Life in Japan, a reply
I'm going to leave this entry open to anyone, since it's a reply to a friend's blog about living in Japan. This isnt an argument or a rebuttal or whatever. It's just what came to mind when I read the orignal.
First off, I've been in Japan for over 9 years. I have Permanent Residency. I'm not a Japan-basher, but I'm not one of those people who thinks Japan is some kind of wonderland. I USED to be like that. I was "into" Japan before it became cool, back when some people still couldnt tell the difference between Japan and China (really). But anyone who thinks that Japan is so great is either a newbie or is a "charisma man" (a guy who is considered a loser back home but comes to Japan and gets a ton of girls).
Living in a foreign country is means living with constant stress. You might not notice it all the time, but it's there, sitting on your shoulders and weighing you down. This burden comes mainly from two things: language and lack of "diversity".
Even if you have "decent" language skills, it's a hard time. Imagine understanding only half of what's going on around you: everything from strangers' conversations to loudspeaker announcements to the daily news. How about not being able to read a newspaper without a dictionary? I love comedy but it's hard to have a good laugh because so much just goes over my head. A flier in my mailbox...is it trash or is it something I need to be aware of? I passed the JLPT level 2 (by pure luck!) and work in a job where I use Japanese every day, plus have a non-English-speaking husband...but I still cant understand everything. Things that a normal adult should be able to go for him/herself cant be done without help. This is a huge self-esteem downer.
"Diversity"... No matter what country you're in, people who are "different" get noticed: whether it's race, a physical disability, or just a weird hairstyle. It's natural. In my home town, nearly everyone was white. You see a black person on the street and, of course, you notice. BUT the difference between that and Japan is that in the US, you know it's wrong to stare or let the differences affect your judgement about that person. In Japan, they just stare or let their children stare. Also, I've heard there are NO racial discrimination laws here (why should there be? everyone living in Japan is Japanese, right? All the foregners go "home" eventually, right?). If you're white, you will probably experience positive "discrimination" but if you're not... But anyway, this noticability is also rather stressful. I wont go into small shops to look around because I feel like if I dont buy anything, the clerks will notice more than if I was Japanese. When I first came to Japan, I loved being "different", but now I just want to be like a turtle and pull my head into my shell whenever I go out.
Of course, there are other cultural causes for stress, which for me, include the following:
*"tatemae": which is pretty much lying to save face
*"ostrich syndrom": ignoring really important things like the dangers of nuclear power! Or even, a week or two ago, on the train a guy grabbed a little kid, yelled at him (something about being noisy), then threw him down on the floor. No one did anything. Not even ask the kid if he was OK. If I had been a bit closer, I definitely would have, but the train was too crowded for me to move. There were people closer who could have done something, but everyone just looked the other way and let some poor little boy get traumatized. So much for that "samurai" spirit, right?
There are things in Japan that I like. I like not needing a car to get around. I love my job (though this year has been alot less fun since my baby drains most of my energy away and not much is left for my job!). I like alot of minor things. But I dont really think of myself as "living in Japan". This is just the place I live. Alot of the things I like about Japan have already become "normal" so I dont really think about them.
So I guess I have two points:
One - living in a foreign country is stressful, so be prepared!
Two - Japan is full of crap...but so are most countries (just different kinds of crap).
First off, I've been in Japan for over 9 years. I have Permanent Residency. I'm not a Japan-basher, but I'm not one of those people who thinks Japan is some kind of wonderland. I USED to be like that. I was "into" Japan before it became cool, back when some people still couldnt tell the difference between Japan and China (really). But anyone who thinks that Japan is so great is either a newbie or is a "charisma man" (a guy who is considered a loser back home but comes to Japan and gets a ton of girls).
Living in a foreign country is means living with constant stress. You might not notice it all the time, but it's there, sitting on your shoulders and weighing you down. This burden comes mainly from two things: language and lack of "diversity".
Even if you have "decent" language skills, it's a hard time. Imagine understanding only half of what's going on around you: everything from strangers' conversations to loudspeaker announcements to the daily news. How about not being able to read a newspaper without a dictionary? I love comedy but it's hard to have a good laugh because so much just goes over my head. A flier in my mailbox...is it trash or is it something I need to be aware of? I passed the JLPT level 2 (by pure luck!) and work in a job where I use Japanese every day, plus have a non-English-speaking husband...but I still cant understand everything. Things that a normal adult should be able to go for him/herself cant be done without help. This is a huge self-esteem downer.
"Diversity"... No matter what country you're in, people who are "different" get noticed: whether it's race, a physical disability, or just a weird hairstyle. It's natural. In my home town, nearly everyone was white. You see a black person on the street and, of course, you notice. BUT the difference between that and Japan is that in the US, you know it's wrong to stare or let the differences affect your judgement about that person. In Japan, they just stare or let their children stare. Also, I've heard there are NO racial discrimination laws here (why should there be? everyone living in Japan is Japanese, right? All the foregners go "home" eventually, right?). If you're white, you will probably experience positive "discrimination" but if you're not... But anyway, this noticability is also rather stressful. I wont go into small shops to look around because I feel like if I dont buy anything, the clerks will notice more than if I was Japanese. When I first came to Japan, I loved being "different", but now I just want to be like a turtle and pull my head into my shell whenever I go out.
Of course, there are other cultural causes for stress, which for me, include the following:
*"tatemae": which is pretty much lying to save face
*"ostrich syndrom": ignoring really important things like the dangers of nuclear power! Or even, a week or two ago, on the train a guy grabbed a little kid, yelled at him (something about being noisy), then threw him down on the floor. No one did anything. Not even ask the kid if he was OK. If I had been a bit closer, I definitely would have, but the train was too crowded for me to move. There were people closer who could have done something, but everyone just looked the other way and let some poor little boy get traumatized. So much for that "samurai" spirit, right?
There are things in Japan that I like. I like not needing a car to get around. I love my job (though this year has been alot less fun since my baby drains most of my energy away and not much is left for my job!). I like alot of minor things. But I dont really think of myself as "living in Japan". This is just the place I live. Alot of the things I like about Japan have already become "normal" so I dont really think about them.
So I guess I have two points:
One - living in a foreign country is stressful, so be prepared!
Two - Japan is full of crap...but so are most countries (just different kinds of crap).