[terminal pharmacy]

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

the culture shock i got when i went to japan wasn't as much as i was expecting, i had a bigger culture shock in america possibly because i wasn't expecting any.

i avoid english speaking countries mostly, just because it is more fun trying to get by without a language. however, the plus side is you don't have to hear absolutley menial banal bullshit when you are walkinjg down the street etc....

[Toilet & Bowels]

Originally Posted by terminal pharmacy

however, the plus side is you don't have to hear absolutley menial banal bullshit when you are walkinjg down the street etc....

f'real

China, Japan or India. Bring on the culture shock, that's what relocating to far away continents is all about.

[hat and bread]

I already did that.
The nice thing about being a career ESL teacher is that you can pretty easily find work (and thus visas) anywhere in the world. I highly recommend getting a proper ESL certification (CELTA or cerTESOL) for the uninspired nomadic types out there.
I think if and when I leave Japan I will wind up in San Francisco or New York. I like it expensive!

[nicfit]

So, is japan actually expensive? Is it? I'm afraid so.

p.s. lately I'm reconsidering some places due to earthquake/hurricanes threaths.

[hat and bread]

I live on the corner of bumfuck and nowhere, so it's really not that expensive at all.

Seriously, Japan isn't that expensive. If you have your heart set on living right in the center of Tokyo it'll be absurdly pricey, but that goes for any major city anywhere the world. I make about that same salary I made when I was living in Texas and I haven't noticed any significant change in my lifestyle since I moved here. Beer and CDs are more expensive, sushi and shochu are cheaper, it all evens out.

[nicfit]

thanks for the infos. I might consider going in some minor city in the future, then. I've got this distorted image of japan in my mind, with the bling bling otaku shopping windows pachinko noises and laser shows for the big cities and smaller cities=zatoichi..
I know it's not like that in the real world, but I also think you need to GO THERE to have an actual idea of such a peculiar country.

[hat and bread]

Originally Posted by nicfit

p.s. lately I'm reconsidering some places due to earthquake/hurricanes threaths.

I recently learned that I moved to exactly the most dangerous spot for earthquakes in the entire world. When this thing goes down I'll be wiped out in a tsunami within 5 minutes. Hurray!

The great Tokai Earthquake of the 21st century has not happened yet, but Japan has been getting ready for it for over 25 years. All of Japan is earthquake country, but its most dangerous part is on the Pacific coast of the main island Honshu, just southwest of Tokyo. Here the Philippine plate is moving under the Eurasian plate in an extensive subduction zone. From studying centuries of earthquake records, Japanese geologists have mapped out segments of the subduction zone that seem to rupture regularly and repeatedly. The part southwest of Tokyo, underlying the coast around Suruga Bay, is called the Tokai segment.
Tokai Earthquake History

The Tokai segment last ruptured in 1854, and before that in 1707. Both events were great earthquakes of magnitude 8.4. The segment ruptured in comparable events in 1605 and in 1498.
zSB(3,3)


The pattern is pretty stark: a Tokai earthquake has happened about every 110 years, plus or minus 33 years. As of 2005, it has been 151 years and counting. These facts were put together in the 1970s by Katsuhiko Ishibashi. In 1978 the legislature adopted the Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act. In 1979 the Tokai segment was declared an "area under intensified measures against earthquake disaster."
Research began into the historic earthquakes and tectonic structure of the Tokai area. Widespread, persistent public education raised awareness about the expected effects of the Tokai Earthquake. Looking back and visualizing forward, we are not trying to predict the Tokai Earthquake at a specific date, but to clearly foresee it before it happens.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by sarramkrop

China, Japan or India. Bring on the culture shock, that's what relocating to far away continents is all about.

see you know what I am talking about, this is the 21st century after all.

[lucyrulesok]

BERLIN BERLIN BERLIN
coming from london i think it would be quite hard for me to move to anywhere other than a major city. i dunno what i'd do with myself...

my brother moved to lucca in italy to do a phd a few months ago. i think he's finding it quite hard to adjust to life outside the big shitty. he's coming to stay with me tomorrow for a few days. i can't wait!

[uhler]

well right now i'm moving to brooklyn next month so i would like to live there for free. but nope i have to work extra hard to pay rent.

[demonrail666]

I really want to visit New Orleans. Not out of some morbid interest following Katrina, just that I've always been totally fascinated by it from being a kid. I bought a lonely planet guide to it the other day and the woman in the shop asked me if I was an aid worker, like I might be visiting Rwanda or something.

The thing that concerns me most about it is the crime, but I hear that since Katrina most of the traditionally really dodgy areas are pretty well deserted. I'm sort of gutted though that if I did go, it'd be like visiting the shell of a city that once was.

[This Is Not Here]

Theres nothing worse than a city with no crime. Nothing worse.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by This Is Not Here

Theres nothing worse than a city with no crime. Nothing worse.

I'm guessing you must LOVE this film:

 

[steve newman]

i like where i ilve now, but if i had choices, they would be somewhere in western australia, vancouver, or sunny san diego(i lived there once before and LOVED IT!)