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You are so cool! -
12-04-2007, 03:48 PM
I wish I was as good as you. I always wanted to go live in Japan but I don't want to risk so much, my mom is good to me and I don't want to it to blow up in her face after everything she had worked for in order to get me a job and all. You have lived the dream despite the risks and I am such a loser but one day I hope to live in Japan as well.
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12-05-2007, 02:16 PM
Japan is far from heaven on earth. The sky doesn't rain Pocky, schoolgirls and Gackt. In many ways it's a backward, even primitive place. You like living where summers are hot, winters are cold and there's no central air or heating? You like hanging your laundry out on poles to dry? Like living in a country where you as a non-native comprise a whopping 1.5% of the population, will always be an oddity, and will be subjected to such fun as being turned down by realtors for not being Japanese and even photographed and fingerprinted each time you leave and return to the country just to make sure you're (still) not a terrorist? If so, Japan is the place for you.
Don't get me wrong -- I've planted roots here. My family is here, and for all the BS I have to put up with, I'm more at peace here than I was in my home country. But at least know what you're getting into before you start wishing you were as "good" as someone who lives here. Enough of the "Japan is teh cool" nonsense. That's my 2 cents.
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12-05-2007, 03:03 PM
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Except for the recent change in immigration procedure. Then again, as they did the SAME THING to me and worse (Like strip searching my baby, opening cans in my bag and leaving them in there to leak, breaking my camera because it was "suspicious" on top of photographing and fingerprinting....) in the US last time I visited (and I`m a citizen there...) I think things could be quite a bit worse - don`t you? Oh, and never been turned down by a realtor. Ever. Not everyone likes to wallow in a puddle of "I`m a gaijin! I have it so hard!!"
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12-05-2007, 03:07 PM
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 They done all of that and you did what??? You just let them break your camera and open your drinks etc??
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12-05-2007, 03:20 PM
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I complained, but they told me that if I resisted they`d have to take me into the back for "Resisting search"... They had my baby son, on the other side of glass. If I resisted... What would happen? I`d likely get thrown on the no-fly list, and NEVER be able to go home. Not an appealing thought... And what would happen to my son? He doesn`t have US citizenship. I didn`t even know about the cans and the camera until I got home and checked. They left little stickers on the cans saying "Contents Checked", and a little paper wrapped around my camera with a rubber band holding it together. It`s easy to say you wouldn`t have let them do something like that, but until you have actually been in the same situation you have no room to talk.
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12-05-2007, 03:34 PM
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I have been in that situation... And i had RIGHTS... First of all, they OBVIOUSLY don't have the right to do that, and they definately havn't got the right to seperate you from your child, especialy if he's a baby!! And also, i didn't say anything like you should have resisted search etc, i don't see why you've just jumped at me. lol... Here's what happened to me. I was flying from london to algeria.... In london, they stopped me and asked me if they could check my luggage. i said fine, but one of the security men snatched the suitcase and dropped it on a table (which broke my laptop)... he went to open it, i said to him to move out of the way because he hasn't got the right to open my suitcase, and he hasn't got the right to look at my things without me seing what he's doing... So he came out with some crap about how i would get arrested for not cooperating so i asked the police to interfere and asked for this guys manager... afterwards, another security woman checked my stuff... it was fine, checked it like she should... After coming back from algeria, i wrote a complaint to Heathrow airport. The dude that done that stuff got fired because he tried to open my suitcase, and secondly he broke my laptop (which was refunded in full by the airport)... So the point is, you have rights, and also the real action was taken after coming back from my trip... ie getting the b*s***d fire and getting a refund for my broken laptop...
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12-05-2007, 04:03 PM
Unfortunately, the US isn`t so friendly anymore, and they seem to enjoy trampling over anyone and everyone`s rights.
I jumped at you because 99% (actually, everyone in fact) who has commented to me about just going along with the whole thing said something along the lines of "If it had been me, I would have given them a piece of my mind and just left! That`s against your rights!" etc, without having ever been in a similar situation. What happened to me was prior to the case where a mother was separated from her child and sued - apparently they aren`t supposed to do that anymore. When I went through, they insisted that they were only obligated to keep my baby in my sight. Which they did. On the other side of a glass wall. You were protecting your laptop. I was protecting my child... And my ability to go home. There is a bit of a difference. The US checks suitcases now without even asking for permission. They did all this without any input from me. It`s "standard procedure" these days. After they have your child on the other side of a wall, threatening to take you into custody for resisting, and ultimately preventing you from ever going home... THEN you can say you`ve been in the same situation. Things change when children are involved. Sure, I could have probably protested and gotten out of jail or wherever they take people who resist...... but what would happen to my non-US-citizen baby? He can`t just be put in storage like luggage.
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12-05-2007, 05:08 PM
Well I wasn't in such a situation myself but I have friends who go to USA and England/Ireland a lot and they told me that US airport procedures are like 3x more strict than european ones, and seriously they no longer care anout "your rights" anymore, so I understand Nyororin compleately.
BTW not long ago polish citizen was killed by airport security in Canada. Why? Becouse he got angry by the fact they holded him for 10 hours while his mother was waiting outside. Becouse he "raised his voice" they shoot him with a stun-gun 2-3 times and he died. He wasn't even agressive at all! So seriously Japan's airport procedures are nothing comparet to what is happening in North America.
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