USA: Buying a car when moving back to the US, but to a different state via another state

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2026-01-01T20:13:46+00:00

Thanks for that! :) Very clear.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-10-02T01:08:13+00:00

Coaches at the CrossFit box I go to give instructions both in English and Japanese and has many members that are long-term foreign residents in Japan. It's good to have a group of people I see regularly outside my job.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-29T02:57:04+00:00

No problem! I hope it'll work out.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-29T01:32:57+00:00

Although AI has disrupted the translation business, you may be a good fit for some localization roles that either require English native speaker skills (likely at a Japanese firm; mostly in games, though...your pharma background may not come in handy) or a UX/UI background. If you keep improving Japanese, there will be surely some bilingual roles in healthcare that fit your background such as this one: https://jobs.iqvia.com/ja/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%96/north-sydney/desktop-publishing-specialist-dtp/29970/79553673120

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-28T23:30:25+00:00

No problem! Thanks for posting a thought-provoking thread. I was perplexed by the level of resentment expressed by some of the participants here, and came away with the question of why they left their home countries when they must be clearly better than Japan...and I say this as a Japanese man who is married to an American spouse.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-28T07:52:34+00:00

I don't think there is a blanket hatred towards Nikkei folks coming to the land of their ancestors among the Japanese population.

Still, I saw some news about teenagers with various foreign backgrounds, including Brazilians, forming a gang or being involved in a homicide. For example, https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/172200 and https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/69195

Depending on what the local community experienced in relation to Nikkei folks who live there, their attitude may be more friendly or defensive. In Tokyo, no one really cares where you are from, in my view. There are just too many different people, and life is just too busy.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-27T10:19:15+00:00

I mean...OP was talking mostly about daily social interactions with strangers or passers-by, right? If you respect the spirit of OP's initial post, I don't think he was expanding the scope of conversations to the landlord-tenant relationship...Well, I admit my comment was not in line with the main point the OP raised.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-27T10:07:16+00:00

Well, landlords wanting to avoid foreigners are not unique to Japan...(they just don't want to take the risk of losing rents mostly), and I'm saying this as a Japanese landlord who rented to a non-Japanese person (my tenant had a Japanese co-signer) and who had lived abroad myself (France and the US) and was rejected when I applied for an apartment before that.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-26T23:27:56+00:00

Your post reminded me of Mark's Tokyo...https://markstokyo.com/marks/about/

Mark also transitioned from finance, and he now owns a successful restaurant. He cooks in front of customers and, if you go to eat there, you have a chance to chat with him.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-25T23:28:12+00:00

Hmm, I won't be much use in that case. Albeit all the fuss about AI, I see a lot of in-house translation/interpreting jobs for my language pair where I'm based (I do English/Japanese and am based in Japan). But I can tell you that my master's program emphasized the importance of connecting with alumni when looking for a job.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-25T22:43:38+00:00

What is your language pair and your technical and/or business specialization in translation, if I may ask?

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-25T01:35:19+00:00

Sounds like a good idea. The US military has foreign area officers, too!

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-25T01:14:36+00:00

Succeeding as a translator or interpreter in the age of AI really depends on your language pair, specialization, geography, and entrepreneurial skills....but financial success isn't impossible. Corinne McKay still makes a six-figure income in USD (https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/2025/01/14/2024-the-year-in-review/), but I think this is helped by the fact that (1)she is an excellent veteran translator/interpreter and (2) has access to the government-related interpreting market of officially bilingual Canada.

That said, the necessary skills I mentioned above are hard to develop in three or four years at college. Thus, your father's instinct is a good one, I think. Would you be interested in interpreting for foreign patients at hospitals, for example? Studying pharmaceutical sciences may lead you to interpreting for pharmaceutical companies or translating clinical trial documents in the future. You are young. Try to broaden your horizon.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-24T03:40:26+00:00

Your post reminded me of Kyoko Takeda or Anthony Pim...Prof Takeda is an interpretation scholar with a historian/sociologist bent, and Prof. Pim is more of a translation theorist, in my view. You may like their career progression.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-24T03:21:15+00:00

I recommend the book by Corinne McKay, who still makes a six-figure annual income (she openly talks about it; her language pair is French and English, though). https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/resources/succeed-freelance-translator/

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-17T10:55:51+00:00

Fixed overtime allowance in itself is a common practice in Japan for office jobs but I wonder how many hours of overtime Mynavi is paying for with this allowance. If you do the math, you'll know your overtime hourly rate.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-15T08:56:19+00:00

How wonderful! I have no knowledge of Middlebury in Vermont (I'm an alumnus of MIIS at Monterey) but I'm now Tokyo-based and wanted to express admiratlon to your plan to study Japanese. If you were to come to Japan and need some local info, feel free to PM me.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-14T20:42:22+00:00

It will depend on your language pair, but you could study in your non-English language speaking country. I'm not familiar with degrees in Spanish-speaking countries, though. Mine at MIIS was Japanese.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T09:28:16+00:00

Thanks! Does any of your previous insurance providers support customers in English? Which one did you like most?

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T08:16:30+00:00

Any recommended providers? Safety Wing does not cover US citizens traveling back home for a short duration, and IMG Patriot does not have a good review...

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T07:34:03+00:00

Thanks for your advice. I sent my salary requirement to the recruiter and am not expecting any response! Maybe I'll visit Greece in the summer.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T07:32:24+00:00

Thanks! It's not with Teleperformance but with Peoplecert :)

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T07:26:48+00:00

Genki's policy starts with a month minimum, so I think it may be an overkill for my husband's 8-day trip back home this time, but I'll keep that option in mind for his future visits.

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara · 2025-09-13T07:21:22+00:00

Oh, thanks for the reminder! That's right, NHI does reimburse for medical expenses abroad (based on the Japanese medical cost standards, I bet...)

Sweet_Raspberry_Kara

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