I've never researched the drivers license thing with Canadians. If I had to guess, I'd say YES. =/

You and I are stuck with trains DX

dont forget bikes ^^ lol

Most people who live their lives based on probabilities probably find that helpful.

Helpful during pedestrian lives punctuated by forgettable obituaries.

I managed to not take out more than $5000 in loans. I didn't get much though in the ways of grants or scholarships.

And I hardly consider my life pedestrian. Those that lead pedestrian lives don't move to and work in foreign countries, let alone more than one.

The point of the post was to demonstrate that "most" is a weasel word. Helpfully, it also cuts both ways.

As reflexive, defensive replies helpfully demonstrate, your natural reaction was to immediately divorce yourself from the "most" others in the above statement -- those who follow the same path (pursuing traditional, well-worn examples of 'proper' routes to success, i.e. the college degree).

What you missed is that the statement was not a personal attack. The fact that you, in particular, happened to live abroad at some point simply has no relevance regarding the probabilities of the "most" in your group, and that was the point: you're inconsequential to "most." The inverse also applies, and that's the position that my people choose to operate from.

The irony is that you personally don't want to be like most people, yet for others, you write a recipe to follow that inevitably predisposes itself to pedestrian mostness. You're counseling living by the example of others, while you yourself have abandoned that ladder to take a flying leap towards individuality.

Habits are powerful things. Good luck.

I do not consider following a recipe to success bowing to pedestrianess. It's called being prepared. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Whether you're going to be pedestrian or not. And I think you're being unfair in even thinking that pedestrian is more than an ephemeral illusion based on preconceptions.

What may be pedestrian to you, or to me, is not pedestrian to those who actively enjoy what they do.

That was my point.

You mean it's not pedestrian to most who actively enjoy what they do.

:]

i didn't look through all the pages of this so this may have been asked before...what was your first job in japan killoself?

That's so refreshing to hear someone telling people to go for their dreams! i've been a reader here for years on and off but i'm a 1st time poster and this is my 1st reply.
I too came to Japan and found a job and now have a 3 year work visa and i never went to college. (i'm a hairdresser in the U.S) And my boyfriend and my roommate only have 2 yr degrees and they found jobs with visa sponsorship too. it can be done, it's tricky sometimes and it's hard, but don't give up on your dreams no matter what they are or how improbable they seem.
がんばって means "go for it" or as i translate it "You Can Do It!"