Expats

Recently I went out to dinner with some co-workers who live in different parts of Kyoto than me. So close enough that we can get together often, but far enough that we don't. It's interesting to talk with other foreigners here and nice that I don't have to simplify my language or think hard about what I'm trying say. I've met expats from various English-speaking countries mostly (or at least plurally) from the US. Although there are people working for private, non-English education companies, most who I've met are either students, college professors, or English teachers. A lot of the English teachers can fit into one of several categories;

'Taking a year off' - people who know very little Japanese before coming here, typically recent college grads who want to party for a year or two before getting a real job, who are unable to find employment in their own country, or 20-somethings in transition looking for something fun to bolster their resume;

Teachers - people who are primarily interested in teaching as a career who go to Japan for low-risk, entry-level experience (I'm told high school teachers at a US base in a foreign country get paid really, really well);

'Fanboys' (or girls) - Japanphiles who love Anime, Manga (comics), and anything that even resembles Japan - this is the image that many people in my Japanese class in college tried to avoid;

Japanese majors - people who have invested so much time in Japanese that they have to live in Japan to justify it, but who aren't yet good enough at Japanese to get a non-English teaching job;

I don't think I fit particularly well into any of these groups. I wouldn't say that I'm taking a year off. I wanted to come to Japan because it's Japan, not because it pays better than Korea or Taiwan. I don't think I want to teach as a career, at least not English or anything lower than high school. I like a lot about Japanese culture, but not obsessively so (I read some manga but more for study than enjoyment; it's easier than newspapers or books, plus it's a lot more prevalent here). I have yet to meet another person who's reason for living in Japan is ostensibly 'learn Japanese well enough to get a job at the State Department'.

There's another group of people who are universally reviled by most the expats I've met; men who came to Japan to date Japanese women. While it's impossible to prove that many people come here for that sole purpose, rumors abound. I'm not sure how to describe these guys so I'll just take the Potter Stewart quote that "I know it when I see it". Just think of some sleazy guy you've seen try to pick up a girl at a bar and replace them with a creepy guy who would never be able to do so in the US (yet some how succeeds).

A lot of people at my company are married to a Japanese person and have kids which, I'm told, effectively cements you to the country until they finish high school. I wouldn't consider them the same as the guys who come here to date Japanese girls, though some of them probably started that way. Typically their spouse has a job that pays a lot better and many are part-time while they take care of the kids.