Welcome to Japan
I left Australia mid March 2000 to see how life in Japan would be and so far so good. I've written few chapters so my friends and family around the world can keep pace with this other life; feel free to check them out.My main reason for deciding to live in another country was to fufill my desire to speak another language so most of the links below are oriented toward learning Japanese.At the bottom of the page are some unsorted non language oriented links.
If you have any questions feel free to email me.
I've only spent a few years in Japan, not much by comparison to some of the ex-pat veterens there and in other countries, but still time to soak up a little more than the average "summer holiday" tourist might experience.
When one moves full time to another country one gets to live, work, play, cheer and boo with the locals on all manner of things. It is in doing such things that I managed to learn a bit of the language and understand a little of the Japanese mind.
I'm told that "language defines us" which means that to learn another language is to learn another way of thinking. Seems to me this is a knack we could all do with some training in. Even in our own backyards it's a common tale that men can't understand how women think and possibly vice versa - I won't presume :)
So therein lies my reason for wanting to learn. Not that learning alone isn't enough of a reason, but also just that nice pleasure in being able to communicate with another race and to help some more people find the nearest phone, gas stand, restaurant etc.
I thoroughly recommend Masao Miyamoto's Straight Jacket Society,
"An insiders irreverent view of bureaucratic Japan"
A great read it helped me see past the suits and kimonos.
