#America


Good pay
Bigger Houses
Free internet
Not an ethnostate
Nice/open people
Nice Nature
Public Respect (somewhat)
While the chances are low, shootings and police/ICE violence is not 0%
Universities, really good if not best (as an academic)
#China
Clean, Major cities are clean but more polluted and trashed than other two
Ethnostate, forever an outsider
Increasingly difficult internet.
Nice/open people
Safe Society
Universities, pretty mid to bad at best unless its top
#Japan
Cleanest
Ethnostate, forever an outsider, but not being stared at or random photos like in China
Free internet
Nice Nature
Public Trust
Public Respect
Safe Society
Universities, pretty mid to bad at best unless its top three


I feel forever trapped between these three countries with family, languages, culture, and religion. Very lost on which to pursue for my career. A recent trip to China has made me very much feel not China. I cannot stand the staring, photo taking making me feel like I’m a zoo animal, even more so for my child. But it is nice and pay can be decent. I also really like Chinese people and culture.


America has a lot of good, but I’m so sick of having to be stressed about its politics and the culture of violence. I do love the nature, individual freedom, and academic (tho the recent not being able to comment on Israel has been insane).


Japan is great on the surface but subtle racism, bad pay, and trump-copy cat prime minister is concerning. Committing to China or especially Japan over the US is fucking my family financially if we want to visit family in the other two countries.

You can actively work on countering the negative effects, so I’d start with just a list of positives. If all the negatives were gone, which country would you choose?


Let’s suppose it’s the USA. You’re uncomfortable there, because of violence and ICE scares, but everything else is fine. You can look at local crime rates, especially gun violence. Find an area/school where these statistics are near-zero. You can mitigate the ICE risk by retaining an immigration lawyer and making sure that all your paperwork is in order.


Make the same type of list with Japan and China. What would you need to do to mitigate the xenophobia/ethnic differences? (Are you already fluent in both languages?)


You also mention finances, which should probably be near the top of the list. Figure out a realistic cost for your entire time at school, then work with your family to understand what’s doable and what stretches them past the breaking point.