- 18 Nov 2013
- 23
- 3
Hi, everyone.
I don't really know a lot about Japanese people. I've heard that in general, they don't appreciate foreigners taking much interest in them, and would prefer to be left alone, so I generally respect that. But it seems that given the nature of forums like this, I may find people who feel differently.
My interest in products of Japanese origin started with video games. Most of the American games I could find just involved shooting aliens or something, which I didn't like. But games like Pokémon or Final Fantasy involved more strategy, building up your characters over time, a clearer storyline, etc. I just found them a lot more interesting.
It's not that I'm exclusively interested in Japanese stuff or anything, but I do often find that something I've been drawn to over and over again is actually of Japanese origin, and I'm not really sure why. I feel that perhaps they express or deal with emotions and perspectives that are generally ignored in our culture, and stand out for that reason.
Anyway, perhaps I should talk about myself now. I love reading, and I learned to read at age 3. As a child, my favorite television programs were documentaries. I've always been fascinated by computers. I'm generally seen as eccentric and high-strung.
I'm not very proud of how my life has gone thus far, though. While I did well in High School, I really lost my way after that. I was very confused about what was expected of me, and how to go about achieving it. Everyone just seemed to expect me to find all the answers inside myself, and I failed. I was pulled in several directions. Some people told me I should go to college.
My Dad said college was a waste of money if I didn't already know what I wanted to do, and told me to come work for him. So I did, but while I was working for him, I wasn't very happy. He would rarely tell me what to do, but always found fault with some aspect of my work whenever I was asked to do something. A lot of times, he would even go out of his way to assign me tasks that he knew I was incapable of, just to point out my weaknesses. He seemed to enjoy it a little too much. This embarrassment was always very public, and it wasn't unusual for him to tell embarrassing stories about me over lunch. His criticism of our work performance always followed us home, and there was hardly anything my co-workers didn't know about my home life.
However, his company fell apart a couple years ago, and I ended up back with my Mother. I kept submitting applications trying to find work, but none of the companies seemed interested in my High School diploma, and they didn't want to count my experience working for my Dad because we were related. I never got any feedback on any application I submitted, except one. I was briefly hired as an overnight stocker at Wal-Mart. However, they rushed me to do my job very quickly from day one, and asked me to lift something I wasn't physically capable of lifting. I didn't stay there because I felt my health was in danger.
I spent about a year doing volunteer work at a hospital. It was actually fairly nice, mostly data entry, carrying documents around, fixing people's computers, etc. I was actually only supposed to work one day a week, but for a while they basically had me doing their jobs for them. I liked that because it made me feel useful for once, although it wasn't actually getting me anywhere.
People have a low opinion of me because I'm unemployed and don't have a college degree. A lot of people have told my Mom that she should throw me out on the streets because I'm over 18 and not paying her rent or contributing to the household financially, but she won't do that. Some people actually won't have anything to do with me for that reason, and literally refuse to acknowledge my presence in a room. They won't respond to me saying hello or anything. The only way I know they're aware of me at all, is that other people tell me I was complained about to them in private, and that it was related to this. This isn't extremely common, but it happens way more often than I'd like to admit.
Anyway, I'm now trying to go to college for a Computer Science degree, and I really hope that it helps me find some kind of job. I'm particularly interested in that field, partly because I have some natural talent there, and partly because it seems like people in that kind of work understand me a little better than most other people.
That was probably a lot to dump in an introduction, but I felt it was the best way for people to get an idea of who I am.
I don't really know a lot about Japanese people. I've heard that in general, they don't appreciate foreigners taking much interest in them, and would prefer to be left alone, so I generally respect that. But it seems that given the nature of forums like this, I may find people who feel differently.
My interest in products of Japanese origin started with video games. Most of the American games I could find just involved shooting aliens or something, which I didn't like. But games like Pokémon or Final Fantasy involved more strategy, building up your characters over time, a clearer storyline, etc. I just found them a lot more interesting.
It's not that I'm exclusively interested in Japanese stuff or anything, but I do often find that something I've been drawn to over and over again is actually of Japanese origin, and I'm not really sure why. I feel that perhaps they express or deal with emotions and perspectives that are generally ignored in our culture, and stand out for that reason.
Anyway, perhaps I should talk about myself now. I love reading, and I learned to read at age 3. As a child, my favorite television programs were documentaries. I've always been fascinated by computers. I'm generally seen as eccentric and high-strung.
I'm not very proud of how my life has gone thus far, though. While I did well in High School, I really lost my way after that. I was very confused about what was expected of me, and how to go about achieving it. Everyone just seemed to expect me to find all the answers inside myself, and I failed. I was pulled in several directions. Some people told me I should go to college.
My Dad said college was a waste of money if I didn't already know what I wanted to do, and told me to come work for him. So I did, but while I was working for him, I wasn't very happy. He would rarely tell me what to do, but always found fault with some aspect of my work whenever I was asked to do something. A lot of times, he would even go out of his way to assign me tasks that he knew I was incapable of, just to point out my weaknesses. He seemed to enjoy it a little too much. This embarrassment was always very public, and it wasn't unusual for him to tell embarrassing stories about me over lunch. His criticism of our work performance always followed us home, and there was hardly anything my co-workers didn't know about my home life.
However, his company fell apart a couple years ago, and I ended up back with my Mother. I kept submitting applications trying to find work, but none of the companies seemed interested in my High School diploma, and they didn't want to count my experience working for my Dad because we were related. I never got any feedback on any application I submitted, except one. I was briefly hired as an overnight stocker at Wal-Mart. However, they rushed me to do my job very quickly from day one, and asked me to lift something I wasn't physically capable of lifting. I didn't stay there because I felt my health was in danger.
I spent about a year doing volunteer work at a hospital. It was actually fairly nice, mostly data entry, carrying documents around, fixing people's computers, etc. I was actually only supposed to work one day a week, but for a while they basically had me doing their jobs for them. I liked that because it made me feel useful for once, although it wasn't actually getting me anywhere.
People have a low opinion of me because I'm unemployed and don't have a college degree. A lot of people have told my Mom that she should throw me out on the streets because I'm over 18 and not paying her rent or contributing to the household financially, but she won't do that. Some people actually won't have anything to do with me for that reason, and literally refuse to acknowledge my presence in a room. They won't respond to me saying hello or anything. The only way I know they're aware of me at all, is that other people tell me I was complained about to them in private, and that it was related to this. This isn't extremely common, but it happens way more often than I'd like to admit.
Anyway, I'm now trying to go to college for a Computer Science degree, and I really hope that it helps me find some kind of job. I'm particularly interested in that field, partly because I have some natural talent there, and partly because it seems like people in that kind of work understand me a little better than most other people.
That was probably a lot to dump in an introduction, but I felt it was the best way for people to get an idea of who I am.
