At the moment, I hold a Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa. This has enabled me to do both English teaching and Korean-English translations while here, as well as be a student of Japanese (self-studying and getting certified on official exams such as the JLPT N3 and Kanji Kentei Level 5). I already take part in many activities here, and plan to take part in many more.
I consider myself an immigrant here, not a temporary resident. One of the things that separates me from most other gaikokujin is that I plan to continue staying here even if my current activity ceases. For example, many gaikokujin leave Japan when they stop teaching English, or when they have finally graduated from Japanese language school, etc. and go home. Their activity here ends, and they leave Japan. However, for me, I plan to continue staying here even through job changes and finishing various academic goals. I live here. This is my new permanent home in Asia. This is where I want to acquire eijuuken (permanent residency). I have spent over a decade in Asia, most of which was, although interesting, very, very unstable. Not anymore. I want a place to call home. Here.
My first time in Asia was 1988 with my parents (I lived in Korea from 1988 to 1990) when I was a baby on the Yongsan military base in Korea. My dad worked for USDA in FAS (the Foreign Agriculture Service), meaning that we got posted overseas sometimes. My first memories are of Korea, not the United States, and in the early years of my life, I was taken care of by Mrs. Ha, a Korean, often while my mom was off working for Hanil Bank. I remember all sorts of things from those days: the beach at Daejeon with its starfish, the Dragon Hill Lodge, etc.
From 1998 - 2001, I lived in Hong Kong, where I graduated from Hong Kong International School (middle school). I studied Chinese in school, played and beat my first Japanese language import games that I bought at the Golden Shopping Center, etc. I used to go camping (with the Boy Scouts [I later became an Eagle Scout]) and on field trips (such as Outward Bound) all over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, Lantau Island, Macau, Mainland China, and even Okinawa.
After a relatively disastrous five years in America (including high school and ~1 year in the workforce), I decided it was time to return to Asia. So on June 18, 2006, I got on a plane headed for Seoul, South Korea, where I ended up living for ~3 years. During that time, I graduated from Yonsei University Korean Language Institute, finished an Associate of Arts with Areas of Focus in History and Korean, and got CELTA-certified, among other things. In the beginning, I was planning to have Korea become my permanent home, but I found the country too xenophobic for my liking, and after a visa run to Japan in 2007, made up my mind to one day live in Japan.
I spent 2009 - 2011 in Taiwan. Taiwan is a nice place with tropical weather and beaches where one can swim even in January, fairly friendly people, etc. However, unlike Korea or Japan, it was never really in the running for being a long-term place to live. I will explain this later. I taught English in Taiwan, primarily at Amigo School, from July '09 to March '11, and also finished my bachelor's degree there via distance education (taking the proctored exams at the Great Master IT Training Center or the Pearson VUE Center in Taipei).
On March 7, 2011, I finally achieved my dream — moving to Japan. At the time of this writing, I have taught English for over a year here, done Korean-English translations and also proofreading, and studied extensive Japanese, passing both the JLPT N3 and KanKen Level 5. This site is devoted to my life in Japan, and further achievements and adventures beyond that will be posted on here as they happen.
Well, the first thing is to weed that list down. Cut China and its Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau) from the list. Why? Because US-Chinese relations are worsening. Chinese soil is not a good place for an American to put down roots. I think the chances of getting deported or sent to an internment camp should war break out between the US and China make China a no-go as far as places to live are concerned.
That leaves the following places:
So that leaves two countries: Korea and Japan.
Initially, I thought that Korea would be the better choice. Korea had fewer foreigners banging down its doors to get in, so the competition for the good things in life would be less. Add to that a relatively easy phonetic script, lower cost of living, etc. and Korea seemed like a good choice. So I went and lived there for three years (2006 to 2009, which adds up to five total years if combined with the time from when I was a small child). And you know what? I couldn't stand the xenophobia and racism. After living five years of my life there, becoming proficient in its language, and finishing three post-secondary academic qualifications there, my visa didn't even let me scrub a toilet. This was fine in itself, except that any Korean-American could easily obtain an F-4 permanent residency visa to live in Korea without speaking Korean or having any educational attainments whatsoever, based solely on his "bloodline." Every time I saw the "pure bloods" making easy money while I wasn't allowed to do so much as flip burgers at McDonald's, it made me angrier and angrier. It also didn't help that I was physically assaulted by racists on three occasions there. Then, one day, in 2007, I visited Japan on a visa run. I realized that Japan, despite its higher competition rates for jobs there, was a far better place for me to live.
On my various visa runs from Korea to Japan, I met several foreigners in Japan who had obtained permanent residency. That was amazing to me, because I had never met even one permanent resident of Korea who didn't have Korean blood. Japan had more people who moved there and settled down. It was clearly more well-set-up for foreigners to be able to prosper than Korea.
So in the end, Japan won out in my mind (save for a short period of time around 2010 when Korea dramatically changed its long-term visa inventory, adding the F-2-7) and by process of elimination, I picked Japan. It just makes the most pragmatic sense to live here. It isn't under, nor will it likely ever be, under CCP control. It isn't as virulently xenophobic/segregated as Korea. It seems, at least at this point, to be the best choice. And that is why I chose Japan.
I'll admit, I've always had a weakness for Japanese video games, as well. That certainly makes it a nicer place to live, as well, but I made the decision to move to Japan because it seemed, pragmatically-speaking, like the best choice. After deciding that it was the most pragmatic decision, as well as my interest in Japanese video games, the Japanese language and culture and history became even more interesting to me, and all this has resulted in me being very interested in Japan in general.