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The big move: Tokyo to Dallas.

yoyo5280

yoyo5280

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 24, 2007
1,910
0
Melbourne, Australia & Bay Area
Hey,

So in midseptember i'll be moving from Tokyo, Japan to Dallas, Texas and to be honest I am freaking out. I have grown to love Japan and when I heard I was moving to Texas I involuntarily spazzed (overstatement). I have to try to act like its okay, to make it easier for the rest family but I am seriously suffering from depression now.

Anyways, the point is I NEED ALL THE ADVICE I CAN GET! Any tokyoites who have left Japan? And Texans who want to help out a kid who only knows the Texas sterotype... please reply. I will probably be asking countless amounts of questions on daily life, culture, and how things roll.

Thanks so much!

-Omi
 

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If you want to blend in, you should get a big-ass gun and shoot a person with Downs Syndrome. I bet they'd love you. :)


:p
 
Heilage said:
If you want to blend in, you should get a big-ass gun and shoot a person with Downs Syndrome. I bet they'd love you. :)


:p
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OMG LO freakin L! I just fell out of my chair that was so funny!:D

Seriously though, I'd rather take a bullet than move to Texas and I live in Idaho.
 
My apologies :D.

But really. It's an adventure. Okay it's Dallas but its a whole new scenery. Where Tokyo is packed, Texas isn't (even if it is desert). Besides you're 15 so in a few years you'll be able to move out yourself and live anywhere you jolly well want!
 
Its not as bad as you're making it out to be. While I'm sure there's going to be a large culture difference between Tokyo and Dallas. Texas isn't all rednecks and guns. They even have indoor plumbing ;)

Seriously its like any large city, just more cowboy hats.

Instead of it depressing you, take it for what it is, a new experience to learn and grow. Discover something different and who knows you may grow to love some things in Dallas.
 
maflynn said:
Texas isn't all rednecks and guns. They even have indoor plumbing ;)
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How dare you destroy and mock my insensitive and short-sighted generalizations with your flamboyant and rude rationalism!? I will not stand for it!
 
Heilage said:
If you want to blend in, you should get a big-ass gun and shoot a person with Downs Syndrome. I bet they'd love you. :)


:p
Click to expand...
*really snoody and overdone laugh*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Texas had some bad parts, but Dallas and Houston are not that bad. I was recently in Houston and not to be raciest there where a lot of asian people so I'm sure you will able to find some people who came from Japan also.
 
Thanks raggedjimmi and maflynn for the great responses. You have already made me rethink this and sorta feel like a cow for being so...erm(thinking of word)...resistant? to this move.

You never know I may end up loving the state :)

I still feel really sad though, because I know that i'll never be able to take the train into the heart of a massive city alone and do whatever i please.

I'm also really really nervous at the culture clash... :s

And to everyone else with the humorous responses, your not helping my nerves but I sure am getting good laughs out of them! I hope I don't end up offending any Texans here :s

-Omi
 
You can always go to Austin for relief. :D

Dallas is a big metro area, so while you will still see the big pickups and other signs of Texas-ness, it is a decent city.

Are you moving for work? school? what exactly?
 
What part are you moving to?

I've never been to Texas, too afraid, but I hear parts of it are actually pretty cool - Austin, for instance.

Best of luck.
 
maflynn said:
Instead of it depressing you, take it for what it is, a new experience to learn and grow. Discover something different and who knows you may grow to love some things in Dallas.
Click to expand...

Agreed, while a big change it still could be a wonderful thing for you and your family. Good luck.
 
San Antonio here

Only passed through Dallas on the way here from Kentucky so don't know much about it except that it had water - which we don't have a lot of down this way. Just wanted to say "Welcome to Texas" and find out how Tokyo's doing these days.

Had a chance to stop in there for a couple of weeks on my way to Okinawa and had a great time. Did you get a chance to hang out at the New Sanno? Is it still the big gathering place that it used to be? I was in town long enough to go climb Fuji, party at the once upon a time Juliana's of Tokyo and visit the Dai Butsu/Shinto temples.

All I can say is I hope you enjoy Texas as much as I enjoyed Japan. Best assignment of my career!
 
Texas Stereo type is not what most of are. Most people do not drive big F150s and wear cowboy hats and so on.

I lived in Texas all my life. Houston for most of it. Dallas for over a year. They are both big cities and as such have the entire range of people in it. You have the yuppies, yes some of the typical stereo type Texans but mostly a bunch of normal people.

Things are a lot more spread out. 15 miles to get some where is normal and considered close.

But you are freaking out over it but really Dallas is a lot like any other big city in the US. Worse thing about Dallas I think will be the heat during the summer. Last year we had multiple days in a row where the high was over 110. But I will take 110 in Dallas over 95 in Houston (humidity).

Sum it up stop freaking out.
 
Texas is a great place! It's own little world down there. You will like Dallas if you go in with an open mind. The art scene in Dallas is quite vibrant and the live music scene is more diverse than non-Texans would have you believe. Dallas has its problems like any major metropolitan area anywhere does, but it also has a lot going for it. You will be stunned by the heat in the summer, and mid Spetember is still summer, but the countryside around Dallas is beautiful. The Texas Hill COuntry is a short hop from Dallas and it is truly beautiful. You will find teenagers in Dallas to be very similar to teenagers in Tokyo in their interests - cars, music and women ( for the guys); the difference being the type of cars, music and women. I think you will find it very interesting and a great adventure in your young life. Coming to the States from a foreign country at your age is a culture shock, but if you make the best of it it can also be a great adventure. It is obvious your English is excellent, so you don't have that barrier. Take it as an adventure and ignore all the posts that talk about the negative stereotypes that Texas has. Make up your own mind once your have been in Dallas for awhile. I am confident you will enjoy yourself if you allow yourself to develop your own opinions and ignore the carp you will see posted here about Dallas from people who have most likely never been there.:cool:
 
Dallas resident here...

Allright yoyo, feel free to pick my brain all you want. I've lived in the Dallas area since 2003. My first piece of advice would be to use Google Maps or something to actually look at the DFW Metroplex. DFW stands for Dallas - Fort Worth and in general it's called the Metroplex. You'll see that there are two major cities Dallas and Fort Worth. The Metroplex simply refers to everything around and in between these two major cities. For short people just call it the DFW or if you want to go slang it's the "DF Dub".

Anyhow, I say all of that to say find out exactly what part of the area you are moving to and I can give you more specific information if you would like. The cool thing about living here is that being such a large area you have a little bit of everything available to you no matter what your style or tastes.

And yes, it's HOT. Today's high is 97 F and that's a good thing. It could easily be in the 100+ this time of year. (Which reminds me I have to mow the lawn when I get home from work today :eek::mad::()

So, let me know how I can help you out as you make this major move across the world. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have or help in any way.
 
mscriv said:
My first piece of advice would be to use Google Maps or something to actually look at the DFW Metroplex ... Anyhow, I say all of that to say find out exactly what part of the area you are moving to and I can give you more specific information if you would like.
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Thanks for this piece of advice... My parents have been looking at the southlake area, don't know where it is accourding, but they are looking because of the schools. I think that my dad will be working in Plano I think... I have driven around southlake using Google Streetview and it was shockingly empty! I can see the benefits of that (a good nights sleep is one, I live on a main street here).
mscriv said:
So, let me know how I can help you out as you make this major move across the world. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have or help in any way.
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Thankyou. I'll be asking many :)
BanjoBanker said:
You will find teenagers in Dallas to be very similar to teenagers in Tokyo in their interests - cars, music and women ( for the guys); the difference being the type of cars, music and women.

I think you will find it very interesting and a great adventure in your young life. Coming to the States from a foreign country at your age is a culture shock, but if you make the best of it it can also be a great adventure. It is obvious your English is excellent, so you don't have that barrier. Take it as an adventure and ignore all the posts that talk about the negative stereotypes that Texas has.
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Hahah good to know, hmm American girls. :D
Yea, my english is better than my Japanese probably :) I have been to California, and Colorado before, (fell in love with Chipotle Mexican) and I think thats probably why i'ma little more nervous. California was quite a decent cityish place I suppose, but a bit scary. I hate LA airport. I loved the sun out in Denver, and I have many friends out there but its so empty. When I'm at those two places I really enjoy my self, but miss home you know?

Rodimus Prime said:
Texas Stereo type is not what most of are. Most people do not drive big F150s and wear cowboy hats and so on.
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Haha I spoke to my friends older sister who went to school out there, she told me that in Adeline it was like going back 40 years! That scared me, but then she was talking about the mannerisms. She said Texans are very friendly with the old southern charm. Thats good I suppose :)
MKSinSA said:
Just wanted to say "Welcome to Texas" and find out how Tokyo's doing these days.

Had a chance to stop in there for a couple of weeks on my way to Okinawa and had a great time. Did you get a chance to hang out at the New Sanno? Is it still the big gathering place that it used to be? I was in town long enough to go climb Fuji, party at the once upon a time Juliana's of Tokyo and visit the Dai Butsu/Shinto temples.

All I can say is I hope you enjoy Texas as much as I enjoyed Japan. Best assignment of my career!
Click to expand...
No I have never been to New Sanno, actually I don't know anyone who has! :) Wow, you have done a lot! Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks btw! :)


Thanks everyone, I'm really feeling better.


I'll keep everyone posted with my questions and concerns lol.


-Love Omi
 
I don't live in Southlake, but I'm not too far away and my cousin lives in the Grapevine-which is right next to Southlake.
If you are worried that it will be too rural-don't. Most of Denton-Collin Co. area is very suburban-slightly urban (depending where you are).

Also, Southlake and Plano tend to be very high income areas with excellent schools. Nearby Flower Mound, Highland Village, Gapevine,etc. are also nice areas.

In short Texas isn't that bad and isn't all cowboys and Guns. (Unless you're in the back woods... ;)) I hope your move to Texas goes well and that you don't have trouble adjusting. :apple:
 
yoyo5280 said:
My parents have been looking at the Southlake area.... I think that my dad will be working in Plano....

(fell in love with Chipotle Mexican).... She said Texans are very friendly with the old southern charm. Thats good I suppose :)
Click to expand...

Southlake is a very nice area and the schools are recognized as one of the best in the metroplex. There was an article in D magazine about it a few years ago. Pretty funny actually.

dmag907.jpg
Article here.

My wife loves going to Southlake and Grapevine for shopping. The "Southlake Town Square" shopping area is nice and it has an Apple Store. Link Grapevine has a huge mall called Grapevine Mills. Link And your love affair with "Chipotle" will be alive and well in the DFW. That restaurant is everywhere including Southlake. Link

As far as our "southern charm" Texans in general are very polite, but they're just like anyone else with a fair share of rude folks mixed in. I think one of the biggest things you will have to adjust to is how spread out the area is and the way transportation works. Public transportation is very different with some areas not even having it. Most people drive everywhere and traffic can be brutal depending on where you are at certain times of day.

Hope this info helps.
 
Just thought I would throw it out there, we arrived today!

People are sooo incredibly nice, and...well... fairly large! lol

So far my mom is hating it... she keeps saying she hates the suberbs etc, but so far I think I have been taking it fairly well. woohoo.

To be honest, I do feel that America is really behind in tech,culture, and design. But we have not been in downtown dallas/southlake yet...you never know.

Missing Tokyo loads, but up for the adventure. Still *****ting my self about school coming soon though...

Will keep intouch with questions :D

-Omi
 
Wirelessly posted (The Evil Device: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7C144 Safari/528.16)

Welcome to North America. Dallas won't be so bad, I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be
 
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