Antonio

Harumi is having a Pavlov's dog effect on me given last weeks grabia thread. Anyone know where i can find a salivating smiley?

I'm right across from the Columbian embassy. All the parcel drops in the middle of the night are starting to get to me

They're not that bad. The worst enkai i've been to still rates ahead of sitting at home by yourself watching Japanese TV. A few beers and a bit of a laugh. If you can't find at least one person at these things to have a chat to then i really feel sorry for you.

No, but i had a good laugh walking through the "smoke room" which was a plastic tarpaulin filled with the kind of smoke you get at a nightclub. I'm still not quite sure why you need to eperience what smoke is like??? As usual i took too much glee in pointing out to the buchous that none of them even know where the fire extinguishers are in the office and now i've made myself unpopular again. Better than being dead.

General personal safety. I like the fact that my fiance can walk home by herself at night and feel safe and comfortable. I like not having to wrry about her wandering into the "wrong" neighbourhood.

After receiving one months prior notice of today's fire drill, we've just had the 15 minute warning and the 5 minute warning. Gentleman, start your engines. We're all off to "practice walking down stairs" again. Is there any bigger waste of time in Japan? Although i have heard there is a smoke box and a display by the local fire station, so there's something to look forward to. In all seriousness, back in Oz our company took these things very seriously. I work in the mining industry where everyone's sense of safety is trained to always be on high alert. It really upsets me that

Your right in some respects but in my humble opinion your ability to grasp the basics of computing (i'm no genius - i mean the basics!) says a lot about your ability to grasp other new concepts that arise in your work environment. If you can't learn how to turn on a computer how are you going to learn and quickly adapt to other improvements in your work area. My experience is that these type of people don't. What is really frustrating though is when these types of people are Senior GM's and then consequently hold everyone else back from making improvements and implementing new ideas.......i'm

Gees, there a bit rude out your way. Near my place its always a "yoroshiku onegai mo shagimasu" (sp?) Yes please! Am i the only immature nearly 30 year old who always gets a giggle out of "mo shagimasu"?

Don't laugh just yet. My GM in Sydney is still trying to figure out how to open attachments on emails. I'm not joking, the whole concept of a double click is all too much for him. That said the Japanese office here (Oz/British company) is pretty bad. Lots of old Trading House guys have been employed as GM's because they're the "right age" and stuff everyone else. Only last night i went out to a "second place" with a customer of mine in Ginza. We walked into one of those typically 80's bubble period hostess bars to find the only other person in the place was a GM from work drinking with th

Funnily enough my Grandmother recently gave me similar advice. She wasn't big on the slapping thing but was certain the only way to make a marriage last was to be in control and show your wife who's the boss. God love Grandma!

db, can i suggest you avoid the big Supers when it comes time to buy your fruit and veg and start hunting round for those little places run by 90 year old women with bad backs....there are gems to be found!

I went to one in Osaka last year with my GF's family. There i am, sitting quietly, having my dinner, trying not to look too conspicuous as the only Gaijin in the place, when they hand the microphone to me and ask me to make a speech. I hadn't even met the lovely couple but obviously the "MC" thought it would be "cute" to have the gaijin say a few words. Not much you can say really when you don't know their names. I honestly didn't know about the money paying bit.....i bet the GF paid without telling me knowing she'd get an earful if she asked for a contribution. I will be asking some

1, i'm feeling your pain. I'm dealing with this very problem at the moment. I'm sure to draw a barrage of fire by saying this but what is it about women that they believe it makes sense to drop the equivalent of a deposit for a house on one little rock so they can feel good about themselves and impress their friends. To quote a rather famous advertising slogan in Australia some years ago: "Just say NO"

Thanks for that. Interesting article. I've personally had some interesting experiences with the banks. Getting slightly off topic but i was able to open a bank account with SMI/Mitsui bank while i was still only on a "tourist visa". I found that surprising. All it took was a little push from the office here? Is that normal?

Almost as ridiculous as the "sanpei desu" (sp?)phenomenon that thankfully looks like its died off.

Glue by Irvine Welsch (sp?). One of those books that when you finish reading it, you don't want to read anything else for a while its that good. Guys may enjoy it more than girls though.

I seem to be enjoying it now that i have a personal reason (getting married) as opposed to a company reason for learning. Although you are right, it is extremely tedious....especially when someone wants to explain it to you using english grammar examples. Sorry, but i have no idea what a past participle is For the sake of better communication at home i will press on. Good luck Jared!

I'd love to see how "stats show that guns save more lives than they destroy" Please explain to me exactly how a gun saves a life?

Thanks for that. Any idea how kids born outside of Japan would be treated?

Thanks all for your well wishes.....i was actually wondering what i could expect in terms of residency status etc. I was talking to a friend on the weekend who informs me that it is almost impossible for a gaijin guy to obtain citizenship while a gaijin woman is automatically entitled. I also hear its the same for the kids of a gaijin guy while kids borne by a gaijin girl are automatically entitled. Does anyone know if this is right? Good luck with the newbie Indosnm....is this the first?

I decided last weekend to marry mine....now that i'll be joining the club, what special perks can i expect???

XXX, i agree that its obscene but its not the palace you might expect. I am sure many of you people living in the country have much nicer/bigger places than me. This is simply the market for a modern, decent place within close proximity to the city (Meguro).

I found i started to enjoy it a bit more when i learnt a couple of Japanese songs. The amusement of seeing a gaijin trying to sing a Japanese song seems to take the focus off my shocking voice!!

You were wondering what a modern 2 bedroom place in the city (Tokyo) might set you back? Move into my current building and it'll cost you 600,000 Yen per month. One of those little expat perks! PS: A certain, very acceptable Japanese lady whose face appears just about everywhere used to live in the apartment above me. sweeeeet!

Was just wondering if anyone else using Micorsoft Word has experienced the little "Error reporting" dialog box that pops up when Word fails to open a document. I can't help thinking the whole "connecting to server" and reporting the problem process is a charade designed to appease pc users sick to death of Microsoft programs failing consistently to perform the most basic functions. Does anyone know if it does actually report somewhere? I don't know if i'v explained myself very well but regular users of Word should know what i'm talking about.