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Yes I got married, yes I am still in Japan, just don't tell anyone
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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I'm only posting this because someone asked in a different thread. Here is the recent history of JoshuaZ, who disappeared off MacNN and now sometimes comes back.
When last we saw JoshuaZ he was living the good life in Hiroshima, Japan. Teaching English and spending all his money SCUBA diving around Asia. Well after 3 years teaching he finally found a nice fellow English teacher who somehow liked him. After a year of long train rides across Hiroshima every weekend, they decided they should find new jobs and live together.
So they quit their easy Hiroshima jobs and applied for joys in Tokyo. Which they thought they had, until the last minute when both of them found out theiy were completely unemployed. Through a wonderful twist of fate a random job called them and they both got jobs in the same city in a nearby prefecture.
Welllll they then found out that JoshuaZ's work VISA had run out by a week, and thanks to him not having a job to extended his VISA that previous week, his Japanese Work VISA expired. So back in the US on a short vacation they decided to get married in Chicago so JoshuaZ could leech off his lady's valid Work VISA. Only no one could know. Thats right, no one in either of the families knows about their forbidden VISA marriage in Chicago which only cost $50. (In case you're wondering, getting a new teaching work VISA in Japan takes something like 3 months, and my new job needed us in two weeks.)
So now JoshuaZ is living at the base of Mt. Fuji with his lady. Teaching at another public school, for far less pay, trying to figure his life out. Probably going to get a masters degree in Education starting next summer.
So thats what you missed in the life of JoshuaZ this past year, when he more or less stopped posting on webforums of all kinds (its not you, its me. Actually, its the dumbasses on some Japanese ex-pat forums I posted on).
(
Last edited by JoshuaZ; Oct 16, 2009 at 02:01 AM.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Wow, congrats. Quite a story.
But why can't the family know ?
Because of their preconceived ideas of how things ought to be ?
(What you did doesn't sound illegal to me, just using a loophole to get the Visa.)
-t
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Colorado
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Beautiful pics. The third person is weird
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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We both think that our respective families would be 'down' with a court house marriage. Elements of hers and mine are a bit more... traditional. So we're keeping it on the down low until we make it super official.
The whole VISA thing is mostly ok, except my real 'marriage' VISA just came through after two months of 'volunteering' at my current job, and even now I'm only allowed to work 28 hours a week...
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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Originally Posted by JoshuaZ
Thats right, no one in either of the families knows about their forbidden VISA marriage in Chicago which only cost $50.
I envy you.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Rochester, NY
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お祝いの言葉 !
Google told me that means "Congratulations". What does it really mean?
(I hope no one in your family reads MacNN....)
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Sep 2000
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おめでとうございます! Congrats !!!! I wish you happiness and joy!
btw is that Lake Kawaguchiko? I stayed at Ryokan (Ubuya) with nearly the exactly the same view!
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"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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Originally Posted by osiris
おめでとうございます! Congrats !!!! I wish you happiness and joy!
Seconded!
Originally Posted by osiris
btw is that Lake Kawaguchiko?
(psst: "ko" means "Lake"…)
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Sep 2000
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Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot
Seconded!
(psst: "ko" means "Lake"…)
It also signifies female. Whoa - a female lake. (though the kanji in Kawaguchiko is not the female form)
My Japanese is rusty.
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"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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"湖" ("ko") means "lake".
"子" ("ko") means "child" or "little" (as in "kodomo", child), and is often the last syllable of women's names (Machiko, Kumiko, etc.).
"Lake Kawaguchiko" means "Lake Kawaguchi Lake".
Not really relevant to this thread, though.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Vacation.
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Gotta love the Japanese - even their mountains look like they were designed on a computer.
Congrats Josh.
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Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Sep 2000
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Yes, congrats, again.
sorry for the OT
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"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
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Originally Posted by turtle777
Wow, congrats. Quite a story.
But why can't the family know ?
Because of their preconceived ideas of how things ought to be ?
(What you did doesn't sound illegal to me, just using a loophole to get the Visa.)
-t
What he did was no different from what my parents did so my father could stay legally in the U.S.
My American mother met my Greek father in Germany while she was living there. They dated for a little over a year before she left Germany to come back to the U.S. After another 9 months of letter writing back and forth he asked her to marry him. He came to the U.S. on a fiancee's visa. They had to get married within 30 days or he had to go back to Greece.
First thing they did was get married. Then he met her folks. The real wedding wasn't done until about a month later.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Urbandale, IA
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Congrats, Josh! And the tradition of GAC Alums leading interesting lives continues....
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"Yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
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Originally Posted by Dork.
お祝いの言葉 !
Google told me that means "Congratulations". What does it really mean?
It does mean that, but in the literal sense of, like, "congratulatory words."
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Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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(
Last edited by JoshuaZ; Oct 16, 2009 at 09:10 PM.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Tampa, Florida
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Only if you tell me how to get an English teaching job in Japan, preferably close by a kick-butt engineering university.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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I have a few friends teaching English in South Korea right now. Their plane tickets were paid for, housing is paid for, and they get a stipend of ~$1500-$2000 US per month.
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Off topic, but those underwater pictures are beautiful. Do you have them in a higher resolution?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by Laminar
I have a few friends teaching English in South Korea right now. Their plane tickets were paid for, housing is paid for, and they get a stipend of ~$1500-$2000 US per month.
Yeah, they were probably with the JET Programme (I was) which is great if you can get into it.
Otherwise most private English teaching jobs require 1) A VISA (before you apply) 2) You to already be in the country 3) The ability to move to a new location quickly (which is expensive in Japan.)
Also, getting paid $1500-2000 a month in Japan as an English teacher is on the very very low end of the game, even if that includes apartment. If not, man, I don't know how they're living in Japan only making $1500 a month and paying for an apartment.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by seanc
Off topic, but those underwater pictures are beautiful. Do you have them in a higher resolution?
Sure, PM me what you want and I can send you a copy in a higher resolution. (Tell me what resolution you want as well.)
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Australia
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Congrats on your marriage.
FYI
in japan you can get pills that make your poo taste delicious.
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Senior User
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Aarhus, Denmark
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Congratulations on the marriage - I was at Kawaguchiko just last week, when the typhoon visited, so we didn't get to see the mountain, but your pictures are beautiful!
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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(
Last edited by OreoCookie; Oct 18, 2009 at 08:39 AM.
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by Jens Peter
Congratulations on the marriage - I was at Kawaguchiko just last week, when the typhoon visited, so we didn't get to see the mountain, but your pictures are beautiful!
You'd be surprised how often you can't see Fuji due to the weather. Yesterday was cloudy, couldn't see it. Today was fine in the morning but by noon it was so hazy you could hardly see it at all, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Sucks you couldn't see it though.
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Baninated
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Marriage is a joke anyway.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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Originally Posted by downinflames68
Marriage is a joke anyway.
Bitter much?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by downinflames68
Marriage is a joke anyway.
At least I got a VISA out of mine.
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Baninated
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Originally Posted by Laminar
Bitter much?
Yeah a bit. It's bullshit that you can just divorce someone just cuz you "feel like it" without having any particular reason.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by downinflames68
Yeah a bit. It's bullshit that you can just divorce someone just cuz you "feel like it" without having any particular reason.
Maybe you should call bullshit on marriage in general because anyone can get married just because they "feel like it" without having any particular reason.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Originally Posted by downinflames68
Yeah a bit. It's bullshit that you can just divorce someone just cuz you "feel like it" without having any particular reason.
And how is that different from a relationship w/o marriage ?
It's not. So blaming marriage is BS.
-t
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Baninated
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Originally Posted by turtle777
And how is that different from a relationship w/o marriage ?
-t
Exactly. Hence, pointless.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Urbandale, IA
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Originally Posted by JoshuaZ
At least I got a VISA out of mine.
AMEX is better.
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"Yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields a falsehood when preceded by its quotation.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 1999
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Sounds like if you live in Japan you'd want a Diner's Club.
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"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Isle of Manhattan
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Or just lotsa cash.
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"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by osiris
Or just lotsa cash.
Lots of cash would be correct. Its not cheap to move to Japan.
You need plane fare.
You will probably have to put down 5-6 months rent on an apartment.
If you're an English teacher you'll probably not be paid for the first two months.
Don't expect to find a furnished apartment, so you have the startup cost.
Things here cost just as much as things in the US/ Canada/ Australia/ UK.
So yeah, you do need a lot of cash to move to Japan. (Oh, and places that rent month to month really really screw you over. Expect to pay twice as much as the apartment is worth. Especially if you're in a decent sized city.)
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Apr 2001
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Originally Posted by JoshuaZ
Sure, PM me what you want and I can send you a copy in a higher resolution. (Tell me what resolution you want as well.)
what kind of camera and lens did you use?
you took those under water?
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Tampa, Florida
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Originally Posted by downinflames68
Exactly. Hence, pointless.
Getting a tattoo of your lady's name might be a little more permanent.
Having children is the new ball-and-shackle, and not even that.
Looks like I am not cut to be an English teacher, not until my speech in 100% native sounding, and get naturalized here.
Is tuition insanely expensive for out-of-state/coutry, in order to fund an engineering PhD with a teachers pay?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Yamanashi, Japan
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Originally Posted by el chupacabra
what kind of camera and lens did you use?
you took those under water?
Yes, I took all those (and so many many many more) underwater. I think most of those were around 10-13 meters deep.
I use a 6 MP Canon IXUS 800 IS, which is more than 4 years old. I use the official canon underwater case for it. I also have a big old dive light I also use to help focus, especially on the macro.
If I had the money I'd upgrade to a newer more high res camera, if for nothing else the ability to crop more. I'd love to get a Canon Powershot G series camera, an off brand underwater case, an external macro lens, and a small LED dive light to put on top for focusing. Yup. I totally would if I had $800. Plus I could record video in HD. Always a fun time in the water.
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