This is just a rant that I just need to write out, nothing personal for any of our members here.
One of the most irritating things about living in Japan used to be the Japanese people and their amazement about such basic things that any foreigner achieves. (such as food, utensils, language, etc.) Now, I have just come to accept that when I'm out in the countryside or meeting new people, it's just a fact of life here and that is not going to change.
Now, I find myself more irritated with some of the more cynical views of other 'non-Japanese' living in Japan. Outside of business dealings in a office environment, I have this knack for meeting some of the most cynical people living in and around Tokyo. These are the kind of people who obviously live in Japan (by their choice) but yet are so critical of everything that doesn't fit neatly in their little box.
There are a few different types of expats living here that fall into a few different categories. This is between fitting into society here or just simply living in an expat bubble that cannot be penetrated by anything that does not fit into their little world.
Admittedly, I have friends and business contacts that fill the spectrum from both ends. For today, I'm just exhausted from listening to some of these guys drone on about being here and how miserable they are. Instead of discussing new ideas and making progress, we circle back to how crappy things are for them.
Like any good businessman, I strive to find new ways to bring in revenue that will eventually help bring more financial independence to my life. Sometimes though, in order to achieve the goals I want, flesh must be pressed. Which brings us to another fork in the road, trust. It's been incredibly hard to find people that you can really depend on and trust. Whether it be a simple project or sharing a business idea, it's been difficult to find people that will commit to something. Or, simply be trusted with an idea that is in development, where assistance has been requested... but yet, that trust is betrayed.
This writing is not targeting one specific person or group of people, but just a general rant about some of the more negative, cynical people that do nothing more than just undermine someone's idea because they disagree (or maybe jealous?) with it.
TAG is a good example for trust issues. It's been very problematic to find people to trust to help run this site. We want to do more and expand, to provide a better end-user service. Obviously, Eliah and myself are the core operators with very strong support from Meiji (thank you sir) and of course the ever disappearing Karen. (To be more clear, people that we have spoken to about assisting with the site, were more focused on getting access to user data, to which we do not provide access to except 3 people.)
That concludes the Monday morning rant.
The nugget of advice for today: Step back and look at how you respond to people. Would you be viewed as being cynical or too self-centered?
