[GTJ]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

It was a bit sardonic, I suppose, but not so much directed specifically at you. Just pent up frustration at dealing with far too many people who really are stuck at the stereotype stage. That tends to get to me much much more than what most people talk about as huge problems with Japan.

Yeah I know how that feels. When I was studying abroad and my 留学生 friends got stuck in that stage (they never left it), I started hanging with different people. The disgruntled foreigners do have the potential to shine light on a side of things you hadn't noticed before, but I personally prefer to steer clear and keep my days sunny.

You talk a lot about people not voting, not putting a good pm in... But the thing is, people don`t elect the pm. They don`t elect any of the higher officials.

I know, but the people elect the lower officials who put the higher ones in. The only people voting are the elderly, those with old ideas and old, often racist (my girlfriend's grandparents...), ways of thinking. So they vote for like-minded people. Hence those people put futher like-minded people in higher offices. It's a clusterfu---dge in the Diet, and it's depressing that the last PM to competently serve a full term was 4 years ago.

But, we can't vote. And I can't convince any of my Japanese friends to vote. So it might as well be something I shouldn't waste my energy being angry about, right?

My favorite example is the "baby-making machines" quote, which is worth a completely other post of it`s own.

I didn't hear about this, but I know with the negative birthrate and rapidly feminizing male population, Japan could use a couple of these machines.

I would definitely make sure she knows what she is getting into long before there is any serious commitment happening. A month is still a vacation. I would say anything less than 6 months in one place is just scraping the surface. Her feelings may change quite a bit when she has 3 or 4 months behind her and realizes that there is no going back... Ever. 2 years also seems to be a huge turning point.

Yeah, the culture shock cycle is a 6 month initial process, and it takes a lifetime to fully adapt to living in a different society than your native one. In my first year in Japan, I was never "fully" there... I was usually thinking about eating a real pizza, or cooking with ingredients I can't find there, and so on... hm, mostly food-related.

The fantasy fades away, and the relationship is no longer new enough to override the stress with love.

No! Love finds a way! I'm young and foolish!
Nah, I love my girlfriend more than anything (even dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets), and making it work is a huge priority to us (read: me moving to Japan). I know there's that point where the blush of a new romance wears off and that's where the real work kicks in, but I feel I'm moderately ready for it, at the very least aware of it.

And pms. :P Still waiting for a reply, by the way...

Okay okay, I'm working on it! Hehe
I've been crazy busy and I wanted to put thought into what I want to ask you or talk to you about.