way to get laid, back when the puberty-induced sex desire craze struck everyone. I've just never had the money to visit anywhere foreign, and all of my plans basically rely on me finding somewhere to live that I will be happy. If I can't find a place to live happily, why should I even bother trying to live? That's really my only goal right now is to find somewhere that I would
want to live, and based off of what I do
know of Japan, I think that might be it. That's why I'm so - perhaps blindly - obsessed with Japan. Maybe Japan
isn't where I want to live. Maybe I'll visit it and it'll be a total shit hole. What then? Where do I go? I've considered several places, as I mentioned in my last post, such as English-speaking European countries and, yes, Canada. But would I really be better off there than in America?
I don't know. Probably not. Maybe? But probably not.
Japan is so different from the white-dominated countries. And it's not a dump like, say, Africa (no offense to any Africans...). I'm so interested in it because its different. Because I want to, yes, be someone that I know I'm not. I want to get away from
myself, and really the only country worth living in where I can do that would be Japan.
I would even be willing to put up with what is admittedly pretty bullshitty, like being forced to work anytime the boss wants me to, or whatever.
I think part of it is finding myself, and maybe I think I might be hidden somewhere in Japan.
And if that all sounded like some Emo/goth/whatever-the-hell-its-called song, maybe I should be a songwriter. They make good money. *rolleyes*
In complete seriousness, you that accuse me of wanting to live in Japan because I think I'll be some kind of sex-idol, or because I like anime, or because I think Japan is really like it's portrayed in the manga, need to stop throwing around blind accusations (and no, that's not aimed at you, Ceiling Cat, as I don't believe you accused me of this).
Another, as mentioned before, their idea of work is just plain fcuked in my opinion. If your boss told you to be in half an hour early and stay two hours late, all off the clock, would you: a) tell him to fcuk himself, b) cite fair labor laws and get him to pay everyone the OT they deserve while making you the office hero, or c) thank him for the opportunity to work harder for the company. If you picked the first two, don't bother. I know you thought aquamarine was being an asshole, but sad to say, you will not be the next Karate Kid or that white brat from "Forbidden Kingdom"-- hell, you won't even be able to get a job handing out fliers to host clubs outside of Shinjuku station. So please, seriously, stay home and finish school first-- you might even be able to get into a language study program and stay in Japan a year or two-- and test the waters before you jump in. I'd worry about you going there, failing, and ending up in a locked car with a hibachi burning, but then again, that would imply that you took responsibility for your failure. If you think life sucks here, going to another country will not solve your problems.
See earlier. OK, Aquamarine, I'm being an attention whore emo kid. Whatever. Will my life improve in Japan? How would anyone know, myself included, unless I actually tried living there? Maybe there are many things wrong with Japan, and many reasons you might think I would not like it there. But how would I know unless I tried? Hypothetically, let's say I visit Japan and find out that it sucks. What about then? Where am I going then?
Will Japan solve my problems? To be honest, I don't really believe it myself. But it's kind of the last hope I have, so I want to see this dream true. Sometimes dreams do become reality; maybe I'll be happier, if just slighter, there than I would be here.
And of course I planned on visiting the country first before I tried to move there; I hope no one's stupid enough to decide to move to a country they've never been to.
Also, while this may be a ratty question, do you have a girlfriend? I seriously think that if you did, life wouldn't seem as miserable (unless, as with my ex, she Japanese-Korean and thinks that catching you cheating is justification for attempting to ruin your life, job, and stalk your girl).
Girlfriend?
Meh. I don't really know what to think about women. Some days I'm sexist. Some days I'm horny. I've never found a woman I think I could be with. I doubt I ever will. I'm a likeable guy, I could probably find a woman that was nice to me, who I could be nice to in return, and date. But someone I would be truly happy with? I doubt it. I don't really want to get into that.
Let's just say that I don't like most women, and when I first had sex several years back and realized that, while fun, it's not all it's hyped up to be, the joy of love was taken away from me. I won't find someone to love me, and sex isn't even all
that great. So why bother.
I'm a loner, always have been, and probably always will. I would like to find someone that loves me, but I don't see it happening. This is getting too personal, so I will stop now.
So, yeah. Aquamarine was harsh, but I honestly think he was being very matter-of-fact about all of this. Japan is not everything that your friends (who probably only visited Akihabara and think that the girl they stalked at the maid cafe is really their girlfriend) made it out to be. Do you think that any Japanese girl who watches "Friends" thinks she could just hop on a plane and make it in NYC?
I have a lot of growing up to do, still, I'm not going to deny that. But I've made it very clear why I so desire to visit Japan. I never truly planned on going into anything this personal, especially with this being my first few posts here, I just really wanted some basic answers that would help me plan my life out, and I didn't so much want advice. I feel like I know a decent amount about Japanese culture, enough to not make myself look like some blundering foreign idiot if I were to visit. Of course I was going to visit first; with or without you guys' advice, I will have visited Japan and may even not like what I find there.
I just had a few fairly simple questions that I didn't mean to turn into a debate of any sorts like this....
As an ending statement, I'll admit that I'm stupidly blinded by my desire to find something to make me happy that's not drugs. Will Japan do it? I don't know - but it's top of my list of things to try, and that's why I am seriously going to look into a life there, if I like what I find there when I manage to visit. There's a lot of "if"s there, but aren't there always?
And to the guy that asked (sorry, I don't remember your name -_-), yes, I love Metal Gear.
