Move to Japan (in a hard situation)

Hello everybody, I was reading some of the messages in this forum from people who want to move to Japan and I was quite fascinated with the response from the community.

Well, I also would love to live in Japan but my situation is kind of different to those of most people who want to do the same thing.

I'm 18 years old, I was born in a South American country and came to the United States when I was almost 16 (I'm a legal resident, not citizenship). Because I came here without knowing any English, it took me a while to get used to. Last year, I finished Junior year (High School) in the state of Washington and started my senior year after that.

The problem that I have is the fact that I need to take 4 years of english in order to graduate. I was supossed to graduate this year, but I'm not going to be able to do it because I only took 2 years of English (since I came in 2006). Right now (since January) I had nothing to do because the teachers at my school told me that I have to wait to get into a technical college (in April) in order to take the rest of the english classes and a 2 year college degree.

Anyway, my point is that right now, I feel quite bad about myself. My life is not as glamorous as I hoped it would be before coming to the U.S, so I was thinking about going to Japan--right now.

What would I do? I don't know, but I plan to go there and try to find a job (can I do it in my current situation?) also study (can I get into a high school and receive a diploma?) and learn the language (I know zero Japanese, except for maybe a few words).

What do you guys think I should do. How much money do I need. Please, recommend me the best because I seriously don't know what to do with my life.

Thanks.

Spectre,

I am sorry to hear that you are feeling bad about yourself, but if you just came to Japan right now, it is not going to be any better than where you are now. Actually it will be far worse than where you are.

You don't know the language, so you will not be able to complete and get a diploma from a local high school here. You don't have a bachelor's degree, so you cannot find work. But before all that, you will be considered a minor here in Japan, so you cannot just come and set up any living here without your parents. Where would you live? Who is going to pay for housing? Who is going to pay for school?

Life can be tough, but in the States you do know the language already, and have the prospects of getting a 2-year college degree - so I recommend waiting till April, brush up on your English, and go on to study your course in your technical college. Good luck with everything.

I'm trying to figure out how in earth going to Japan and leaving America before completing your high school degree would help you? All I can say is that going to Japan, or any other country for that matter is not what you should even be considering right now. You make it sound as if two years is an eternity... it's not. You're just going to be two years behind when you finish college but when it's all said and done, there are so many 6th year, even 7th year college seniors that it's not going to make any difference at all whatsoever.

As for your specific questions:
1) You will not be able to find a legitimate job most likely other than in manual labor or in factories.
2) You will not qualify for a work visa so your best chance of going to Japan is as a student.
3) Doing high school in Japan is not a realistic possibility in your case unless you go to an international school. Also, I don't understand why you're willing to do three years of high school in Japan but not two years of college in America...
4) You probably know as good as anybody but learning the language, especially Japanese from scratch is not something that can be completed in a short time frame.

All I can say is: sit down with a counselor, come up with a long-term road map for yourself, and try to attempt any ridiculous plans such as going to another country just to avoid completing your current academic obligations. Good luck.

AK is right. Where you live doesn't make your life glamorous, but you can make your life glamorous if you take your time and complete your education. Nothing happens overnight. Be patient and believe in yourself.

Typo on the last paragraph:
DON'T try to attempt any ridiculous plans that would interfere with your current academic obligations.

What kind of glamorous life were you expecting in America? Did you get your expectations from Hollywood movies? And where are you getting your info about Japan? Anime?

Seriously, there's nothing wrong with wanting to move to Japan--even if it's for anime. However, you need a realistic game-plan. Moving here right now is the last thing you should do. Actually, you probably can't even get a tourist visa, so moving here is out of the question right now.

If you want to take the most common route (teaching English), you need to get a bachelor's degree. Start out in a community college and transfer to a university. The degree can be in anything.

And if you choose to be naturalized as an American, you'll be treated the same as a native-level English speaker. Otherwise, you might have a tougher time getting a job/visa.

That being said, you won't have a glamorous life teaching English in Japan.