Can I move to Japan?

[Farang]

One solution would be to take courses over there and then put them towards a degree at an American university which offers a good selection of online courses. For example, Washington State University offers distance courses leading to degrees in MIS, Business, or Social Sciences. So you basically attend a Japanese university and then just take the last 30-40 credits or whatever is required online to get your degree from the American university. I assume there is a decent selection of English language courses available at Japanese international colleges, however in the end your degree will probably be in a general liberal arts major (not a big deal considering you were thinking of going with the University of Phoenix).

 

[midway]

Yeah, my degree situation is caused by when I was younger and horribly irresponsible coupled with a lack of the knowledge about the college funding system. I have a good bit of experience in my field and basically lack the degree necessary to get past the HR screeners at most companies.

 

[JS80]

lol man you guys are assholes.

 

[Krueger81]

Originally posted by: JS80
lol man you guys are assholes.

they are only explaining how it is or how it's going to turn out

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Passions
If you don't have a degree, it'll be hard to get an English teaching job, at least a legit one. I guess you could just roam around and play pachinko.

BTW: How'd you get a girl with a masters and you don't even have one? LOL...NICE.

Because a degree is just a piece of paper.

Bill Gates has no piece of paper on his wall, yet he made it...

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: JS80
lol man you guys are assholes.

They may be assholes but they are only speaking the truth. He's done.

 

[91TTZ]

Nobody has asked how serious they are or how serious she is about taking the job. If they've been talking about getting married then I'd imagine it's serious.

There would be no sense in abandoning a perfectly good relationship over a risky move to take a job that you don't even know if you'd like.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: gamepad

Originally posted by: Farang
Ouch.. a guy just found out his girlfriend was breaking up with him via an innocent question on ATOT

Bummer, dude.

QFT ... ATOT can be harsh at times!

 

[Ichigo]

Lesson #40: Don't look for topically relevant responses in ATOT. Check.
Lesson #41: Don't look for romantics in ATOT. Check.

 

[Lurknomore]

Look at your screen name, OP.
They will not let you in.

 

[senseamp]

Japan immigration is strict. They actually do house checks on people to see if they have legit status. I was talking to some Russians while there who were "students." They were studying Japanese during the day so they could work as waitresses and bartenders in Tokyo during the night.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Japan immigration is strict. They actually do house checks on people to see if they have legit status. I was talking to some Russians while there who were "students." They were studying Japanese during the day so they could work as waitresses and bartenders in Tokyo during the night.

I have lived in Japan many times and I know quite a few people who are there..not so legally and they haven't been caught in 5 plus years. Now..I wouldn't suggest it cause if you get questioned by the cops...which can happen at any time..you are screwed.

Well if your gf wants you to go..YOU SHOULD. Tokyo is the best city in the world in my opinion and you will have a great time. Go to school, learn japanese. You can leave every 90 days and come back, no biggie.

 

[senseamp]

Seriously, that is some good advise. If you can afford to take time off, go to Japan and see Tokyo, it's worth it, esp since you'll have a place to crash and a girl while there.
I really enjoyed Tokyo, and I think it's a place one must visit at least once. It's so futuristic and hip. 3 months you can do some more travel around Japan too. With dollar falling, it's only going to get more expensive later on.

 

[BladeVenom]

Go there for 90 days and find a Japanese girl to marry.

 

[FreshPrince]

look, I really dit not want to be as blunt as I was, but he did only provided partial info so I only made the recommendation to cut the ties....

having seen his response about them being serious and about marriage, then I would be even more cautious.

the op said she did say she wanted him to go. the question is once again, did she make the decision to go, and then asked him to join her or did the both of them sit down together and decided she should go. because if she already made the decision and then asked him, then my assessment stands. she is looking to bring some familiarity with her to a foreign city. once her job settles and she becomes more comfortable with the new city, she will drop the guy, it's only a matter of time. women do this all the time, the majority of them are very wishy washy and the only way them to move to a new city is to bring the old bf, with all intentions of dropping him once she knows her way around.

now, if once she learns of the job offer, the first thing she did was sit down with him to try to map out a solution for both of them to be together, then yes, she is serious about him and wants him to be with her.

so the OP has to ask himself and look back carefully to see if she asked him to go with her before or after she decided to take the job. If before, go with her. If after, it is very obvious what her intentions are and he should cut it off before he gets his heart broken in a land he does not know or understand with no support from family. this is also a conversation the OP should have with the SO and not ask the board...just be up front and ask now before it becomes to difficult to ask.....

always be up front with each other.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: FreshPrince

Originally posted by: midway
summary: GF gets her masters degree soon and is in talks with a company in Tokyo. I don't have a degree, any chance I can get into the country and stay? I don't see any way I could get a student visa either. All I can see are 3 months tourist visas available. Needless to say, she plans on being there more than 3 months.

Anyone have experience with this at all?

if she plans on being there more than 3 months...and knowing your situation....then she has already started the process of breaking up with you.

if that's the case, then don't make the mistake of following her and then get your heart ripped out in a foreign country with no support. I would say just let her go.

seriously, she probably has already thought this out and is already committed on staying there longer than you can be there, then her heart is already gone....cut the cord.

This is good advice

That's horrible advice. He doesn't know the situation at all.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
look, I really dit not want to be as blunt as I was, but he did only provided partial info so I only made the recommendation to cut the ties....

having seen his response about them being serious and about marriage, then I would be even more cautious.

the op said she did say she wanted him to go. the question is once again, did she make the decision to go, and then asked him to join her or did the both of them sit down together and decided she should go. because if she already made the decision and then asked him, then my assessment stands. she is looking to bring some familiarity with her to a foreign city. once her job settles and she becomes more comfortable with the new city, she will drop the guy, it's only a matter of time. women do this all the time, the majority of them are very wishy washy and the only way them to move to a new city is to bring the old bf, with all intentions of dropping him once she knows her way around.

now, if once she learns of the job offer, the first thing she did was sit down with him to try to map out a solution for both of them to be together, then yes, she is serious about him and wants him to be with her.

so the OP has to ask himself and look back carefully to see if she asked him to go with her before or after she decided to take the job. If before, go with her. If after, it is very obvious what her intentions are and he should cut it off before he gets his heart broken in a land he does not know or understand with no support from family. this is also a conversation the OP should have with the SO and not ask the board...just be up front and ask now before it becomes to difficult to ask.....

always be up front with each other.

wow harsh. but true and great advice.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: FreshPrince

Originally posted by: midway
summary: GF gets her masters degree soon and is in talks with a company in Tokyo. I don't have a degree, any chance I can get into the country and stay? I don't see any way I could get a student visa either. All I can see are 3 months tourist visas available. Needless to say, she plans on being there more than 3 months.

Anyone have experience with this at all?

if she plans on being there more than 3 months...and knowing your situation....then she has already started the process of breaking up with you.

if that's the case, then don't make the mistake of following her and then get your heart ripped out in a foreign country with no support. I would say just let her go.

seriously, she probably has already thought this out and is already committed on staying there longer than you can be there, then her heart is already gone....cut the cord.

This is good advice

That's horrible advice. He doesn't know the situation at all.

Exactly, don't take life advice from a bunch of AT posters that don't have girlfriends. Explain to her what you wish to do, and if she supports you coming over there (and hopefully she would want to help you), and it won't change your life plans then I don't see the problem.

It isn't as if she told you she was going to do this and then said she didn't want you to come.

 

[hiromizu]

Read this.

The question is what is going to Japan offer you? If your reason is to be with your GF while you teach some English on the side, that a bad sign and it's not going to last. You'll waste serious time. I've seen this happen all too often. There are many English speaking folks like you that go there to teach without a serious degree and they end up teaching at some ghetto joint like Nova making a lousy 5000 yen a day - and that's only when they need you. Have a little pride in yourself and make it where you are and she'll respect you even more. You're not a dog on a leash. If you want a real future, that's the right thing to do. You'll probably break up but sooner or later, you'll be MUCH better off.

 

[mh47g]

How the f*ck are you going to teach English to a bunch of people who don't know English?

In other words, do you know Japanese?

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: mh47g
How the f*ck are you going to teach English to a bunch of people who don't know English?

In other words, do you know Japanese?

lol best response so far

 

[midway]

She hasn't been offered the job, and she hasn't decided yet whether she'd take it if offered, though she's leaning toward it. This is something she's wanted for a long time and I don't want to stand in the way of her happiness. We have found a couple English universities in Japan that would A) qualify me for a student visa and B) let me finish out my degree while living there with her. We're going to apply for a line of credit to fulfill the funds availability portion of the student visa requirement. Best case scenario is that we both end up there and are happy, worst case scenario is we both end up there and are miserable, somewhere in the middle is that she goes to Japan alone, we go our separate ways, and we see where we are in a year and a half when I've got my degree.

(p.s. neither of us are going to teach english, and the fact that this could spell the end of our relationship isn't some amazing new revelation)

 

[uhohs]

Originally posted by: mh47g
How the f*ck are you going to teach English to a bunch of people who don't know English?

that's how english teaching in japan works. lol

 

[Farang]

Have either of you been overseas for an extended period before? The novelty wears off after a certain point so you actually have to enjoy what you're doing out there--just being in a foreign country isn't enough after a month or so. So if you're putting together some plan to live out there that involves you spending thousands on tuition on some Japanese English-language university program, you should probably consider whether getting that much in debt is really the best use of your resources.

 

[midway]

Yes, I've lived in Asia for about 6 years, she hasn't. Also the tuition at the university I'm looking at is comparable to what I'm spending here, so the debt load i'll incur is basically the same.