I just love it when people whining about Obama's "socialist" policies threaten to move to a country with even more socialist policies.

I'd love to visit Japan for a short time, for example for an internship (actually I plan to apply for one this year). Just to see how different the country is from what I had expected.. Studying there might be a little bit of a problem - I'm far from fluent in Japanese (new N4), so even though the studies are conducted in English (MSc, BSc for what I know are mostly in Japanese) I'd probably either starve or get lost or fail to rent a room.

Seconding that, not only because of the "gaijin" attitude, but mostly because of the work culture. Working in a country where karoshi actually exists? E... no.

Living in japan now(Kyoto), and it's pretty good. The city is neat and Beautiful. For people, it's a lot better than when i studied at Italy for a year, the italians students excluded every foreginer,for example.
There are some strange looks along the way, but that's all. I don't know about the life for workers, but i having a blast as student here.

No. いいえ。

I would not. Not in a million years. Japan is a nice place to visit once in awhile, but, I like being in a country with a melting pot more than a homogenous society. I do not want to be mistaken as a Japanese. I want to see garbage cans in the street. I do not always feel comfortable in a society that tries to "hold" things in rather than let it out. I prefer swimming in cold water than sitting in an onsen. I'd like to buy affordable electronic products than seeing something cost 60000円 or an apple cost 500円. The J-government isn't perfect in any way. The tsunami survivors are still living in shelters as I type this.

There are a lot of things to love about Japan like Hokkaido food, technological advancements, and the people are just like anywhere in the world, but, nothing calls home like home sweet home. ^__^ Also, I would always feel awkward if I had to blow my nose in public in Japan. I have runny nose a lot so I panicked when having a day stop over in Osaka.


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Now that I've actually spent some time visiting Japan (2 1/2 weeks this past August) I can definitely say "maybe". :^/

There were things I really liked, and things I didn't like so much, but overall I think I could be happy living in Japan if it weren't for having to conform to certain standards of behavior/appearance to get/keep a job. (At least, it's my perception that I would have to...) Not that my appearance/behavior is particularly outrageous, but I do have multiple earrings and I do prefer to dress to my own preference.

I don't think I'd mind always looking/feeling out-of-place, because I always feel kind of out-of-place where I live now (even though I love the town and I don't stand out or anything, I also have never felt like I really "fit in"). I would feel terrible if my son was left out or teased or bullied for being a gaijin, though.

I don't mind looking different..and maybe by living there I could contribute in some small way towards making the society less homogenous/xenophobic/whatever.

And I could get those really good boiled eggs from the conbini again...

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992