I'm 23 a foreigner living and working in Japan. I work in a restaurant. I'm living here for like a year now. And i have been struggling with a work place situation. There is Japanese senior at my work place. She's 47 years old, single but have a kid. She treats me differently than any other coworker. She have given me gifts toys of the shows i watch. She put them in my bag without me even knowing about it. She even took me out to lunch and took me to watch a festival. She even gets super close while working and while walking outside too. She even playfully hit me when i make jokes. Always teases me about girlfriends. My coworkers teases me about us dating and gave me tea in her cup multiple times. And the confusing part is, she is very strict with me at work always making me do stuff and nitpicking everything i do and reports my mistakes to the manager. She only does this for me and no one else. I don't understand why. She purposefully give me soo many tasks to do in a small amount of time that makes me cut in to my break time. I work at least 10 - 13 hours a day and our break time is 1 hour. She once gave me a task that made me lose 15 mins of my break time. She also tells me on some days that it's Ok to come late to work and she will cover for me. She only do this for me and no one else. She's being nice while giving me insane pressure at work. How should I deal with this situation?

I’ve always struggled with washing dishes right away and sometimes they pile up in the sink. I usually end up washing them, but my husband hates this. A couple of weeks ago he said that if he ever finds another dish in the sink, he’s throwing it away in the garbage. There has not been a single dish in the sink. The rules have since changed to, if he sees any dish any where in the house unattended, it goes in the trash. I forgot a water cup on the coffee table the other day that’s now at the dump. I used a knife from the $100 knife set to open a package and forgot it out, it’s now gone. Is my anger unreasonable or does this situation indeed feel childish?

I'm an ALT. The JHS that had me going to 6 classes a day stopped having me teach special education. They called the BoE and they agree with me. From now on the English teacher will be T1 and I will assist.

They wanted me to plan lessons outside work hours. I did it last year, but this year I got tired of it. Especially in this economy. I'm not paid enough for this.

I am still going to 6 classes every day I am at this school. But I won't be expected to have anything. I just show up. That hasn't changed.

It's a win. I hated planning at home, having to put together the materials in my free time, and carrying it around in my bag. No more special education T1!

Uns kostet das Dienstwagenprivileg 5 Mrd € im Jahr. Bei 2.5 Millionen Dienstwagen mit privater Nutzung sind das 2000€ pro Auto.

Währenddessen würden kostenlose Öffitickets ohne zusätzlichen Ausbau 150€ pro Person und mit Ausbau 250€ pro Person und Jahr kosten.

I was in Cambodia not too long ago heading through a bit of a remote area and I had never seen so many old white people in one place and I've been to the spa at public pools. They all seem to have Asian wives or girlfriends or whatever which I never would've expected. Chatting to some folks there, it's super common for older white people to come to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia etc to just settle down and relax. Is it just the women that draw these men? Why not women from another part of the world or culture? It wasn't even old men in general, just white ones lol.

I've always had quite a bit of discharge/wetness ever since I entered puberty and after some point I could simply not go without panty liners. Jeans/leggings/sweats would be wet and after couple of times of peeing+discharge+sweat during the day would make whatever pants I'm wearing have a smell. Not a bad or fishy one, but i could smell myself. The only time i'm truly fresh to wear jeans or leggings without panty liners is only if im fresh out the shower and that freshness only lasts for a little bit before it turns into dampness again. But other than that if we're talking going to work or uni the whole day where i'd use the bathroom frequently there's no way i'd wear leggings without panty liner, it would eventually have a musky/slightly pissy smell... I mean you pee frequently during the day and the underwear is sitting directly on your crotch with no barrier, i would assume no panty liner would make it have a smell... is it just me or is it normal?

Here's the thing... lying about where you went to college is not the same as lying about why you left your last job. An interview isn't an exam, it's a negotiation. The company wants to buy your skills. So stop treating it like you owe them something, and start treating it like the transaction it is.

I've eliminated candidates for things that genuinely didn't matter. If they'd just framed it differently, I'd have moved them forward without a second thought. So here's what I'd tell you to bend the truth about:

1. How long you've been looking for work If it's been months, DONT SAY IT. Every recruiter I know (and I mean every single one) will immediately think "why hasn't anyone hired this person yet?" It's not fair, but it's how our brains work. Say you recently started your search and you're weighing a few options. You're choosing, not chasing.

2. How many places you're applying to Don't tell us you're spraying your CV everywhere. Even if you are. Say you're being selective, only going after roles where you're a strong fit. It doesn't have to be 100% true.... it just can't sound desperate.

3. How well you know the company I've had candidates who had no idea what the company even did. Honestly, it happens more than you'd think. But there's no excuse — spend 10 minutes on Google News before the call. Just enough to not get caught off guard when they ask why you want to work there.

4. Your achievements at your last job This is where almost EVERYONE fails. People list what they did instead of what they achieved, and that's exactly why they don't get called back. "Managed the social media accounts" means nothing. "Grew our audience by 40% in one quarter" gets you to the next round. Quantify everything. There are free tools that help you reframe your CV this way use them, because this one thing alone changes everything.

And above all: stop walking into interviews like the company is doing you a favor. They called you because they need someone with your exact skills. Walk in with that energy. You're not there to beg, you're there to decide if they're worth your time too.

I was astonished at the sheer brass neck on the old git. I got out and we had the following interaction:

Me: what are you doing?

Him: charging my car

Me: I'm using the charger

Him: the screen said you were at 60%, I'm at 4%

Me: and? You can wait

Him: I need to charge my car though

Me: and you can when I'm done

I took the charger head off him and resumed charging. He's sat in his car glaring at me. So I'm going to be here all day now. Someone send coffee

Hey all, I have 3 days to accept or deny my upgrade. I would love some advice for my situation. 

Essentially, I graduated from college 2.5 years ago and have been really struggling with the job market. I finally got a corporate job (literally last week), and I love the people, my boss, it’s a huge pay bump for me, and I’m really happy. I also have been applying and interviewing for literally 2 years, so I put a ton of effort into getting this job, and I’m proud of myself. 

At the same time, JET has been a dream of mine for years. I am part Japanese and would love to further connect with my culture and language by immersing myself in Japan. I also love traveling and stepping out of my comfort zone, and I think it would give me a lot of clarity. I have experience as a tutor/supervisor, so I get fulfillment from being a mentor. Another thing I am living in my hometown city and have lived there my whole life, and I yearn to move or live somewhere new (and regret not studying abroad). I think I can learn a lot from that (Btw, I am from a major US city, so there is a lot to do around). I would also love to leave the U.S. in its current state. 

Personally, I don’t see my career in education in the future, but I think I can learn a lot from JET. I am wondering if I should reject and gain more work experience, save more money, and reapply for JET in a few years. Would love to know if anyone has been accepted in the past and reapplied and got in! Or if this looks like a turn-off for them. 

Another random thing to note, my soul dog is 15 right now, and I don’t know if I could handle his passing when I am across the world with no close support. Part of me wants to apply later just so I can spend his last years with him. 

Do you think JET would be worth a major career and financial setback? Or should I reapply when I am in a more comfortable position? I also do not plan to have kids or be a homeowner, so I don’t see myself having a more difficult decision in the future. 

But part of me just feels unfulfilled with my life and feels like something is missing, and wondering if doing the JET program can help me with this? I still am unsure of what to do with my career, and maybe this could help? And what if it would be better to do while I’m young? 

Would appreciate it if any alums had similar situations or what you would do if you were me. 

I checked their gdp per capita, HDI etc. By most metric China's living standards are more similar to Mexico than they are to USA, Canada or Europe.

Yeah China has a huge total gdp, so it's powerful country overall on the global stage but that doesn't mean people there have same living standards as in the US or Europe.

Hello, I’m female and my boyfriend is Japanese. I have been struggling with my boyfriend. He does not let me have his phone nor meet his friends. I have met his mom and we are living together. I’m experiencing mixed signals and I don’t know if he’s really serious or he just stays because of the benefits.

I also don’t know if he is was married or not or divorced because he had a fiancé before and they had previous pre wedding photos. I also saw the girls license which was under his last name. He told me she just changed the name earlier because they planned on settling and getting married overseas. But the wedding did not occur and he said she paid a lot of money to change it back. I don’t know if it’s true or not that you could change your last name legally in Japan without getting married yet. He said they changed it lawfully because there was intention to marry or I don’t know what’s it called in Japan. He said I should just trust him but I feel like I’m trusting blindly.

We have talked about marriage, and he told me he wants to marry me. And as I said we live together but some signs are so vague for me and it is difficult to talk to him as well. Not all days are bad for us but it is difficult for me because I sometimes stay up at night wondering about these things.

Spellings, customs, the way they write the date... there are many curiosities about those strangers across the Atlantic that seem wrong us, or just leave us thinking why? But are there any definitely occasions where you think "We're wrong, they're right"? For bonus points, which difference angers you the most?

I'll go first. I prefer the American pronunciation of "lieutenant". It more accurately represents the number of times the letter F appears. My biggest annoyance is that we caved in and adopted their spelling of "sulphur" and their definition of "billion" as 10⁹ rather than 10¹².

So I'm a firefighter, and about 2 years ago, we got a call to a house for an ambulance assist, but we got there first, we walked in and there was 2 guys on the sofa passed out, we copped very fast it was a heroin overdose, so we needed narcan to reverse the affects of heroin, my colleague went out to the truck to get some, and me and another guy stayed, i noticed a wallet on the table full of money, soon as I had the chance I put it into my trousers pocket before anyone seen it, there was 2k in it..i feel kinda bad but we saved their life

I’ve been seeing news that visa renewal fees in Japan might increase to around 70,000 yen for a 5-year engineer visa.

For those working full-time in Japan, whether at a 日系 or 外資系, does your company usually pay for or subsidize visa renewal fees? Or is this normally something employees pay out of pocket themselves?

I think students often pay these fees themselves, but I’m especially curious about what is standard for working professionals in Japan.

My current visa will expire in mid-2027. In my home country, it’s common for companies to cover this kind of immigration or visa-related cost, so I had assumed it might be similar for full-time employees here too. But I honestly don’t know how it usually works in Japan, especially since I haven’t had to renew my work visa here before.

I don’t really mind paying myself, but before I ask my HR and embarrass myself, I wanted to know what the situation is like at other companies in Japan. Would really appreciate hearing how it works at your company.

Yesterday someone posted asking whether people said zee or zed. Some people argued that zee makes it easier to sing the ABC song because it rhymes with "v", but the way we sang it in school when I was a kid made it so it didn't matter that zed doesn't rhyme with "v". I'm talking about the end of the song, from "q".

I can't attach a link here, so I'll post one from sound cloud of me singing it on my ukulele in the comments. Is that how you sang it or did you sing it the more "recognised" way?

Edit: was able to post a link. Did nobody sing it the way I posted in the comments?

For context, Victoria mid 80s.

Hi all. So I've been preparing to apply for a home loan with my wife (Japanese). I also run my own music school and currently use a rental space. I'm planning to use one room of our future home as my new teaching space, however when I brought that up in our meeting today at MUFG, the staff brought the meeting to a screeching halt and mentioned this falls outside of the standard 住宅ローン criteria. We asked what would be the next logical step, but she said she didn't know, but that simply we wouldn't be eligible to apply for a standard home loan.

I did a bit of research on what could fit my plans, and I did find 店舗併用住宅のローン, but not sure if this fits what I should be looking at going after. Any help what could be the next logical step?