Hello from Japan

[TripleR]

Welcome to TBN and thank you for your service. Yes, there is statistically higher crime rate in the US than in some other places, but far from a fortress society. I am retired criminal justice and my state has the second highest number of meth labs in the country, but it doesn't affect our way of life. My son's home plan includes a secure room which I see as a pretty good idea for several reasons, we live in tornado alley, provides increased security from thefts and a good place for a gun safe, personal security in the event however statistically low of a home invasion. I didn't incorporate one into my home, but see nothing wrong with them.

There are lots of good, safe places to live in the US and your idea of a small plot of land is the dream of many, six individuals have done just that on our county road in about a three mile stretch and I am sure there will be more.

Good luck finding a place which suits your family.

 

[wade23454]

Japan doesn't have the diversity of people to have the cultural problems that come with it. I'm sure they have their bad peeps too, but in a more organized situation. Austin is very crowded and has some of the worst traffic here stateside. Could your expertise be used in the oil field per chance? If so, you could live within a 100 miles from Austin and be in the "oil patch", and be in a small community to raise your kiddos. Kind of why I decided to live here in Giddings. 45 miles east of Austin. We don't have the gang problems that bigger cities do. Not saying it's perfect, but pretty good. And we are diversified. My kids are 8,6, and 3. The middle child has some learning difficulties and one of the people in our school system is Japanese. I believe she commutes from Austin. She really impressed me, coming here to educate and work all on her on, with no family support and having to learn english.



Our church's youth pastor and his wife (from Wisconsin) lived in Japan for a few years and he taught English at a school over there. He is fascinated with all things Japanese. He speaks the language a bit and has gone to Austin on some Sundays to help at the church over there. They freaked out when he started talking Japanese to them.

I think my expertise will partially cross into the oil field. I know the money is there, but don't know if I want all my other experience and certification to lapse while the oil field is booming only to be stuck holding the bag when the boom is over. I will probably stick with power plant operation or inspection. Your place in Texas sounds nice....A small town that you can commute to Austin from, if needed. I think my wife would go for that. We've definitely been looking at houses (online) between Dallas and San Antonio and even Houston.

 

[Wagtail]

I am a big fan of guns, and I have my share in storage in the states, but I've been without since I came to japan, and society over here seems better off without. I'm not saying I support gun control, far from it, but it's gotten a little out of hand in the states. I looked into the expatriation in Australia thing, and it looks like I could retire from the US military, and join the Aussie Navy doing a similar job. I don't think my body can take another 20 years of deployments and ridiculous overtime, so I'll have to pass on that deal. All in all, I'm ready to reintegrate into the states, and thanks for the info about Austin and the Japanese population. My wife looks into the things regularly, and I think she mentioned something about Austin because of the Japanese population. Her eyes did light up when I mentioned Australia though, and I think they have a pretty decent Japanese population as well.

G'day Mate (and others on this thread). I certainly don't want to turn this thread into a "Australia vs. U.S." discussion.

The Military transfer option is just one way of coming to Aus. Another way is to investigate if an Aussie company will sponsor you due to your skills. You mentioned, Wade, boiler inspections... perhaps something in to power generation field. Whilst in Japan you can visit an Aussie consulate, the embassy itself, (websites?) or recruiting organisations for options.

In any case, your US Military pension will not be taxed by Australia.

By the way, we have guns and an avid hunting 'community' here. Especially wild hogs, kangaroos, ducks and there are areas that have feral deer that need culling. It's not a problem getting a licence, especially in a rural environment, for pest control such as roos, hogs & snakes. There are heaps of shooting ranges. On the flip side, there are no dangerous preditors such as bears, wolves, cougars, etc... that are out to get you. (mind you, as we jokingly say, everthing ELSE is out to kill you :laughing

 

[wade23454]

Welcome to TBN and thank you for your service. Yes, there is statistically higher crime rate in the US than in some other places, but far from a fortress society. I am retired criminal justice and my state has the second highest number of meth labs in the country, but it doesn't affect our way of life. My son's home plan includes a secure room which I see as a pretty good idea for several reasons, we live in tornado alley, provides increased security from thefts and a good place for a gun safe, personal security in the event however statistically low of a home invasion. I didn't incorporate one into my home, but see nothing wrong with them.

There are lots of good, safe places to live in the US and your idea of a small plot of land is the dream of many, six individuals have done just that on our county road in about a three mile stretch and I am sure there will be more.

Good luck finding a place which suits your family.

Thank you TripleR. I think I'm as paranoid as anyone that spent the last ten years in japan, lol. My idea of a safe room will be a plywood lined closet with a steel reinforced door frame and a solid core door with deadbolts. My mom lives in Moore, Oklahoma, and the last big tornado that went through was close enough to remove some of her shingles, and you can see the devastation path from her back yard. She had a storm shelter installed in the concrete floor of her garage, and if I move to tornado alley, I will do the same thing. One of my good redneck friends was building a house a few years ago and I asked why he didn't just reinforce a closet or bathroom to use for a storm shelter. he said he thought about it, but wasn't sure how thick the walls would have to be to withstand a large piece of farm machinery flying through the air at 120 mph. So he installed an inground shelter as well. I lived in Oklahoma for 18 years before joining the navy and saw tornadoes do some pretty crazy stuff.

 

[Circle W]

It's not to far from Morrison actually. If you head east down highway 412 from Stillwater, it's just off the Pawnee exit. I graduated from Pawnee and am about to graduate from OSU now.

I'm pretty sure my dad went to elementary school on Morrison as well

 

[wade23454]

G'day Mate (and others on this thread). I certainly don't want to turn this thread into a "Australia vs. U.S." discussion.

The Military transfer option is just one way of coming to Aus. Another way is to investigate if an Aussie company will sponsor you due to your skills. You mentioned, Wade, boiler inspections... perhaps something in to power generation field. Whilst in Japan you can visit an Aussie consulate, the embassy itself, (websites?) or recruiting organisations for options.

In any case, your US Military pension will not be taxed by Australia.

By the way, we have guns and an avid hunting 'community' here. Especially wild hogs, kangaroos, ducks and there are areas that have feral deer that need culling. It's not a problem getting a licence, especially in a rural environment, for pest control such as roos, hogs & snakes. There are heaps of shooting ranges. On the flip side, there are no dangerous preditors such as bears, wolves, cougars, etc... that are out to get you. (mind you, as we jokingly say, everthing ELSE is out to kill you :laughing

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The most appealing thing to me about Australia (other than the wide open spaces and weather) is the economy. I have a vision of what would happen in the US if the economy collapsed. I don't think it would be a pretty sight in a city like Los Angeles. I'm not sure how much more self serving politics my country can endure.

I did a lot of reading on the Aussie expat website the other day, and there are some definite pros and cons to living there. I've been there quite a few times on Navy business (Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville), and know it's a place I would want to live, but it is expensive to travel to and from there, the cost of living is a bit high, and it would be an expensive mistake if I had second thoughts and wanted to leave.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." It takes on a different meaning when I have a wife and three kids to worry about!

 

[wade23454]

I'm pretty sure my dad went to elementary school on Morrison as well

You'll have tell me your last name. My father and I graduated from Morrison.

 

[Wagtail]

I did a lot of reading on the Aussie expat website the other day, and there are some definite pros and cons to living there. I've been there quite a few times on Navy business (Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville), and know it's a place I would want to live, but it is expensive to travel to and from there, the cost of living is a bit high, and it would be an expensive mistake if I had second thoughts and wanted to leave.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." It takes on a different meaning when I have a wife and three kids to worry about!

All true, Mate. The cost of living is somewhat due to a small population living a first world lifestyle. It can be an expensive mistake if you had second thoughts. As to travelling back/forth to the "old country"... well, you just 'cop' that (Aussie-ism for 'accept the responsibility'). You're going to have to cop trips back to Japan IOT visit the wifes family as it is.

As to "the road less travelled by", that's what I did when moving to Aus. Of course I did that too when I was 17 and joined the Navy. It takes a different mind-set to strike off into the world outside of where you grew up... the vast majority of people in this world live within an hours travel of their family/home-town.

Mind you, you wouldn't have met your wife and had your 3 children with her if you'd stayed in OK. So there's that. It is easier for me to say this as I'm a single bloke, but one surrounded by good friends.