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01-25-2011, 01:07 AM
One of the things with living up this way is that we have a great community of expats living and working at the ski resort year round. They are from the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK and various other European countries and all of us have a love of skiing and the outdoors. Most are here for the layed back rural lifestyle surrounded by beautiful mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and coastline. We also have a great Japanese community, many of whom speak fluent english, who are here for the same reasons. Many of them have spent time overseas and live and work up here to further their english and because they prefer working for foreign owned companies. It's a very tight community and we do many things together throughout the year. All this has meant that it really hasn't been that much of culture shock to live here and it's certainly not difficult to fit in. We don't have to fully lose ourselves in Japanese culture to fit in. We can just be ourselves and enjoy the amazing lifestyle this region has to offer.
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01-26-2011, 06:17 AM
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And this is probably one of the driving reasons that a lot of people decide to up and run off to Japan. It`s one of the big things I try to get people who want to live in Japan because they hate life at home to realize - that you don`t have to go so incredibly far away to escape a life you`re not happy with. You can move to the next town over, start anew, and have a much better chance of fitting in than you do in Japan. This is particularly true when people have an image of Japan that draws a lot from popular media and stories/photos of people dressing up in Tokyo. It is a weirdly difficult subject for me to instantly bash anyone for, as I was in a situation where moving to Japan would without any doubt be much better than any future that awaited me at the time... However, my image of Japan was a much different one than the modern media supports. I made my life altering decisions back before anime was mainstream, there were probably only a few series (Ranma?) out dubbed or subbed, and back either before or just after Sailor Moon started on tv. (Didn`t watch it, so am not sure - but people did ask me for stuff when I was heading back to the US the first time.) There wasn`t the media overflow of "cool Japan" - and the popular image was just starting to inch out of the "Japan Inc." days. My main drive in choosing Japan over anywhere else was that a) through some amazing fluke I found the language incredibly easy to pick up... b) No one else seemed to find it easy. c)There was real future job potential with high level Japanese as no one spoke it or was learning it at the time. (When I was looking into universities, there were only a handful in the country that offered beyond 102! How things have changed...) I saw it as a chance to gain a very valuable skill to give me the chance to go somewhere in life. Plus, the universities offering degrees in East Asian Languages allowed you to test out based on skill. I figured that I could cut the length of my university education in half - great when the university charges on a time scale and not credit scale. I came to Japan, "fit in", was incredibly happy, didn`t have trouble with language or homesickness, etc... So stayed pretty much straight from then on. It`s hard to say don`t go, but very easy to tell someone to try things out before making a huge leap.
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01-26-2011, 07:08 AM
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Jobs are hard to come by here anyway, i know people who graduated from college and are sitting on their butts, or people going to get grad degress ONLY because they cant find a job. So coming back and networking wont solve anything. Job market is tuff. So you arent missing out much.
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01-26-2011, 07:39 AM
I think Nyororin's comments are pretty spot on.
What I see sometimes is people saying "I don't fit in, in my hometown, so might as well go to Japan, where I like it [I think] and I am not going to fit in anyway." Trust me, it is a WHOLE 'nother level of not fitting in. At least in your hometown (chances are) you speak the native tongue fluently, you look like your neighbors, you know your way around without asking a lot of questions, and you at least have family and some friends you can talk to. When I was taken to my apartment in Japan, I was literally dropped off in the afternoon and told to be ready for work at 8 the next day (I got a ride the first day). That was fine, I found a restaurant to grab a bite and a shot bar to grab a beer and meet the locals. Over 15 years later I still visit that bar whenever I go back... it was my hangout for three years. But I wasn't running away from anything, I was running to a new experience in Japan. There is a difference.
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01-26-2011, 10:00 AM
I agree with both of you Nyorin and MMM. This is one time where I'm not quick to judge people, because I did the same thing. Granted I wasn't running away from anything back home, but rather I was looking forward to a great future experience.
I just have a hard time grasping that people would want to attempt such an extreme that isn't that positive. Living in Japan is great, but along with that comes possible culture shock, language barrier, etc., which is soo much harder than what you would have had back home if you would have just moved to another area if you really don't like your home town. It's definitely romanticism. My photos from Japan and around the world: http://www.flickr.com/dylanwphotography
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01-26-2011, 02:11 PM
I came here hoping there was a chance I could find a better alternative than the (very good and comfortable) live I'd carved out for myself back at home.
I was expecting a short fun trip then back to reality. I wasn't expecting to stay honestly, and was surprised that the place offered me a better life than I had back at home, it was a tall order. It was definitely worth the shot. Some people aren't running, and they fit in wherever they go, and they aren't afraid to take the risk of finding something better. 
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01-26-2011, 06:06 PM
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01-26-2011, 08:36 PM
I've found this topic really interesting, because lately I've been thinking about it a lot. Last week my university ganted me with an exchange programm with the university of Nagoya. I've been planning for years a trip to Japan, but this is a whole new story. Last week I really wondered if I would fit in Japan and it's society. I was kind of scared. But after thinking about it, I decided it's a one in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm not going to waste it.
I think most of the people who go to Japan on a whim, it's because they think "now or never". I don't see it like running away, but more like taking a risk (like you all have said before). Maybe soe people are deceived with what they see, but if they hadn't tried it out, they would still have that wrong ideal of japan, and I think that's even worse. (Excuse me for my bad english... >.<)
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01-27-2011, 03:26 AM
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 I wonder if most people who think Japan is great and will solve all their life problems also on a deeper level realize that it's probably not true, or if they really are so foolish. Having said that, if I look at it empirically, I do think that life in Japan is better. When I compare the weight of the pros and cons with Japan and the places I have lived, it just comes out on top. Not by a landslide but noticeably. That's definitely a personal opinion though. If you like weed this place isn't for you lol.
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