Chinese is much easier than Japanese in my opinion. The characters they use and the way they write them differs a great deal. It is possible to learn both. My problem has always been that when I use one, the other starts to fade. But then I learned each individually.

As far as your choice of major, I would suggest that you add some business orientated classes in like the form of a minor or something. While I enjoyed my East Asian major, I probably would be more appealing to companies if I had some business background.

Then you have your desire to help poor people/countries, I would consider some sort of sustainable development program/major if you are interested in working for volunteer organisations. As in like a career, not just volunteering. I have a friend who is on that path right now, I believe her major has something to do with development in third world countries. However to attain a career level position in development organisations, you will need to think long term because you will need a graduate degree to get your foot in the door. And before getting into grad school, you will want to do something like volunteering for one to two years after finishing you bachelors.

Well, at least you have plenty of time to think about everything. It is really good that you have an idea of what you want to do with your life already because so many of us take a long time to figure it out. In my case, I just went to school because it was expected and studied East Asia, Chinese and Japanese because it sounded interesting. Now I am sitting here in Japan doing the teach English thing thinking, "Wait a sec, what was the goal in the first place? I know I wanted to travel, but what now?"

Best wishes and good luck! Ja ne...

As with most, this post is super long and I read through half of it. I am also a woman and am looking to move to Japan. My mother was born in Sapporo and I am thinking of moving there to be closer to family. I am currently trying to be fluent in Japanese before I get serious about the move. I live in Los Angeles, so finding people to practice with isn't that hard. And I have my mother. My question is this. I know that women are not equal like they are here in the United States. So being a woman, what kind of job can I get in Japan? I have been working as a bookeeper for over 5 years. have a degree in Cello Performance. I am not opposed to being an English teacher, but would like to find a job where I could support myself and live on my own. Any suggestions?

Thank you so much.

Thx for the info, and advice.
I already knew a part of it, since we have people in my college who helps to show students the way to go for their career! but thx again anyway.
Since u did a East Asian major, do u know if I can learn both languages at the same time, or it's just one at a time?

anyone can help me or give me some advise?

I am planing to go back to japan for at least 1 or 2 yrs.
My roommate wanna go and be there as long as I am there.
(that's not a problem for me, and I want him to go with me anyway.)

I don't know anything about visa(s) for non-Japanese.

Should he enter to Japan as a traveler and look for a job?
He is graduating from the University in Political Science in May.
Also, he is very good at writing (journalism).
He cannot speak Japanese.

Please give me some advise..

I was just in Sapporo and they no longer have those toilets anymore...at least there were very few. And if they do have them, they have normal toilets to use as well. But I did notice that most places now have bidets. They are just very strange to me......

i found most place actually do have the traditional type toilets - mainly public toilets

private toilets such as store toilets and hotels have wester style now though; be warned; most do not provide toilet paper!

Wow!!! When I was there, they had toilet paper!!!

I finished my Japanese minor after returning from Beijing. When having to speak one or the other just off the top of my head, I confuse them. On tests I would do okay. Even now though, when I am speaking a Chinese word will slip in there without me realizing it until I get a funny look. So I say yes it is possible, just very difficult at times.

Yes he will be able to enter on a tourist visa and will be able to get a job after he is in Japan. The only trouble is that without a work visa, he must fly in on a roundtrip ticket. If he went through the visa process prior to traveling to Japan, he would be able to fly in on a one way ticket saving him 5 to 600 dollars.

Ooo Learning both Japanese and Chinese at the same time... What a thrilling idea! Twice as much so as I'm good at languages and would probably be able to pull if off... Hmm... :rolleyes: