determined student-help

[ipoki]

First, my name is Keoki. i am currently a High School Student living in Hawaii whos dream is to live and work in Japan. Second, im replying back to Glenskis reply to my other thread. He asked me why i want to live and work in Japan rather then some where else in the world. A big part of it is because i have grown up in Hawaii and its time for me to go some place else. i want to set the world on fire and do something with my life. i am not affraid to do things on my own and their is just something inside of me that told me one day go live and work in Japan. Even though i have not been their yet i love their culture and the types of things i see from them, especially the technology over their. I always see Japanese tourist in Hawaii and i always wonder what its like for them to live in Japan. That is my dream to live their and thats what i am going after in life no matter what. I just need some sugesstions from anyone who can help me. i have considered teaching English, but if their is something else out their for people like me who are not Japanese then i wouldn't mind reasearching on that either. I am learning the language and hope to major in Enginering of some sort or maybe English when i go to college. i still have one more year of High School so I am not quit sure what i want to major in yet. One good aspect i have is i can get along with anybody no matter who you are. Well please if anyone reads this could you reply back with suggestions if you have any information at all. Thank You!

oki

[Mike Cash]

You're going to need a college degree, and that's primarily for visa eligibility. You have to satisfy the gatekeepers (Immigration) before you can even consider working and living here. Get some job skills that will serve you well whether you live in Japan or back home in the U.S. There is always the possibility that you will find you don't like it here or that you choose not to stay here long term.

And I don't blame you personally, because I know English teaching in the U.S. has completely gone to hell over the last couple of decades, but please differentiate between there/their/they're when writing. Especially if you're considering teaching English.

[Glenski]

oki,
Pardon my stubbornness, but I just don't see what you see in Japan (and I have lived here for the past 10 years or so). You see a bunch of tourists, and that's enough for you to decide to live here? You must have more to go on than that, don't you?

What is it like for them to live in Japan?
Well, they eat, sleep, work, and play. But, please bear in mind that they are (probably) the Japanese, and foreigners often/usually have a bit of different lifestyles here.

Jobs are available for the qualified. Teaching is merely the easiest route in. Get a vanilla bachelor's degree and that's all that is required in most entry level jobs. You need to realize, though, that the market is flooded with teachers at the moment, and the largest chain school (NOVA) just went bankrupt due to shady business practices, so that put 5000 teachers on the street. (Google it.) Some have been picked up by G-COM, but even some of them have been told, oops, sorry, we lied.

Other jobs will usually require fairly high fluency in Japanese, plus relevant qualifications (whether education alone or unique experience). This is an overused expression, but think of it like this -- why would a Japanese company hire a foreigner over a local? If you have what it takes to answer that, you should seriously apply. Another option is to work for a foreign outfit that has a branch here. Get hired directly in Japan or work for the main office abroad for a year first (minimum requirement for the intracompany transfer visa). Realize, too, that unless you are an executive or so incredibly indispensible, you are not likely to get a lot of chances at this until you have worked there for a few years.

I'm not trying to discourage you. Just showing you some realities. Excitement is good, but temper it. You are wise to start thinking early. Keep up the research.

[Kirirao]

Dreams are beautiful aren't they?
They are also more fragile than glass and
can easily breaks if you don't handle it carefully.
Especially dreams like yours. Living in a foreign country is not
as easy as it looks, and with the motivation that you showed me
from this line
"i am not affraid to do things on my own and their is just something inside of me that told me one day go live and work in Japan",
only showed me how fragile your dreams are.
Even if you get here, I can only see it going to shatter
into a million of pieces~
Try to turn the dream into a real target, then you might have
a chance.

People will come and post advices, I'd suggest you listen.
I won't post any useful advice since I don't know if you gonna stay
or you will just disappear from this forum,
ignoring all the other people
advices.


p/s : Whats up with the multiple threads?

[Mikawa Ossan]

ipoki, pick one thread and stay with it for this topic, please!

Either this one: http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36157
or this current thread.

[ipoki]

Okay, Thank you for all your replies. i very much appreciate it. Sorry for the multiple threads, i am still trying to get use to using this site. Well, like i said i am still a High School student and i am no where near getting a college degree just yet, but of course i plan to. I know that i will not be moving to Japan any time soon, but if i want to get their some day i must start now with research so i have an idea and some sort of path to follow.

To Glenski: I don't know how to tell you why Japan is so important to me. I love the culture and the people, i even watch Kiku (channel 9) on t.v., which is a Japanese channel that shows anything and everything from Japan. They have this one show everyday at 7:00p.m. of different Japanese people and how they live their everyday life. I watch it every chance i get. My mom got me stuck on it ever since i was a little boy because she loves to watch that show and i just fell in love with Japan ever since. Now i am getting older and that's what i want to do with my life. i have friends whose ancestors came from Japan to Hawaii to start a life here. So Japan and Hawaii actually have something in common. i want to do the same, i want to move from Hawaii to Japan in order to start a life for myself. I don't want to be stuck on this island because i feel that their is nothing here for me. I know that i may fail in the long run in trying to reach this goal, but i need to take this risk and go for it, because if i don't, then i would never know if i could have ever gone to Japan and live there. Anyways, i hope that answers your question a little more. Thank your for your replies.

To mike cash: thank you for the heads up. I know that you need a college degree for a visa and i also heard of a holiday visa where you can only stay for a year or something like that. And yes, English has gone to hell over here, but do you have any suggestions on what types of majors would really help me in Japan?

To Kirirao: Yes dreams are fragile and i just may break my dream one day, but i am determined to try my best and give everything i got and if it's not good enough then it just wasn't meant to be. However, thank you for your reply and i will work on making my goal a real target that i can hopefully hit one day.

To everyone else: If anyone else reads this and has visited Japan or lives there could you please share what you have expirienced over there. Thank you all again

oki

p.s. does anyone know how i can delete the 2 other post i made titled first time

[Glenski]

if i want to get their some day i must start now with research so i have an idea and some sort of path to follow. A very good idea.

To Glenski: I don't know how to tell you why Japan is so important to me. I love the culture and the people, i even watch Kiku (channel 9) on t.v., which is a Japanese channel that shows anything and everything from Japan. They have this one show everyday at 7:00p.m. of different Japanese people and how they live their everyday life. I watch it every chance i get. My mom got me stuck on it ever since i was a little boy because she loves to watch that show and i just fell in love with Japan ever since.Take what you see with a grain of salt. A big one. I've been here for the past 9.5 years, plus I was here for half a year in 1985-86 and some time in 1995. Things are not what they seem.

It's nice to have the attraction. Just find out a lot more about the realities before making a leap. Do a homestay here. Come as a tourist. Whatever. The more you stay, the more you will get to know what Japan is really like. Tourists don't know what it's like to actually LIVE and WORK here, but at least they can see some of the country firsthand.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from coming. I just know you don't have the full picture, and you still have not explained what it is about the "culture" that attracts you. Sorry. If you have more specifics in your posts, we could tell you how real they were.

i want to move from Hawaii to Japan in order to start a life for myself. I don't want to be stuck on this island because i feel that their is nothing here for me. Your life has already started. Many people would envy a person who lives on Hawaii. What is it that turns you off there? That answer would also help to compare with what you might face here.

p.s. does anyone know how i can delete the 2 other post i made titled first timeJust PM a moderator.

[Mikawa Ossan]

Okay, Thank you for all your replies. i very much appreciate it. Sorry for the multiple threads, i am still trying to get use to using this site....
p.s. does anyone know how i can delete the 2 other post i made titled first time
No problem! :wave:

I deleted your other thread. Good luck!

[Mike Cash]

The working holiday option is not available to Americans, as Japan and America have no such arrangement in place.

[epigene]

I actually have nothing to add to what all the other posters (Glenski, Mike and Kirirao) have said, except that I am giving my agreement as a Japanese living in Japan.

Also, there is no working holiday visa program between the US and Japan as Mike said. It's only with countries like Australia, Canada and UK.

[Glenski]

No, epigene. It is not "like" those countries. There is nothing similar at all with the countries on the list of WHV agreement:

UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Denmark
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/w_holiday/index.html