Uk Or Japan For The Long Term?

[council dweller]

Another reason not to go? The earthquake I mean....

[SarahBell]

Another reason not to go? The earthquake I mean....

We have them in the UK - just no where near as horrific.

Hope all the HPCers out in Japan are ok.

[council dweller]

We have them in the UK - just no where near as horrific.

Hope all the HPCers out in Japan are ok.

I used to feel 2 or 3 a year when I was there, never felt anthing here in the UK. It really is a big plus.

There don't seem to be too many Hpcers in japan at the moment, I wonder what happened to Tokyo Ex-pat?

[Guest_FaFa!_*]

I used to feel 2 or 3 a year when I was there, never felt anthing here in the UK. It really is a big plus.

I've felt two properly noticeable ones in my life one in Taiwan, one in China. Both were tiddlers - I think about 4, 5 max? I don't like the way that they start off so slowly and build up. My thinking moved from "What's that?" to "Is my glass shaking?" to "My glass is shaking!" to "Is it an earthquake?" to "It's an earthquake!" to "What do I do?". But then they both settled down. The Taiwan was quite embarrassing - us foreigners were all wetting ourselves in the staff room. Taiwanese colleague wanders in just after and says "What earthquake?".

[Riedquat]

I've felt one in the UK. It must've been about 7 years ago, and was centred somewhere in the Midlands. The place I was living in (in Manchester) started shaking very noticeably, but not enough to start getting worried. It was quite interesting really. Not that long after that there was a series of small ones in Manchester, some of which you could just about feel if you were lying still.

Being almost entirely free from just about any natural extremes is one of the UK's benefits.

My sympathies to anyone affected in Japan.

[SarahBell]

I've felt one in the UK. It must've been about 7 years ago, and was centred somewhere in the Midlands. The place I was living in (in Manchester) started shaking very noticeably, but not enough to start getting worried. It was quite interesting really. Not that long after that there was a series of small ones in Manchester, some of which you could just about feel if you were lying still.

Being almost entirely free from just about any natural extremes is one of the UK's benefits.

My sympathies to anyone affected in Japan.

The Manchester swarm was Nov 2002. Lots of them.

Some years before there'd been some that were felt in Worcester. One broke the swimming pool at WGGS...

[winkie]

Could the moon have something to do with it?

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/will-supermoon-cause-earthquake-storm-natural-disasters-1442/

[council dweller]

I've felt two properly noticeable ones in my life one in Taiwan, one in China. Both were tiddlers - I think about 4, 5 max? I don't like the way that they start off so slowly and build up. My thinking moved from "What's that?" to "Is my glass shaking?" to "My glass is shaking!" to "Is it an earthquake?" to "It's an earthquake!" to "What do I do?". But then they both settled down. The Taiwan was quite embarrassing - us foreigners were all wetting ourselves in the staff room. Taiwanese colleague wanders in just after and says "What earthquake?".

I must admit that I thought earthquakes were a bit of a Joke until I felt the Kobe one. 1995 was a bad year...including the Sarin gas attack. People's morale was just knocked for six.

[ccc]

I've felt one in the UK. It must've been about 7 years ago, and was centred somewhere in the Midlands. The place I was living in (in Manchester) started shaking very noticeably, but not enough to start getting worried. It was quite interesting really. Not that long after that there was a series of small ones in Manchester, some of which you could just about feel if you were lying still.

Being almost entirely free from just about any natural extremes is one of the UK's benefits.

My sympathies to anyone affected in Japan.

Thats very true. Although parts of North West Scotland would probably disagree with you there.

[Left the UK 2009]

The eastern seaboard of Japan, around the Tokyo area has huge earthquakes every 70 years or so. The last big one was in 1923 so this was well overdue. Looking at the reports so far, thankfully there seem to be relatively few casualties. The more worrying thought is that the epicentre is a lot further north than the Tokyo Bay faultline and so the next Tokyo earthquake is still to happen.

Edit: Just seen more pictures, horrible. No-one is better prepared to deal with this than the Japanese.

[council dweller]

Fa fa!

What's the wife thinking now?

[Guest_FaFa!_*]

Fa fa!

What's the wife thinking now?

She's thinking that she is happy that at least her family and friends aren't from the Sendai area....it's all been a bit harrowing the last few days. Scaremongering in the British media aren't helping much.

I think we can cross Sendai off the list (it was second choice behind Fukuoka). It doesn't change our thinking that much - if you live in Japan long enough the chances are something like this will happen eventually. It is still down to concerns over long term employment and pension.

[council dweller]

She's thinking that she is happy that at least her family and friends aren't from the Sendai area....it's all been a bit harrowing the last few days. Scaremongering in the British media aren't helping much.

I think we can cross Sendai off the list (it was second choice behind Fukuoka). It doesn't change our thinking that much - if you live in Japan long enough the chances are something like this will happen eventually. It is still down to concerns over long term employment and pension.

Er....yep. My wife has been up at night watching TBS live, fortunately the worst of the nuclear mess is now almost over though. I truely believe that the situation is not that bad, I want to screem at people and say " yeah but most of the country is untouched" but now everyones an expert! Sad to see those wrecked Toyota factories and fallen expressway/Shinkansen bridges wasn't it?

Fukuoka seems like a good bet, I know of 3 or 4 couples who went down there from Kansai (and were never seen again!)

A pension? A bowl of rice will do me. Long term employment? Beats me.....you could teach English for a bit, I guess there are plenty of openings at the moment.

[Odakyu-sen]

... Beats me.....you could teach English for a bit, I guess there are plenty of openings at the moment.

There are some glowing reports about teaching English in the Fukujima district!

[Guest_FaFa!_*]

[moan]

So I got offered a job in Japan. Temporary but would look excellent on the CV. Downside is money is not great (280k a month, though there is a housing allowance of 50% of rent, but no mention of key money etc and I understand that if I get a rental it would be a 2 year contract and if I exit early I would lose a great deal of money so the 50% might get swallowed right there) and discovered in interview that it involves a quarter to a half of the time travelling outside of Japan. So will have to turn it down, unless they love me so much they will alter the job, which I suspect would be unlikely.

Bugger.

Really fed up with my job and the UK, but taking this job would put major strain on the Fafa marriage. Given the point of going is to improve the quality of our lives (and money is not good enough to offset the hassle) I cannot really take it.

[/moan]

Sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest. Feeling really fed up and depressed this week.

[rantnrave]

Sorry to hear all is not going well...

I might have missed this part of the thread (apologies if it's already been discussed). An eikaiwa language school starts at Y250K a month, by law. The ones that recruit over here will arrange accommodation with their contacts, overcoming the whole key money rip off. They'll sort you out a work visa too (obviously Mrs Fa Fa doesn't need one!) I'm not suggesting this as a long-term option, but it would get you and the wife out there and set up for significantly less hassle. Job hunting will then be a lot easier once you are over there.

[Game_Over]

Mrs Fafa and I have been immensely fortunate in recently coming into a sufficient sum of money that after adding to our own savings would mean that we would be able to buy a 3 or 4 bed house in either the UK or Japan (Mrs Fafa hails from the land of the rising sun) cash and start a family. In either country we believe that we would be able to generate an income to live comfortably and raise a child. This leaves us a quandary - which country would be better to live in long term - Japan or the UK? Anyone care to share any insights regarding living in Japan (particularly raising a kid there) and/or Japan vs UK long term economic prospects? Should we go with Japan, Mrs Fafa's preferred cities are Sendai, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Kobe, Okayama or Fukuoka. In the UK we would probably look to remain in the East Mids where we could get a house in a decent area.

Any and all random advice much appreciated

Is any of those areas less prone to earthquakes and tsunamis? because it would seem sensible to live in an area of Japan that was less prone to these type of events.

At the end of the day I think any sane individual who had the chance to leave the UK would do so IMO.

True Japan's GDP may be shrinking, but if the population also shrinks then the standard of living will remain roughly static.

You also have to consider quality of life issues given that the UK is rapidly turning into a 'multi-cultural' hell hole, where broken communities will be turning on each other in a Mad Max fight for rapidly diminishing public sector non-jobs and benefit hand outs.

Having read your last post - you could keep looking and possibly find a better job out there in the near future.

The future here is sadly bleak IMO

[council dweller]

[moan]

So I got offered a job in Japan. Temporary but would look excellent on the CV. Downside is money is not great (280k a month, though there is a housing allowance of 50% of rent, but no mention of key money etc and I understand that if I get a rental it would be a 2 year contract and if I exit early I would lose a great deal of money so the 50% might get swallowed right there) and discovered in interview that it involves a quarter to a half of the time travelling outside of Japan. So will have to turn it down, unless they love me so much they will alter the job, which I suspect would be unlikely.

Bugger.

Really fed up with my job and the UK, but taking this job would put major strain on the Fafa marriage. Given the point of going is to improve the quality of our lives (and money is not good enough to offset the hassle) I cannot really take it.

[/moan]

Sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest. Feeling really fed up and depressed this week.

Well the wife would soon be working wouldn't she? So you'd be making 500k per month between you....

[rantnrave]

Well the wife would soon be working wouldn't she? So you'd be making 500k per month between you....

FWIW, after getting married out there, the wife's career prospects soared. You have ten candidates for an office job that requires competent English. Nine of them have names that end in Yamashita, Ito and Nakamura. The tenth is called Mrs. Rave who can say she's courted (such an old word!) and now married a native speaker whom she speaks English to every day. After registering with one employment agency, she had the luxury of doubling her income and turning down three other well paid jobs in the same week!

[council dweller]

FWIW, after getting married out there, the wife's career prospects soared. You have ten candidates for an office job that requires competent English. Nine of them have names that end in Yamashita, Ito and Nakamura. The tenth is called Mrs. Rave who can say she's courted (such an old word!) and now married a native speaker whom she speaks English to every day. After registering with one employment agency, she had the luxury of doubling her income and turning down three other well paid jobs in the same week!

Well yes, that maybe so but I could never get my wife working on a regular basis, she had a couple of office jobs (in Jp)but quit because she 'don't like it.' After 4 years of doing nothing here (UK) she finally dicided to get a job at the NHS (2 interviews, 2 job offers), this was one and a half years ago and she's doing well.....hopefully Fafa's wife is not like this and will go all out to get work, though she doesn't seem to be working in the UK though, maybe because it would make life much more comfortable here.

Btw, since the earthquake my wife is even less likely to want to go back (to Kansai) , she's even talking of cancelling her annual Autumn trip back there because of radiation!

[rantnrave]

Well yes, that maybe so but I could never get my wife working on a regular basis, she had a couple of office jobs (in Jp)but quit because she 'don't like it.' After 4 years of doing nothing here (UK) she finally dicided to get a job at the NHS (2 interviews, 2 job offers), this was one and a half years ago and she's doing well.....hopefully Fafa's wife is not like this and will go all out to get work, though she doesn't seem to be working in the UK though, maybe because it would make life much more comfortable here.

Btw, since the earthquake my wife is even less likely to want to go back (to Kansai) , she's even talking of cancelling her annual Autumn trip back there because of radiation!

Mrs. Rave's sister and brother in law quit their jobs in Tokyo and fled to his parents' place in Hokkaido to escape the radiation. Bit of an overreaction IMO, but then don't know what I'd be thinking if I was there.

EDIT to add - culturally I think Japanese women don't expect to work after they get married.

[council dweller]

Mrs. Rave's sister and brother in law quit their jobs in Tokyo and fled to his parents' place in Hokkaido to escape the radiation. Bit of an overreaction IMO, but then don't know what I'd be thinking if I was there.

EDIT to add - culturally I think Japanese women don't expect to work after they get married.

Traditionally that's certainly the case! A bit like wearing a Kimono every day as the wife's grandmother did.

I guess if I was still in Shiga I'd still be in Shiga.

[Guest_FaFa!_*]

Sorry didn't see the responses until now - thanks for the replies. So we are nearly a week on from the original offer and they still haven't made it clear what my basic salary would be but it will be somewhat under what i requested Basically they have told me what the salary would be after tax, but there are various allowances that would vary so it is not clear to me how they calculated it. So I asked what the basic would be (which is what they advertised) and this appears to have caused some problems. Anyway, I have laid down my red lines and hopefully they will response in a more intelligible manner. I feel a bit better about turning the job down if they are planning to offer sub eikaiwa salary it is not really going to work out, although I am disappointed as the amount of travelling appears not to be as much as first thought. Also their headquarters don't seem to be particularly or efficient. It took/is taking them a bloody age to answer some fairly innocuous questions...

@rantnrave

I saw your marketing thread - sadly I cannot give advice, but best of luck!

@councildweller

In fairness to Mrs Fafa, she has been struggling with some health issues and we have been fairly nomadic which has meant she has had to try to find work wherever we have pitched up. I liked your description on another thread of your wife as an argumentative nutter as it sounded familiar...Mrs Fafa also loves a debate

[rantnrave]

Sorry didn't see the responses until now - thanks for the replies. So we are nearly a week on from the original offer and they still haven't made it clear what my basic salary would be but it will be somewhat under what i requested Basically they have told me what the salary would be after tax, but there are various allowances that would vary so it is not clear to me how they calculated it. So I asked what the basic would be (which is what they advertised) and this appears to have caused some problems. Anyway, I have laid down my red lines and hopefully they will response in a more intelligible manner. I feel a bit better about turning the job down if they are planning to offer sub eikaiwa salary it is not really going to work out, although I am disappointed as the amount of travelling appears not to be as much as first thought. Also their headquarters don't seem to be particularly or efficient. It took/is taking them a bloody age to answer some fairly innocuous questions...

@rantnrave

I saw your marketing thread - sadly I cannot give advice, but best of luck!

@councildweller

In fairness to Mrs Fafa, she has been struggling with some health issues and we have been fairly nomadic which has meant she has had to try to find work wherever we have pitched up. I liked your description on another thread of your wife as an argumentative nutter as it sounded familiar...Mrs Fafa also loves a debate

Applied for another job when I was in Tokyo. Had to go through the application and an interview before they finally provided me with a piece of paper which had the salary on it, buried amongst many other details. Surely that's a key issue! Turned out, to my utter shock, it was actually less than what I was on at the time. They offered me the post a few days later and I promptly declined. Waste of everybody's time all round.

Cheers for the interview encouragement. Have to put some more thought into that tonight. Including the time spent on the application, by the time the 75 minute interview comes round, I will have spent over ten times that preparing for this! If only these things were down to effort...

Interesting to read that the passive, humble and submissive Japanese woman you married turns out to be a feisty debater when no-one else is round. Sounds very familiar....

[council dweller]

@councildweller

In fairness to Mrs Fafa, she has been struggling with some health issues and we have been fairly nomadic which has meant she has had to try to find work wherever we have pitched up. I liked your description on another thread of your wife as an argumentative nutter as it sounded familiar...Mrs Fafa also loves a debate

I just want a quiet life, I don't need her to project her insecureties onto me!