Sendai: Things to Do?

Yawn, (ex-)English teachers always bitch about life in Japan. Oh, and continually refer to themselves as Gaijin. Sigh.

 

And you'd know better? Oh and by the way, we aren't all Ex English Teachers or presently English Teachers.

The only people who can really bitch about life in Japan are those who have lived here for at least 5 years continuously. We are the ones who live as Japanese, we are the ones who need to use the system, we are the ones who see what visitors or short stay people don't.

And yes, I'm a "gaijin" or Gaikokujin as I prefer. Why would I want to class my self as a Japanese when I'm not?

Yakumo

 

*yawn* Troll joins board, makes one post, and is never to return. *sigh* *wank*

 

>> The only people who can really bitch about life in Japan >> are those who have lived here for at least 5 years

Ping pong. I've also lived in a place where I was searched at gun point in and out of the boarder everyday.

>>continuously. We are the ones who live as Japanese, we >> are the ones who need to use the system, we are the >> ones who see what visitors or short stay people don't.

Snap. If you use the internet (joke intended) you have probably seen some of the Japan targeted projects myself/company have produced.

>> And yes, I'm a "gaijin" or Gaikokujin as I prefer.
>> Why would I want to class my self as a Japanese when >> I'm not?

Ah, let's not even go there then. Otherwise Debito will be around trying to sue everyone.

>> *yawn* Troll joins board, makes one post, and is never >> to return. *sigh* *wank*

Yeah, yeah whatever. So guy asks "what should I see in Sendai". And you totally OT the thread with a rant about how horrible Japan is..

 

and???? What's that got to do with anything?

I have no idea what you mean. What projects?

Maybe it's because I'm just about to finish off my 2nd 500ml Kirin Classic Larger Beer but I just don't get it.

 

>>and???? What's that got to do with anything?

I've lived in Japan for a long time, also I have lived in places that having the wrong passport,.. I.e. having a passport from a territory a country claims as their own but isn't will result in a fairly long discussion with the police about why you are holding said passport. The issues people generally whine about in Japan are minor and are the same throughout the world. Oh noes, I don't want to have to carry my registration card everywhere, Japan is bad, um... it's the same in every country you will ever go to, Japan isn't "gaijin'ing" you. The education system is shit everywhere.. education by definition is shit. Go and live somewhere other than Japan and you will soon discover than all the problems you have noticed here are present in every country you go to.

>> I have no idea what you mean. What projects?

It's likely I have A: paid more in tax in Japan than you have and B: have done more for Japan's economy than you will. My other half loves the fact that she has translated stuff that a fair percentage of Japan has seen.

> Maybe it's because I'm just about to finish off my
> 2nd 500ml Kirin Classic Larger Beer but I just don't get it.

Calling yourself a gaijin is pretty stupid, simultaneously presenting yourself as a seasoned veteran of Japan while at the same time presenting yourself as an outsider isn't wise. There's one ALT around here that presents himself as "Baka nigger" apparently..

Whining does zero for the position of foreigners in Japan.

 

It seems to do wonders for those living in the UK where I'm originally from. Anyway, I doubt most of us complain to Japanese because we know they never change (many countries I've been to will though) so we just bitch and moan amongst ourselves.

As for that ALT calling himself "Baka nigger" well he must be to say that. I'm not going to pretend to be a Japanese no matter what is considered best. I'm British and will stand by that. I don't stand out in a crowd, I don't get strange looks where ever I go which is quite nice since where I live there aren't that many of us. I own my own house, my own car, (yes, they're in my name not my wife's name) permanent resident status and have a child. Pretty much everything that the average Japanese guy of my age would have but with one exception. I can think for myself and will not conform to something that I don't agree with. That's what makes me different from the general Japanese.

 

>>It seems to do wonders for those living in the UK where
>>I'm originally from.

Again snap. Devon born and inbreed. Actually, my family are properly English.. None of this messing around with foreigners nonsense. For at least 500 years. When the misses drank a pint of cider she become Devon'ish too I suppose.

>>As for that ALT calling himself "Baka nigger" well he must >>be to say that. I'm not going to pretend to be a Japanese >>no matter what is considered best.

You're not a Japanese, but you're also not an outsider. There are a shit ton of people in London (Most multi-cultural city in the world according the HSBC board last time I went there) that aren't English but they never say they are foreign.

> I don't get strange looks where ever I go which is quite

I sometimes do, I don't write on message boards about everyone "gaijin'ing" me. Shit, I've been chased out of the family home for being white, but what do you expect? Go to any country in the world and you will get the same experience. Japan isn't special. It's just like anywhere else.

>I own my own house, my own car, (yes, they're in my name > not my wife's name) permanent resident status

Your wife's name should be the same right? because your wife should have to take your name... my "wife" isn't allowed to take my name until her jiji kicks the bucket. We've taken her mother's maiden name as our family name... I think I have currently triple nationality status. Once we decide to settle in Japan I might consider getting perminent residence, the government are sending her abroad as part of her "really really shit according to gaijinpunch" teacher training.

>> and have a child.

Working on that.

>> Pretty much everything that the average Japanese guy of >> my age would have but with one exception.

You don't work in seven eleven?

>>I can think for myself and will not conform to something >> that I don't agree with. That's what makes me different >> from the general Japanese.

Maybe you're mixing with the wrong people? There are some really off the wall designers and coders .. and such here. One of our friends came to London and sat in the middle of the road with cars rushing by to take photos that she would base her next work on.

 

The worst part about Japan: The foreigners who've been here too long and think they're better than everyone else because they have paid lots of tax, spend lots of money in Japan, and have a wife that translates lots of stuff. :banghead:

 

>>The worst part about Japan: The foreigners who've been >>here too long and think they're better than everyone

To think you're "different" from anyone else is the biggest issue. "I'm native English speaker, Me know English!"... yeah, go and get a proper English teaching cert, then learn that no, your idea of the pronunciation of "---ed" is actually wrong. Have you done the 8 week long or whatever course that earns you a "I speak proper English" cert?

>> else because they have paid lots of tax,

I paid tax in Japan long before I sent foot here. That's not me saying I'm somehow better than anyone else. I was told I didn't have enough influence in Japan for my non-whining status to be considered...

>> spend lots of money in Japan, and have a wife that
>> translates lots of stuff. :banghead:

I go and clean lakes and shit I couldn't give a crap about at weekends because the other half thinks it's her families duty to do so... Above spending lot's of money here, I think that earns me the right to say it's not as bad as everyone says it is. Every single country in the world has quirks, deal with it or just stay at home.

 

I'm not sure if you're speaking in general, or making it personal. If it's general, then I'd agree with you here.

Will you ever have enough influence in Japan to be highly regarded in most aspects of life? For most foreigners, the answer is no.

I can understand, at least to some degree, about this. Still, I'm not sure what gives you the right to say that the negative points about Japan made in this thread are wrong. If you want to do that, why not share your own experience or post some actual figures to counter what's said here? Some parts of Japan are worse than our respective countries, and some parts are better (one of them having access to a ton of classic video games!!!).

I do stay home; here in Japan. Anyway, most foreigners in any country need some time to vent about the things that annoy them about where they live. Let us have our time, please. :evil:

 

>>I'm not sure if you're speaking in general, or making it
>> personal. If it's general, then I'd agree with you here.

Not making it personal at all. I went to an English teaching course once so that when we move on request of the Japanese government I will be able to find some work to gain a visa. People argued until they were blue in the face with the teacher that they pronounced something in some magic way that no other English speaker in the world does.
My English is pretty neutral because worked at a company where I was the only native speaker and everyone else was an international English speaker. You will be really really shocked how much your English is different from the apparent norm. I think there are a couple books that attempt to normalise English but fail.

>> Will you ever have enough influence in Japan to be
>> highly regarded in most aspects of life? For most
>> foreigners, the answer is no.

It's all about reputation. If you are seen as the guy that constantly whines about shit, which doesn't fit here (does it fit anywhere?) then no, people won't even give you the time of day.

>> Japan made in this thread are wrong

They aren't "wrong" but if you do anywhere you will see similar things. Bacon is different everywhere you go.

>> actual figures to counter what's said here?

Didn't GaijinPunch say that the US system is the best in the world, yet year on year the US is getting stupider and stupider? I'll have to dig out the link for that. Also there was someone that claimed that Japan had lot's of tech but didn't use it ... hmm South Korea and Japan are the only countries to manage a decent 3G telephony deployment and have IPv6 deployed to all but a few consumer users, yes Japan is really really behind.

>> Some parts of Japan are worse than

Places like Tokyo don't like outsiders because they cause trouble. Here they don't like Russians or something because they get wrecked and start smashing the place up.. do you blame them? It would be the same at home right?

>> I do stay home; here in Japan. Anyway, most
>> foreigners in any country need some time to vent

I've seen exactly the same stuff coming out of expats in Spain. It can take years to get an internet connection there, but they whine and whine and whine.. it's the same everywhere, living abroad has issues.

 

Reality

I said the university system (and have said that the high school system is awful on more than one occasion). You can get a top ranked, world-class graduate and up education for mere sheckles. I don't know any other country that can give you that. Japan, definitely not... not even the top school if you shell out loads of dough. I don't know enough about other western countries but from what I've read, all the high ranked schools in most are fucking expensive. I graduated from here and my tuition was about $1500 USD per semester in the mid to late 90's. From what I've checked out, it's not that much more now.

Then you're an idiot. Not even the citizens pay taxes here when they're not residing here.

 

>> I said the university system (and have said that the high >> school system is awful on more than one occasion).

University in the UK is all supported,.. I.e. if you are a good student but your family is poor you can get your fees paid to go to university. I think that counts even if you are a pretty shit student. Anyone in the European union can ask the EU to pay for their university fee's, friends from border territories have done so.

>> You can get a top ranked, world-class graduate and up >> education for mere sheckles.

Most countries rely on your previous performance as a benchmark for entry right? I had to do X well on a tech related course to be allowed to do Y tech related course at uni. That's sort of the way it should be. Japan has a system of forcing people that don't pass tests having to go to private universities.. oh, well, so what.. everywhere else has a system of if your dad knows the right people you get in. High ranking universities in Europe have entry exams too.

>> I don't know any other country that can give you that. >> Japan, definitely not...

Does university really decide that much in someones future? From what I've seen the most credible part of a universities output comes from their research projects which are funded but not actively participated in by generic students.

>> $1500 USD per semester in the mid to late 90's.

Does paying lots equate to a superior mind? I owe around 20,000 pounds (sorry, can't type a pound symbol atm) on my university level education but it didn't really teach me anything. University is universally broken because it has become the next step after college opposed to a place for seasoning and growing the best and the brightest. That's a global issue.

N.B. there are Japanese people that think that Japan's education system is a bit wonky too.

 

>> paid tax in Japan long before I sent foot here.

I missed this... anyhow, I didn't pay "income tax".. yes that would be silly, albeit impossible.

 

Obviously if you shit marks from your previous level of school a ranked on is not going to take you. My point was that the US has some of the best schools in the world which cost almost nothing for *anyone*...not just the poor. The quote above was standard tuition. It only gets cheaper there in the form of scholarships.

Yes. At least getting your foot in the door (which in turn affects your future even more).

Generally people pay for higher quality. This has been around for... like several thousand years. Once again, sorry you missed the point.

 

I am not sure paying sales tax on stuff you imported from Japan really counts as paying tax. :110:

 

huh? aren't those programs extremely limited? And of course it's a massive step down from pre-early 90s where all higher educ. was free

the vast majority of Polytecnics back in the day did exactly this and we all know where those (now) universities stand in the minds of many people. I agree though with how it's done - i was at what was a previous polytecnic - and there were certain classes that were blocked if you didn't achieve a certain level.

personally yes, that plus your first few years of experience - i'd say so yes. There's a direct path from leaving university to where my life has went pretty much based on that time in university + my placement year.

obviously extrapolating form that to everyone is a stretch, but i'd say it's a big factor especially for opening certain doors.

yes, i blame all the stupid places of the world who tar the actions of the few to ENTIRE NATIONALITIES.

Well, we'll stop thinking we are different when we don't have places disliking us because we cause trouble! I don't think you can have it both ways here - we can't carry a label we don't deserve but then not think we are (or are being treat) differently.

the simple thing is we are treat differently, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. Tokyo is supposed to be an international city but the attitudes are still steeped in "outsides = bad" which is a bad mix and , again from your example, is driven by the acts of the few.

Let us not forget we've had a fair few foreigners end up dead in Tokyo at the hands of the Japanese. I'm sure if people were to start labelling Tokyoites based on that we'd get the same proper reaction of "you can't base your opinion of a group based on the actions of a small set of people"

and then we have japanese software and websites which are still living in the past.

i really do not see what this has to do with anything. Please lets not make this a pointless pissing contest.


re: complaining about stuff - (Shrug) everyone is perfectly entitled to moan about stuff and i don't see what -not- complaining achieves either!

 

:lol: That's rich.

 

I'm interested to know of high ranked schools in the UK that are affordable by humans. We all know of Oxford and all that shit, but from what I've been told (generally by international uni professors) the claim is that the US State University program is the cat's meow. Of course, if you are unfortunately the resident of a shitty state you are fucked, since you'll have to pay out of state tuittion to go to another school (which is pricey).


But saying the global university system is broken in general is hillarity at it's best. It's one of the few systems on the planet that encourages internationalism, as well as the mixing of professionals and amateurs for the sake of progress...quite often for humanity when it comes to sciences.