Adapting to Japan
A fluently bilingual Japanese dude on an internet forum I frequent started a thread a while back about “adapting to Japan.” He had some very interesting ideas to consider on the subject- but I never added my two cents to the thread because at the time I hadn’t lived here yet.
It must be funny to think about the idea of a foreigner adapting to Japan if you're a Japanese. Because you're probably starting with this rich and complex tapestry of ideas and thoughts that you're continuously putting together in your mind, that contains a very nuanced and deep sense of whatever Japan "is," and from there whatever "adapting to it" is like. And then from there maybe you think about the foreigners who have or haven't adapted to Japan to whatever degree. And then you think further on to back when they were new to Japan and hadn't adapted at all yet, and what that process must have been like.
Of course when you're the foreigner then it happens in more or less the reverse order. Well, if you're foreigner coming here because of any sort of interest on your part, as opposed to by fate or happenstance, then it's quite true that you probably have some sort of idea of what Japan is and what it's like. You know about the time of the samurai and strict codes of honor, you know about the politeness and the bowing, about how there's all the different ways of saying things based on the relationship between the speaker and listener, and that that's very connected to the culture somehow. And maybe you start to draw connections in your mind about what some underlying principles might be there, and gain a sense that Japan and the Japanese culture are very unique, and what some elements of that uniqueness are.
But then once you actually get here, the focus changes. You adapt by learning enough katakana to be able to order off a menu. You adapt by going with some friends to an izakaya for the first time, and wondering why that kind of place doesn't really exist back home. You adapt by trying out your fledgling Japanese and noticing which things you say get a smile, a wince, a laugh.
You adapt to Japan by learning that there's a lot of difference between the "just-so, clinically efficient, honor is everything, everyone thinks the same" stories you may have been told, and the more vibrant and dynamic Japan of the real world, as you experience that "real" Japan day-by-day.
What does it really mean to adapt to Japan?
The dictionary defines the word "adapt" as meaning "To change or get in line with new circumstances."
If you're a foreigner here I think you have to figure out what "getting in line with new circumstances" means for you- and it may be different for everyone. Hell, you'll have your hands full enough just getting a menial understanding of what your "new circumstances" truly are!
It must be funny to think about the idea of a foreigner adapting to Japan if you're a Japanese. Because you're probably starting with this rich and complex tapestry of ideas and thoughts that you're continuously putting together in your mind, that contains a very nuanced and deep sense of whatever Japan "is," and from there whatever "adapting to it" is like. And then from there maybe you think about the foreigners who have or haven't adapted to Japan to whatever degree. And then you think further on to back when they were new to Japan and hadn't adapted at all yet, and what that process must have been like.
Of course when you're the foreigner then it happens in more or less the reverse order. Well, if you're foreigner coming here because of any sort of interest on your part, as opposed to by fate or happenstance, then it's quite true that you probably have some sort of idea of what Japan is and what it's like. You know about the time of the samurai and strict codes of honor, you know about the politeness and the bowing, about how there's all the different ways of saying things based on the relationship between the speaker and listener, and that that's very connected to the culture somehow. And maybe you start to draw connections in your mind about what some underlying principles might be there, and gain a sense that Japan and the Japanese culture are very unique, and what some elements of that uniqueness are.
But then once you actually get here, the focus changes. You adapt by learning enough katakana to be able to order off a menu. You adapt by going with some friends to an izakaya for the first time, and wondering why that kind of place doesn't really exist back home. You adapt by trying out your fledgling Japanese and noticing which things you say get a smile, a wince, a laugh.
You adapt to Japan by learning that there's a lot of difference between the "just-so, clinically efficient, honor is everything, everyone thinks the same" stories you may have been told, and the more vibrant and dynamic Japan of the real world, as you experience that "real" Japan day-by-day.
What does it really mean to adapt to Japan?
The dictionary defines the word "adapt" as meaning "To change or get in line with new circumstances."
If you're a foreigner here I think you have to figure out what "getting in line with new circumstances" means for you- and it may be different for everyone. Hell, you'll have your hands full enough just getting a menial understanding of what your "new circumstances" truly are!