Being successful in JP *Job*

He's going to imply that you ought to move your entire family to another country simply because there are a few things in your world that annoy the shit out of you. I am going to assume that he is not married, does not have children, and does not understand what those things mean or how they affect your daily life and outlook.

 

Out of interest Martin, how old are you? From the sounds of it you seem to be quite young and perhaps lacking somewhat in terms of life experience. Idealism is the blessing of a young person. What you say sounds like it should be true, but in many companies you cannot change what goes on beyond your bubble of influence. This bubble can vary in size and scope. That is true for every company and country I have ever worked in. An alternative is that you can leave the company; but in reality, it is rarely that easy. The bigger the company, the worse it is adapting to change or being open to new ideas or processes.

I have worked in education (TEFL) in the past and it is not always a place where people listen to your opinion or care about your ideas, unfortunately. From what I hear, in Japan this is especially so.

 

Beyond that I wouldn't feel comfortable in moving to a foreign country and then telling everyone around me how to run their shit. I appreciate we've mostly been talking about how meetings are held and I'm sure that's fixable in some cases. On a broader level, though, moving to another country and resolving to fix everything you don't like there isn't just unfeasible, it's actually pretty arrogant.

Nothing personal, Martin, just making my case. All the best with the move.

 

No respectable person would, unless they were
1) Paid to do it
-or-
2) Addressing issues that have plagued the nation for decades (see depopulation, and the joke of an education system)

But, the issue with Japan is, despite the fact that it has pointed out many issues which are to it's detriment, it is impotent to do anything (other than elect a a new PM... they may even have the 6th in 3 years tomorrow). That's the whole ironic joke. It's the ultimate encapsulation of standing there cock in hand.

 

What? THey're electing another PM tomorrow? Shit! This place is a joke. What's the point anyway? The next idiot will just be the same as all that came before him.

Since I've been in Japan the UK has had 3 PMs. Japan must be on to their 10th or 12th by now. If this doesn't show how backwards the place is then nothing will.

Yakumo

 

I'm definitely lacking in experience. I've just turned 27 years old and am handing in my Ph.D thesis this coming month.

When I move to Japan it will be to work as a scientific research at Toudai. My girlfriend has been doing this job for a few years and is 31. She will also be a researcher in Tokyo. We'll see how it goes. There are fewer research jobs in the UK at the moment due to the huge funding cuts, so we're travelling and it also has turned out to be quite a shrewd move on our part.

I'm young, naive when it comes to business but I have no intention of working in one, and have more experience in the education sector (high level) than most people.

I don't intend on ever having children. If either my or my partner were miserable then I would look to move so that we weren't.

Having said that, I am British. I love to hate things and moan lots myself.

 

No, I'm not.

 

LOL -- don't keep up w/ current affairs? I agree, it's a circus. And, my numbers before were bad. They're on the 6th in 3 years now... Ozawa would have been the 7th but he did not win. The funny thing is he stepped down within the party when they first took office due to scandalous allegations. He did say he would take stronger intervention in weakening then yen, so I should be sad he didn't win. But, they all say tons of shit before they're elected. Hatoyama was their ray of hope: western educated even... and couldn't get shit done.

I know you'll only be a researcher, but I'll be curious to hear your take on the education system. I've gotten into some heated debates with other westerners about the system... from primary all the way up to the undergrad level. I've only been a part of a small specialty school for a trimester, but we had a visiting professor from Sophia. He gave us the low down on Uni, and from what I've read and observed from student friends, he was right. :flamethrower:

An organization is an organization. Schools gotta make money somehow. I can't imagine them being that much better than a business.

This is not the only thing that prevent someone from moving, although it's a big one. What if you love it here and your partner hates it? Trust me, it's less pleasant than having a pencil used as a catheter on you.

 

Nope. I used to but don't bother these days. It just became like a never ending circle. Same shit new face time and time again. I know more about the UK political state than here :lol: