This is a great thread I came across and very interested in hearing all the different viewpoints.
I have not left yet, but I have always planned to, and now I’m a father of 2, with kids in preschool and considering a move back to the US. Originally from the US (California) and grew up in the 80s. I would bring my family back to the US in a heartbeat if it were the 80s, however it’s not. Political correctness, political chaos, half the country hates the other half. And then you have weekly shootings at schools, and mass shootings once a year (or more). I gotta say, I view America as probably one of the most retarded 1st world nations at this point in time (just because of the gun stuff). Just today, with the news of 17 dead in Florida this morning at a school shooting. How do people cope with this? I don’t really care about the answers of Americans that have permanently lived there, as they I assume are just desensitized to it and don’t really think much past the first 24 hrs, but what about the people that were living elsewhere in a safe and less violent country, and then moved back to the US. How do they cope with this?
I ask this seriously. I don’t want my kids to go to Japanese school and become future well mannered robots with their soul sucked out of them. I would like them to grow up in a multi-cultural environment and be native and efficient in English (for more job opportunities in the future). However, if I were to move my family to the US and then read the newspaper, I think I would constantly be regretting my decision. And if one of these shootings where to happen at the school of my child, I would forever have regret and feel I put my child in that situation (e.g. it would be my fault). I never planned to live long term in Japan, as I clash too much with the “nail sticks out pound it in” mentality and the cold steel and emotionless state of the general public, so I had always considered moving back to the US. However, the US I left 15 years ago, is a very different place today. Somewhat at a loss of what to do.
And let me say, I do love Japan and living here, because it’s safe and comfortable. Sadly, that’s because of how people are trained to behave and act only one way. So the byproduct of that culture is why we love Japan, but I wouldn’t want myself to have to be that. I think it’s kind of interesting and funny, because the things most westerners would hate or find stupid to do, is the reason they like Japan. i.e. the culture and experience of Japan is because Japanese are trained and molded to behave a certain way. A way of life, that most westerners would clash with and be unable to adapt to. Which is also why I have some serious concerns on Japan’s future, given the population will halve in the next 20–30 years. If that means massive immigration of people from developing nations, I see a future issues for Japan during that transition. Only time will tell though. This point is also directly connected to my current reason for thinking of where I want my family to be for the next 20–30 years.
Bình luận bài viết #58527 của @daocamquynh
I have not left yet, but I have always planned to, and now I’m a father of 2, with kids in preschool and considering a move back to the US. Originally from the US (California) and grew up in the 80s. I would bring my family back to the US in a heartbeat if it were the 80s, however it’s not. Political correctness, political chaos, half the country hates the other half. And then you have weekly shootings at schools, and mass shootings once a year (or more). I gotta say, I view America as probably one of the most retarded 1st world nations at this point in time (just because of the gun stuff). Just today, with the news of 17 dead in Florida this morning at a school shooting. How do people cope with this? I don’t really care about the answers of Americans that have permanently lived there, as they I assume are just desensitized to it and don’t really think much past the first 24 hrs, but what about the people that were living elsewhere in a safe and less violent country, and then moved back to the US. How do they cope with this?
I ask this seriously. I don’t want my kids to go to Japanese school and become future well mannered robots with their soul sucked out of them. I would like them to grow up in a multi-cultural environment and be native and efficient in English (for more job opportunities in the future). However, if I were to move my family to the US and then read the newspaper, I think I would constantly be regretting my decision. And if one of these shootings where to happen at the school of my child, I would forever have regret and feel I put my child in that situation (e.g. it would be my fault). I never planned to live long term in Japan, as I clash too much with the “nail sticks out pound it in” mentality and the cold steel and emotionless state of the general public, so I had always considered moving back to the US. However, the US I left 15 years ago, is a very different place today. Somewhat at a loss of what to do.
And let me say, I do love Japan and living here, because it’s safe and comfortable. Sadly, that’s because of how people are trained to behave and act only one way. So the byproduct of that culture is why we love Japan, but I wouldn’t want myself to have to be that. I think it’s kind of interesting and funny, because the things most westerners would hate or find stupid to do, is the reason they like Japan. i.e. the culture and experience of Japan is because Japanese are trained and molded to behave a certain way. A way of life, that most westerners would clash with and be unable to adapt to. Which is also why I have some serious concerns on Japan’s future, given the population will halve in the next 20–30 years. If that means massive immigration of people from developing nations, I see a future issues for Japan during that transition. Only time will tell though. This point is also directly connected to my current reason for thinking of where I want my family to be for the next 20–30 years.