gerard

It seems like it's tough to find work if you're a foreigner and not a native English speaker. I know a few highly educated Asians who are here for thier spouses but can't find any work and are really frustruated. Meanwhile, a lot of Japanese are lining up to pay white guys 5000 for English lessons. The other day I recommended a good Japanese teacher to a friend of mine who seemed to really want to learn Japanese. The conversation went like this; "How much is it?" "3000 yen and hour" "No... that's way too much money?" "How much do you get to chat with that doctor guy for an hour?"

This doesn't change the fact that the guy on the train is an ass, but many of us are really lucky to be white foreigners. The vast majority of discrimination that I've seen has worked to my advantage... even over Japanese people. It would be tough being Chinese or Indian, etc.

Cool links Goemon... If you're of the audiolingual persuasion.

Aim high. People who study like maniacs and have high goals and take Japanese tests get reasonably good within a few years. Also learn Kanji if you want to get good at Japanese and you're willing to put in the effort. Actually, if you don't put in the effort you simply won't get good at it--which is OK--it just depencs what you want. The vocabulary is massive but a good chunk of it is made of kanji compounds. You can guess meanings and learn new words very quickly if you know the kanji. It's daunting, but it will pay off. After a couple of hundred kanji you'll start to see the connecti

It's kind of like English names and places. Some people might mispronounce 'Greenwich' ... or my last name for example, which is 'Zvdkghe'. Kanji tend to have multiple pronunciations and even using a dictionary won't necessarily tell you the right one. Usually of course, they CAN read places and names but it's sometimes confusing. First names can be particularely difficult since parents sometimes want to give their kids creative or unusual names.

School of Rock... Jack Black at his best. He's a washed up 30-something Rocker who poses as a substitute teacher at a private school. Very well casted. Cheesy? Sure. But a great movie!

Changi (Singapore) also has a great outdoor pool with full facilities... It costs something like ten dollars... They've also got free tours of the city without going through immigration... pool tables... movies. Next time I travel though, I'm going to try and get a prescription of vallium though. Helps with jet lag too.

Sounds like they were real assholes. All of the police that I've dealt with have been quite nice --but I've only been busted for minor motor vehicle infractions --not 'dancing'. I'm sure it was more about misinformation, or yakuza, than dancing though.

Good movie too. Best mountaineering movie that I've seen. Lots of interview footage from the two climbers after the fact. Excellent scenery.

What's with this member rating thing and why is cheeseman only rated two stars.

The internet is creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy! How do I know you guys aren't all just the same person... or otherwise...

Reading cb's post about Hakuba, I guess I have to give Nagano another try. I've been skiing Niseko at Christmas time for the last three seasons and was thoroughly impressed with the snow and the increasing number of Aussies hasn't affected my vacation yet... But the lack of steeps is clear. Went to Happo years ago at New Years.--bad year, crappy crusty snow with minimal coverage. I had heard that Happo had the steepest run in Japan but I've found more interesting stuff at Hachikita in Hyogo. I think it was just a bad year though. I guess I have to go in late Jan or Feb and spend more tim

Skier

Happo-one

Tokyo

Hi there. I am new here but would like to make some new friends. I've been to SSAWS a few times and am interested.