On Feb 10, 8:22 am, Declan Murphy <declan_mur...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 10, 10:19 pm, "John W." <worthj1...@gmail.com> wrote:
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> > On Feb 10, 6:33 am, Declan Murphy <declan_mur...@hotmail.com> wrote:
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> > > On Feb 10, 4:19 am, "John W." <worthj1...@gmail.com> wrote:
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> > > > On Feb 8, 9:23 am, Declan Murphy <declan_mur...@hotmail.com> wrote:
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> > > > > I just stumbled back from the onsen in my hotel in Noboribetsu, opened
> > > > > a(nother) bottle of Baron Phillipe de Rothschild, and raided the
> > > > > fridge for some Grand Mariner liquer based chocolates. Life could be
> > > > > worse - especially if I wasn't being paid for this trip. However, the
> > > > > grass is always greener...
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> > > > > Why aren't I doing this instead?
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> > > > >http://www.robgray.com/wothahellizat/wot2/diaries/index.php
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> > > > > 22 diaries, the almost perfect off-road home.
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> > > > I look at your life with similar envy.
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> > > Is that because you have some kind of Japan fetish? You fetishist.
>
> > More like a Declan fetish.
>
> Now thats just disturbing.
>
> I had a long conversation (5 days I guess) about the various +/- of
> living in Japan, with a former Yamasa student who re-joined us in
> Hokkaido last week at late notice for the week. He's an MIT grad
> (engineering, but subsequently hijacked into the evil world of hedge
> funds) wondering what to do next. Over the past 5 or so years I've
> come to a "I'll live in Japan but only on my own terms & conditions"
> position, and until this week it hadn't really occurred to me how
> unusual that was.

I want to live in Japan for the simple fact that it is different. I'd
live anyplace, really. Plop me down in just about any country and I'm
as happy as a clam. Japan is easier simply because I speak the
language, know people there, more or less know how to survive, and
always find fascinating things to see/do. I've been trying to convince
the Japanese friends (MD researchers, for the most part) that I play
soccer with to get me a job as a lecturer on US healthcare but they're
all too junior to have that kind of pull. There's no way I could go
back to eikaiwa (too old, for one thing).

But I think your philosophy is the basis for many self-help books;
living life on your own terms is the dream of most of us, I think,
regardless of location.

John W.