Where should indense go next?

About a year and a half ago, I posted on here asking for advice on whether or not to take a job offer in Amsterdam. I received lots of great input - especially from our Dutch friend Ronald.
Well, I've been offered my next assignment which will be somewhere in Asia Pac. They are basically allowing me to choose my location which is why I am turning to our world travellers here. Assume that the cost of living will be equalized in my salary and that the jobs themselves are all the same.
I can choose from Tokyo, Sidney, Singapore or Hong Kong. I'm leaning towards Tokyo for the sheer Tokyo-ness of it but it's the only location where language might be an issue. My contract will likely be for 2 years with a chance to re-up or relocate afterwards.

What do you think? Where would you go?

Of course the other option is to come home to Toronto (maybe if the Leafs were playing better).

Pretty cool poll. I have heard about westerners having serious problems in Tokyo, but not in Singapore or Hong Kong, due to the cultural and language divide.

What's your impression of Amsterdam after a year? And has it been a convenient home base for exploring more of Europe?

Hong Kong might be the best choice. It will also be easy to travel to all the big cities in the region while you're there and an excellent home base.

CDL.TO said:

What's your impression of Amsterdam after a year? And has it been a convenient home base for exploring more of Europe?

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Amsterdam has been interesting. If they could keep the English out, it would be great.
Amsterdam is a weird contrast between Norman Rockwell family life on the one hand and the sex and drugs lifestyle on the other. I don't really fit into either of those groups.

I was hoping to travel more but the only places that I've been outside of Holland are London, Brussels, Geneva and Barcelona. Most of my vacation time was used up entertaining visiting relatives. I was planning to be here for 2 years and was going to use next year's vacation to do more exploring. I will still be here until April 1st and I have Paris, Rome, Athens on my list of places I hope to visit before leaving.

Tokyo is fantastic. I've been twice, in the early and mid-90s. It has everything that people on this forum would appreciate: urbanity, great subway, great street life, incredible food, amazing shopping, and more. And it's probably the safest big city in the world.

I think language is less of an issue than you might think. Tons of people do the teach-English-in-Tokyo trip for a couple of years and go with no knowledge of the Japanese language. 90% of the Japanese population studies or has studied English. There are people who speak English all over. That doesn't mean that you will be able to find someone who speaks English at the moment you need them, and it doesn't mean you won't have some difficult experiences. But you'll make contact with people at work and elsewhere who can help you out. And there's an entire neighbourhood (Roppongi) for foreigners. If you're the type of person who is afraid to go outside because you might run into someone you can't communicate with, it's not for you (my sister met someone from Canada who had packed boxes of cereal in his suitcase because he knew he wouldn't be able to buy them there; he didn't last long). For someone who is comfortable with the idea of getting to know another culture, I don't imagine it will be hard.

Japanese is an intonation language like English, unlike Chinese languages which are all tone languages, so if you are going to learn a bit of the language during your stay, Japanese will be somewhat easier. (I tell people Japanese has more in common with English than it has with Chinese.)

Japanese also has two alphabets (plus the Chinese characters). The second alphabet, "katakana" (somewhat analogous to our upper-case alphabet), is used almost exclusively for borrowed words, the vast majority (probably 99%) of which are from English. If you take a little time to memorize katakana (46 letters), you can sound out words and in most cases figure out what an item is. I was amazed to find that I was able to get around Tokyo on my own, because although I can't even form a simple sentence in Japanese, I was able to read signs all over. Katakana is used throughout store signs and restaurant menus, so I was able to figure out what stores and restaurants were selling. And don't forget that most restaurants use plastic food displays to aid foreigners, so you can often order food by pointing to things.

One important factor to consider: your race.
Sad to say, but Japan, being very insular and mono-cultural, still holds some very racist attitudes. I don't know anything about you, but if you're of African descent, you can expect to experience a fair bit of discrimination. If you're of east-Asian descent (like myself), you will experience some difficulty and the occasional snub in stores if you look as though you could be local but don't speak the language. If you're caucasian, people will expect that you're a foreigner and then half the battle is won; they won't expect you to be able to speak the language. And if you're caucasian and can speak even a few words of Japanese, they'll be hugely impressed.

Fascinating post, Build.

Yes, thanks Build. And I'm Whitey McWhite.

I know a smattering of Japanese and would be interested in learning more. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been completely unable to pick up any Dutch. Firstly, because I just can't pick out the sounds. Secondly, because I cannot make the required phlegmy sounds. Finally, because I haven't run into a single person here (except for tourists) who doesn't speak English. Even the people I know who are trying to learn Dutch, when they try to speak Dutch to a local, the locals will always switch to English. They like that you made the effort but they don't want to listen to you butcher their language.

What industry do you work in? And are they hiring?

Darkstar416 said:

What industry do you work in? And are they hiring?

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big soulless corporation. they are always hiring.

"Global Mobility" is the new corporate buzzword. I have no real marketable skills or talents. All I have is 9 years experience in the company and a Senior Vice President who is willing to talk to Senior Vice Presidents from other regions on my behalf. In fact, she put my name in without my knowing and I was approached with the offer. I didn't apply or interview. It's a little weird. I feel like I've been mistaken for someone else. Someone with qualifications.

Seriously, if anyone is working in a big company and wants to try another location for a while, make sure that your manager knows. Corporations always go on these fads and you have to take advantage.

Thought that I would provide an update.

After carefully weighing the opinions of the 10 strangers who voted in an online poll (Thank you everyone), I will be heading off to Tokyo in mid-April.

I will be sure to post photos.

indense said:

Yes, thanks Build. And I'm Whitey McWhite.

I know a smattering of Japanese and would be interested in learning more. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been completely unable to pick up any Dutch. Firstly, because I just can't pick out the sounds. Secondly, because I cannot make the required phlegmy sounds. Finally, because I haven't run into a single person here (except for tourists) who doesn't speak English. Even the people I know who are trying to learn Dutch, when they try to speak Dutch to a local, the locals will always switch to English. They like that you made the effort but they don't want to listen to you butcher their language.

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Not only that, but they enjoy working on their english. Dutch is challenging. I've heard it all my life (though my parents mostly spoke english), and I have a hard time with words like gefeliciteerd. That g sound is tough. A lot of the words have obvious similarities to french or english (or german, but I don't know german), which helps.

The Netherlands is odd in that respect... probably one of the most english-friendly non-anglophone countries in the world to visit.