DaiOni

Dave: I agree, I really miss some of the people who have come and gone. On the other hand, I really miss the mates I've had since school - I think that, coming to the end of my contract (next july - it goes so quick!), job frustrations, potential unemployment, and the march towards winter are all combining to make life a bit glum at the moment. That, and the fact that I don't have any money to mod! Thank god for the wife! I'd hate to be here and alone for this long. Gadget: why I asked, is that I'd like to stay for a fourth year - possibly doing eikaiwa to keep me busy. But I'd be hesitant to do that if I had to sacrifice a better pension year. My other half is currently doing her masters - and the intention is for her to get a job at an international school (very hard to do, I know) - that sort of wage would pay the bills - then I could do a private ALT job or eikaiwa - or be a bum Alternatively, we would both do a term as private ALTs - I'd like to spend a year or so on the mainland. I think one more, maybe two years is enough for us (with the right jobs) . Actually, by my calculations, we HAVE to stay one more year - just to actually come home with some money! hahaha... If anyone has any private job/international school contacts... LET ME KNOW!

A forum member recently asked me to pick up some coilovers for him. The price of the coilovers was great - but you don't want to know how much the postage costs were!!!! scary. Whatever you get - make sure it's light! (the ecu should be fine - but still not cheap, if you want it quickly) I'm happy to do this sort of thing for people, but I have three conditions: (1) The money is useless to me in an australian account, so it needs to be transfered, (2) you pay the postage, (3) 10,000yen to me - no matter the product price is. However, the first thing I always do is refer people to places like nengun - you're nearly always better off to buy new, and their prices compare very well to the off-the-shelf prices here. 2nd hand stuff, even in japan, is always a risk... (4) not responsible for what daredare san sends you!!

so guys, is the pension calculated on your first 3 years, or your last 3 years?

haha! but I want to vent! I don't think this is necessarily a comparison - just a straight-out 'that's how it is' reality check - and it's probably a good resource for those who are thinking about coming - it certainly isn't all roses. As was said, it would be much easier to write an even longer list about 'things I love about japan' - but many of those things are self-evident in our post histories. Conversely, it would be very easy (easier?) to write a 'things I hated about living in australia' list. There are many more things I don't miss!!!!!!! I'm going to add one more: 31. The fact that my english is slowly going down the drain... I had to rewrite this post three times, and it's probably still full of mistakes, japanese-style grammar...

Rezz: re: 'the chime' - no, not a warning, some programs (maybe only on bs2, but I can't remember) have a constant, just audible, 'ding' 'ding' 'ding' - it kills me Dave: When doing the changeover, you've got to be careful they don't give you a provisional (green sticker) licence - they tried to do it with me (as I had a new passport and, thus, couldn't prove I'd had my licence in australia for a year - despite a three page (hehe) official driving record - perfect example of the bureacratic insanity). A friend of mine, instead of complaining, accepted the prov licence - a few weeks later he causes a major accident, and due to the lower points on the licence - now has to sit through drivers' ed - poor bastard. and that neatly leads to... 19. The Niigata Shi Vehicle Registration Department. Notorious, racist, incredibly illogical/bureaucratic, scumbag scumbags. 20. The myth of the 'hard-working japanese'. They certainly have made 'looking busy' an artform though. Gotta get that bonus! 21. Having to say 'ohayo gozaimasu' 50,001 times every morning. Why can't we just smile and nod? 22. Having to work with north americans. Sorry to any north americans reading this (and sara - if you're reading this, you are a shining exception), but my experience has been pretty bad. And it has actually been canadian males who have been some of the worst - are they all the same person? (loud, deaf, arrogant, sleazy, perversely patriotic, sociopaths...). Fresh-out-of college americans really shit me too. 23. Echoing troy - Bozosoku - do they realise they are the gayest bike gangs in history? (gayer than the dude out of the village people). I want to sit on my window ledge at 3am and shoot them with my shotgun (air gun - but it would still be fun). Somebody buy them mufflers. 24. Japanese who, when talking in english, nod their heads and agree - when they really don't understand half/all of what you have said. Conversely, very guilty of this myself. 25. The price of fruit (and, yeah, many other things). I'm glad I don't eat rice at home. 26. The sun's just too damn bright, too damn early 27. Along with the ATMs... petrol stations that shut early/aren't open on sundays (why am I always out of fuel on a sunday???) 28. My 90 year old next-door-neighbour who pulls stickered (refused) rubbish bags out of the collection bin and then stares at me like it was mine. 29. The fact that I am forced to walk 100m down the road to put my rubbish out - when there is a perfectly good (always empty) collection bin across the road. 30. The motherf*cker who stole my bike

6. Winter. Snow. Lots of it. 7. The proliferation of cute. 8. Mazda paint - what daft bastards. 9. Rice - I feel for you poor buggers who are here for the long term! And tofu, too - both high points in the world of bland. A lot of sashimi can also be slotted in this category - taking a lump of bland and pouring shoyu all over it - and calling it a delicacy (well, I like the flavour of soy sauce too, but it's not a delicacy) 10. Living on an island - definitely has its plusses, but for a car enthusiast, it's depressing at times. Probably a good thing for the wallet though. 11. Yahoo Auctions - so good it's bad. 12. The money system - for two reasons. (a) dealing in units of 1000 seems like it would lead to being more careful with money - but I find you end up treating it like 'toy money'. Spending a 1000 here, 10,000 there - feels like spending nothing! (B) change!!!! for god's sake - do we really need 1 and 5 yen coins????? 13. When there's a good movie/show on TV and it's not bilingual. Actually - the whole bilingual system - the crap nhk news translators. When the bilingual starts freaking out and breaking into bursts of loud japanese. And the fact that my TV, in bilingual mode, always seems to have a weird bell chiming in the background (is that just me???) 14. I can never find anything worthwhile to eat at conbinis - and always seem to end up dining on slimey, half-cooked, deep-fried (ala microwave) chicken 15. In accordance with 14, what japan is doing to my internal organs and weight 16. The price of haircuts - though I did once get a 1000yen buzzcut in tokyo 17. Porn - the pixels and the plot (poor girls) 18. Students sleeping in class - being accepted by teachers

this also has to be my #1... "1: The inability of the vast majority of Japanese to be able to “think outside the box”." 2. closely related - the hierachy/bureaucracy - and in particular, rigidly sticking to the system despite, in many many cases, the overwhelming illogicality (is that a word?) of doing so 3. teeth sucking (the 'japanese no') - "tsssssssssssssssssshhhhh.... hmmmm, maybe...." - even though I've caught myself doing it 4. cultural 'bull in a chinashop' gaijin, who try to transpose their own culture over the japanese, then whine about it not being the same. 5. I could put a million here about my own inability to progress with the japanese language - they're all my own fault, but definitely a 'thing I hate' in japan

It was a little of 1 million yen - which is about what you have to pay to get and older one in the right condition and lowish kms (mine recently ticked over 50k). The whole FD vs GTR thing has been done on here (in the gerneral section) before - and well argued, iirc. I'll give a couple of quick/short answers though: 1. Build quality: IMO, not true - at least in relative terms. Compared to what? My 93 FD compares pretty damn well with similarly aged GTRs that I've inspected. However - I love nissan build quality, and would happily conceed that they do it better (my r33 was signifcantly better than my old TE magna - and that was, in turn, better than any ford or holden I ever had to drive). A s8 will not disappoint in that department. 2. Engine: If kept stock and regularly/properly maintained (like any sportscar should) - will lead a happy life. Modified is another thing altogether. Issues for the 13brew (and sequential twins) have arisen because of the following: * bad modification - has to be thoughtfully modified. Not a 'whack on an exhaust and a ebc' car. A little research would definitely pay dividends - unfortunately, it seems that the average owner these days is aged 16-23, so the same issues are perpetuated. * bad mechanics - I wonder if mazda mechanics ever had any formal training on the FD? Increasingly, it seems: no. And without a dealer support network - the FD was doomed to fail in export markets. The solution to everything, from vacuum leak to oil leak, seems to be: 1. replace engine, or 2. replace turbos. Crazy. Aftermarket is no better - 99% of mechanics (and I'm referring to rotary specialists) are petrified of the sequential system (a bit of a half pun hidden in there) * some design issues: plastic air sep tank, crappy radiator, way too much hose - all are fixable, but if you don't do the research, it'll only end in tears. bottom line: well, they say FD ownership is a weird combination of pure joy and paranoid schizophrenia - and I have to agree! But the potential is undoubted - 1250kg and 255-300hp stock. Mid-low 13s stock (a touch higher in the oz-spec models, but very easily remedied). A proven 10sec 400m on stock engine/turbo, 11s with basic mods - definite weapon, and looks good too

nice one dave - first time I've seen an accord wagon that didn't have chrome wheels and some sort of neon attachment I just wandered outside and took a couple of pics of the FD, to make up for the crap one I posted earlier:

another chain is garage-off

In related news, went to ride my bike last night - stolen! bastards

I'm gonna disagree slightly - '-chan' is attached to just about anyone by teenage girls (or those who act like teenagers), usually combined with the 'cutsie' tone. The same girls are just as likely to use 'ore' or 'boku' as they are 'atashi'. sempai is something that is used in many aspects of society (arts, sports, work, etc), but first encountered and perpetuated at school-level - most often in school clubs - the sempai will be the older student who shows the younger students 'the ropes', tutors them, bosses them around, and so on troy summed up 'kun' very well -ku I haven't heard myself

...inferred because a postcode check brought up a sounan city in kanagawa

it's not a prefectural plate - it's most likely a city - could be 'sounan', but that's just a guess from the kanji. Kanagawa ken maybe? (adjacent (west) to tokyo)

a typhoon? really???

the implication was that only the first digit was of importance (though I'm assuming the number of digits, ie: 50 vs 500 would (?) also be a factor)

as for the 5xx etc numbers - I asked that question at the dealership - was told that only the number of digits and the first digit are important - and that you could, in fact, choose the other digits if you liked it was a 50:50 japanese/english conversation - it sounded a bit weird to me, so not sure if something was lost in translation

australian license plates are a combination of letters and numbers so are japanese plates

rb20e powa! I'd have people come and I'd lend them the car and they'd think it was great (power-wise). haha, but it actually wasn't as bad in reality, as it is on paper (relatively speaking). The other odd thing is people would see me in the FD, say nothing, then a week later see me in the r33 and go "wow, nice car" (happened a few times). I guess that's the appeal of the skyline. I don't miss it - but it was a fantastic car, never missed a beat (and I never looked after it at all). Still can't get over seeing it in the lot looking so good.

I'm officially in shock!! I do a little work on the side (kids eikaiwa) for the dealership where I buy my cars - and I spotted this, my old r33 GTS, aka 'the slug' It was a 20man trade in with the forester - and was advertised on the lot for 20man Then I see it today (after hearing that it was sold several weeks ago), in the dealership garage - with a new 'pimp tint' and a very sexy set of rims I couldn't believe that someone actually turned the slug into a damn pretty car!! half of me is thinking 'wow, I didn't know the old beater had it in her'... the other half is thinking 'wow, who would have done that...' haha

1. check the links page for the exact date of TAS (probably in the TAS thread too) - it's usually around the middle of jan. 2. I think we might have discussed that already too 3. I'm hoping to be in oz at the time! (give me the summer any day!) 4. Tim tams are widely available. Never seen BBQ shapes - though japanese would probably prefer them if they were in mayonaise, seaweed, curry, squid, prawn or other such flavours

just a little snapshot to finish off: a pretty typical view around here - we live amongst a sea of ricefields. added this one with a touch of sadness - it's harvest time, so these beautiful wavy fields of almost fluorescent green (which have long turned straw yellow) are rapidly being replaced by stripped mud fields... and, I guess, it won't be too long before the blanket of white snow arrives to provide another aspect of life in japan...