JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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zaichik
Are we using "date" as in "go on a date with" or as a polite euphemism for "have sex with"? Subtle but important difference, I think :-)
I knew quite a few foreign women in Niigata happily married to Japanese men (I was in the unhappily married camp for a while), and quite a few (myself included) who were in serious relationships with foreign men that had started after they had arrived in Japan. I didn't have an extensive dating history in Niigata, but honours are even between the USA, Japan and Russia (in terms of numbers, at least - obviously, Russia is the overall winner, since Mr Zaichik and I have now been together for 6 years).
I had quite a few good foreign male friends in Niigata (purely platonic), but I don't think any of them would have excluded the possibility of dating a foreign woman - an attractive woman is an attractive woman, whatever her nationality. It's just that there are, proportionately, more Japanese women around, so there's a much higher probability that a foreign man is going to find a Japanese girlfriend than a foreign one. Thus, there is a lower probability that a foreign woman is going to find a single foreign man.
But that's just my opinion.
Posted in: Foreign women in Japan sometimes remark how hard it is to get a date with foreign men. What are your views on this?
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zaichik
The difference between you and the average panda, Nessie, is that pandas have minimal interest in the attempted breeding :-) It's probably because of all the energy they expend attempting to get some nutritional value out of the bamboo shoots (or am I getting mixed up with koalas and eucalyptus leaves?)
Posted in: Ueno Zoo's giant panda Ling Ling dies
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zaichik
On the contrary - Japanese doctors are far more likely to over-prescribe (especially when people run to the doctor for the slightest sniffle and a temperature 0.3 degrees above normal), in my experience. You get the drug to cure your lurgi, then the other drug or two to counteract the side-effects of the first one. Because the national health insurance system is pretty generous and there appears to be little or no auditing as to the appropriateness of treatment plans and lengths of stay in hospital, doctors seem to dish out drugs like sweeties. And don't get me started on the way that antibiotics are prescribed without even telling the patient that they are antibiotics.
Anyway, while these drips may make people feel better (placebo effect, anyone?), I'm pretty dubious about their medical necessity/appropriateness. My advice is to stay as far away from doctors as possible unless you absolutely need medical intervention (or have any suspicious lumps). There will be enough opportunity to have needles stuck in you when there's actually something wrong with you.
Posted in: Drop-by IV drip service helps stressed Tokyoites
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zaichik
Really? How, exactly?
Your hysterical post certainly doesn't add any weight to your opinions. Things in life are rarely black and white, and I certainly wouldn't want to judge this woman without knowing more about the circumstances of the situation (indeed, it isn't my place to judge at all). I hope you never find yourself in a position where you're reliant on someone's compassion....
Posted in: Woman arrested after trying to flush infant down toilet in Nagoya
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zaichik
I'm not an immense fan of performance poetry, but this is pretty good, I think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukQPOxmEmp0 (Murray Lachlan Young, If you're gonna go, Keith, go)
Posted in: The gloves come off in poetry boxing
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zaichik
I remember from my student days that Gusto (now absorbed into the Skylark brand) in Kumamoto used to close between 3 and 5am, which was a pain in the neck when you still had 2 hours before the first bus back to the dormitory after a big night out (don't know why it never occurred to us to walk). On one occasion, I recall 5 of us causing a right nuisance to people waiting at the bus station, by repeatedly singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (with the actions) very loudly. And we wonder why foreigners have a bad name in Japan :-)
Posted in: Family restaurants face uncertain future
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zaichik
This book looks like it might be a good thing. There are other books out there that have texts that aren't made up specifically for the textbooks - we had one at university. It was dry as dust, though.
Posted in: Read Real Japanese Essays
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zaichik
Lunchbox: I didn't realise we had gardeners on JT (other than Cleo, of course) - you learn something new every day.
It's a very impressive display. I must get into the garden today and plant some bulbs before we hit winter.
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zaichik
Booze (particularly beer) is really bad for your vocal chords - doesn't lead to a good vocal performance at all, in my experience.
Mind you, I'm the sort of person who doesn't need a drink in order to be induced to sing....
Posted in: Better singing through chemistry
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zaichik
What does hypothyroidism resulting from iodine deficiency have to do with this case, redacted?
Dreadful case, though - even worse than the other girl in Austria (Natascha Kampusch?) and the lass in Kashiwazaki.
Posted in: Austrian had seven children by daughter locked in cellar for 24 years
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zaichik
Effectively a haiku blog, then, but without the artistic merit....
Posted in: Twitter launches in Japan
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zaichik
It doesn't sound like this woman was in a normal frame of mind - hardly surprising, given that childbirth is not an everyday experience. Maybe she was in denial about the whole pregnancy. The fact that the balance of this woman's mind was probably disturbed at the time should certainly be taken into account by the authorities.
Posted in: Woman arrested after trying to flush infant down toilet in Nagoya
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zaichik
Papasmurf - LOL!
I used to rather like the Domo-kun ads on NHK. Didn't stop me playing the dumb foreigner when the NHK guy came round, though!
Posted in: NHK's 'Domo-kun' to be aired in 101 countries
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zaichik
Rather lovely article....
Posted in: Dreams take flight with paper planes
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zaichik
Sounds like a girl after my own heart, Sarge. I never bothered with an unbrella when I first moved to Japan (although that did change over time). Have managed in rainy Auckland without an umbrella for over a year now.
Posted in: Putting discarded umbrellas to good use
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zaichik
I know from my experience in Japan and NZ that being able to speak another language is not the be-all and end-all in the job market. You definitely need to be able to demonstrate other skills. However, if you have those skills plus a second or third language, then your career opportunities can open up tremendously.
Incidentally, in the last few years, there has been a growing number of Japanese young people applying to study corporate law in the USA, after a few years of working for major Japanese companies, as they want to get ahead in the field of internal auditing by learning about Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and what lessons can be learned from the US experience ahead of the entry into force of J-SOX. However, one does wonder how much these people will be able to learn, given that they are having to employ someone (i.e. me) to translate their personal statements into English!
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zaichik
The first "kid dies in hot car while parent plays pachinko" story of the year. Must be summer.
Posted in: 1-year-old boy dies after being left in car by pachinko-playing mother in Kagoshima
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zaichik
I used to climb at an indoor wall in Swansea when I was a teenager, and we'd climb at some of the beaches on the Gower Peninsula in summer. The sense of achievement when you complete a climb is amazing. Alas, gravity is even less on my side these days than it used to be, but I'd definitely recommend taking up climbing to improve strength and flexibility, while also giving your brain a workout.
Posted in: Rock-climbing opens up to the masses in Tokyo
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zaichik
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080403-00000962-san-soci
Apparently another mother has just been arrested for strangling her four-year-old daughter.
Is "killings by mothers" going to become a media fixation like "violent crimes by junior high students" was a few years ago, I wonder?
Posted in: Mother arrested for strangling 9-year-old son in Aomori
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zaichik
I can think of exceptions - chocolate, for one!
I used to get moderately acceptable bacon when I was in Niigata - was able to get it sufficiently crispy. Latterly I switched to using pancetta (handily pre-cut, for lazy beggars like me), but I doubt that would cut the mustard in a bacon sarnie.
I can't stomach cooked breakfasts of either the Japanese or Western variety before 11am (while being perfectly happy to eat natto after 11am). I think it's the salt content. Cereal, fruit, yoghurt and/or toast with marmalade, and a strong cup of English/Irish breakfast tea with a bit of milk is my ideal breakfast.
Posted in: Celebrity Australian chef introduces Japan to the pleasure of breakfast