dano2002 comments

Cleo,

Yes, in the case of a stay at home mom then probably you are right. But, if the sole breadwinner is non Japanese and working quite late (get home at 8 or so) then it is hard for the kid to learn English. Especially, when mom is Japanese, school is Japanese and country is Japanese.

A solid groundwork in Japanese where they live in Singapore yet ONLY speak Japanese and only have Japanese friends. Can't watch TV or go see a movie in another country.

The difference is that my child speaks both languages.

I see a very large difference in both the teaching and behavior of the kids.

Or, if you ever want your kid to go to US or UK Univesity.

Honestly, I think many of you that claim that Japanese schools are ok are just saying so because the cost or international schools is ridiculously expensive. I cut the budget in other areas to make it work. Plus, I called every school near my home and asked for a discount. Finally, one accepted.

Now, my son is bilingual as my wife is Japanese. If not, I wonder how he learns English? from daddy on the weekends?

In my case, i just moved to Singapore and my son was able to easily transition. Many of my transferred Japanese co-workers can not send their kids to English speaking schools so they send their kids to Japanese school here. This is more expensive that the English speaking ones.

So, those of you with kids in Japanese schools I will say this. Be prepatred to either live in Japan forever or have a really tough time for you kid adjusting. And, this is both for language and culture.

At our school the parents complained about the driver's age and they finally replaced him. But this took us threatening to leave the school.

Now, some older drivers may be just as good as younger ones. But, i would expect that a younger one may have common sense which most ojiisans don't. What type of fool leaves an elevated area to drive near the ocern during an tsumani warning. This is common sense 101 that these little kids probably understood more that the driver.

But i don't think it is his fault really. the school is to blame. at some point the teachers were putting the kids on the buses and no one said this is probably a bad idea?

This school should be closed, the teachers fired, and anyone responsbile jailed.

Yes, the fantastic Japanese way of life. A place where a middle class family lives in 60 m2. Or, you can buy a house and 1.5 hours from Tokyo and spend 3 hours a day on a train. Great.

In the US the housing bubble and greed caused everyone to lose their homes. fools who could not afford to buy million dollar homes bought to either live in or flip. then, cried when they forclosed.

Let's see how long Japan can keep it up with the strong yen. already, I heard the job market is horrible in msot sectors.

First of all, going to work is probably easier then spending all day, every day with little kids (no more naps). I spend both weekend days with my kids and i am exhausted.

and, let's not pretend these fools are working to 10 PM everynight. They could go home at 6 but do not because:

they took 10 smoke breaks, feel asleep at their deskl, etc. during the day and did not get their work done. wasted hours in meetings don't want to go home early

In this bad econcomy business is less. so, a lot of guys are going home earlier. then, there is the other set of guys that pretend to work when everyone knows they don't have that much.

in any case, my wife is a housewife. If we cannot continue to afford it i like for her to be at home to take care of the kids (ages 5 and 1) if she wants. however, when the kids get older then i bet she will get some type of part time job so she doesn't go crazy.

Armen, do you mean the war that Bush and the Republican war mongers started for no reason?

Something seems fishy here. I wonder if this maid is looking for a big payout and planned this whole thing. Otherwise, this guy has some serious mental issues.

I don't think this picture = description. there is no way these are stray dogs. they are all the same breed.

part time or contracted workers cannot work past their alloated time or else they get overtime pay. And, no company will pay that these days.

CNC..so he just shot 2 nice fellows who were just following him? I find your story of the events quite hard to believe.

You DontKnow- so part of the fake 9-11 they created a fake hole in the ground in Pennsylvania? And, the airplane and people on it are in an underground cave someplace?

Wow!

Techall

Asking someone to have a threesome/foursome is not rape.

I don't believe her story at all. I think she like one of the guys and he coerced her (via words) to be with his friends. Then, after, he dumped her. She got pissed. For me, the 5 days that passed is the key.

This same thing happened to guys I know. Except she did not claim rape (yet). A girl had a twosome and then was shocked that one guy did not want to be her boyfriend. She stalked him and caused a big stir.

In the past, she did not have to sell her movies overseas. The US Gross was doing OK and the overseas amounts were just gravy. However, now her US movies are doing horrible (because of bad reviews) so she needs to overseas sales to make money.

The largest Corporation have the highest profits in years. Why? better sales numbers? of course, not. because they slashed payroll and are not rehiring. so, tax cuts for corps and the wealthy are not indicative to spending those cuts on creating new jobs.

How about a related article "Pakistan struggles with image in US".

And it is funny how eveyone hates the US but wants to live there.

Honestly, I don't get home to 7:30 or 8 each night. Where is the time to talk to my kids in English during the week? 1 hour at night or in the morning is not enough to learn English. So, i spend the extra money to the job I cannot do myself. At least now I can spend my limited weekday time time actually communciating with my kids in English rather than studying.

Cleo, you are obviously here for the long haul. I am not. I want my kids to speak English so they don't end up working for 5M a year working until 10 every night just because his boss does.

So,the question is how do YOU teach your kids English? You said earlier that we should encourage speaking in Japanese because we live here. So, if your kids go to a Japanese school and you and your spouse also speak Japanese then where is the English?

I am talking about when you kid goes to a park, not friends from school.

There is no way the "Afgans" can export the cars w/o Japanese involved.

I had my motorcycle stolen and the jcops said "Chinese". If so, then how do the Chinese get the bikes through customs? I would expect that customs officials are looking closely at any shipping containers involving Chinese and/or Afgans.

Many internatinal schools are desparate for kids and are offering large discounts. Of course, not the ones mainly used by expats. These refuse discounts for the "common people" because the expats' companies pay these ridiculous prices for them.

I called every single one near neighborhood and some said yes and some said no. I went and visited those that said yes and found a school, while still expensive, is not crazy.

The one thing that scares me about Japanese schools is that the kids are scared to death of other kids outside their little world. Watch what happens when your son/daughter go up to a Japanese only child enrolled in a Japanese only school and tries to play? It is not going to happen.

On the other hand, Japanese kids at international schools seem much more outgoing and are willing to make new friends.

Just my opinion on the matter.

Stormqueem. To actually judge the levels of Japanese baseball and US baseball by who wins the WBC shows you have no clue about baseball. Japan tries and send their best players to the US every year. And, how many have made it? 3? Ichiro, Matsui (sort of) and Nomo?

The WBC is not taken serious by the US.

Now, look at what happens when the US sends all-stars to Japan to play "friendies". Japan got crushed.

On the other hand, Japanese LLs are tough. I watched most of the games and they deserved to win.

The Pentagon has a Mosque? I wonder why there are no complaints about this? The answer is because the Republicans can't gain anything by creating fear.

Honestly, I get home from work at 8 PM. So, i can only spend limited time with my kids during the week. So, you are saying that I can teach my son English only on the weekends enough for him to be as good as japanese? never!

In my company all Japanese must speak very good English. These are the higer paying jobs in Japan. So, in my opinion, spend the money now on English so that your son/daughter don't end up living with me until 30 or later).

Plus, I would never send my kids to a Japanese university. All they have to do is cram once/twice a year and the rest is party time right?

Oh, I forgot to mention that I "Hafu" does not bother me at all. And, if this bothers my son, he will have to stick up for himself and punish some poor Japanese bully who will get his butt kicked.

One thing I don't understand is how many of you can send you kids to a Japanese school? If you wife is Japanese, as mine, and school is Japanese then where will English come in? Please don't say school because that is a pipe dream. Of course, Intl. schools are expensive for non expats(Me) but it seems to be worth every penny to be able to talk to my son in English.

isn't it odd that not one Japanese female celebrity, singer, actress has ever married a gajiin. Take Utada for example, she speaks fluent English, grew up in the states and then ended up marrying some Japanese guy 10 years older than her. it was a divorce waiting to happen.

HonestDicator - "much better looking and a better personaility". This is your opinion and that is why you married her. And, she has a better personality because? Because she talks to you? It is doubtful you have ever talked to these women to know how smart, dumb, witty, etc.

Personality is subjective. We all say these women don't have great personalities yet it is doubtful than any of us have ever talked to a Miss World Contestant.

Anorexia??? The girl on the left has a great figure.

Myabe you wife has brainwashed you to think that women with great thin figures are anorexic?

It is laughable than so many guys on this board are critical. Honestly, are you doing that much better? Doubtful. I have seen many gajiin with Asia/foreign women here in Japan and about 1 in 10 has chick as hot as the ones above.

Now, your woman may be a genious and/or a great talker. But let's not assume she is in the same boat as these two looks wise.

I am guessing this guy will not be in Japan long. I wouldn't want a guy with frosted hair working for me either. It shows a lack of professionalism. How can this fool be taken seriously in a corporate world where most guys wear suits and ties. yet, this young guy comes in looking like a surfer?

anyway, the guys that have been here a long time no how to make it here. and, maybe this fool should listen to their advice. How many gajiin do we all know that did not make it two years?