- I spent a year learning English in Japan. The experience was exciting and a total shock of culture.
- Living in Japan as an American is a 24-hour learning experience of learning.
- I went back to SH.BA for my career, but I feel like life in Japan is probably better.
After growing up and living in the US all my life, my first night in Tokyo as a graduate of fresh college was a complete shock of culture.
I couldn’t read the restaurant menu, so I had to show pictures and hope for the best.
I walked through stuffed shops and nightclubs, where employees tried to attract people to enter. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I smiled, nodo and went together in a dasa.
I felt like the only American for thousands of miles. A blonde gang boy from Iowa plunged in the middle of the most populated city in the world. It was not lonely or scary – it was exciting.
I was transferred to Japan after college in 2001
My first work outside the college was the teaching of English in Japan as part of the Japan Exchange Program (Jet).
I would make friends from Japan while I was a volunteer as an English conversation partner for English students in my college. I was fascinated by Japanese history and culture.
So when I learned that the Jet program offered a sustainable payment and helped find an apartment, it was an intelligent.
I felt as part of a community in Japan
I found Japanese culture to be – in some ways – more attractive than the US. Courtesy
My daily work life was on a quiet periphery of Tokyo called Hidaka. I made a comfortable salary, mostly tax free, about $ 2,500 a month (300,000 yen), learning English in local high schools and working with Japanese teachers and students.
Although I could not speak the language very well, I quickly became friends with my Japanese colleagues – teachers would organize monthly Enkai (“Drinking Holidays”) with dinner, beer and karaoke.
People in grocery stores and restaurants were extremely kind and patient with me, and a casual middle -aged mother in the neighborhood even pulled into her car and gave me a trip to school several times. I felt like I was associated with a larger community.
I learned how to behave appropriately. Whether I’m lifting your shoes when you enter the house, knowing how to use sticks, or communicate in a softer style, more indirect and polite in the workplace, living in Japan as an American is an experience of 24-hour learning.
My college ties tied me to Tokyo
Some of my most beloved memories were out of Hidaka, in Tokyo.
One of my friends from Japan, whom I met in college, introduced me to his circle of college colleagues in the city.
Through those links, I have been able to experience another side of Japanese culture.
I went to a weekend attraction in a hot spa spa resume resort. And I ate sushi in a small wall restaurant, near the largest Tokyo fish market, where tone crawls into the fresh from the boat every morning.
Why did I return to the SH.BA
After a year in Japan, I returned to the SH.BA for a work opportunity to become a speech writer for the Iowa governor.
While teaching English in Japan was fun and liberating, it did not feel like the best choice of long -term career for me.
I could have stayed easily in Japan and continued to learn English for another year, or two, or three.
After all, I felt that I would have better career opportunities in my local country and my mother tongue.
After working in politics, I have continued to have a diverse career, working in marketing, banking, technology and for most of the last 15 years I have supported my family as a full -time independent writer. I am grateful for all this and maybe I have earned a lot more money in America than I would have as an American immigrant in Japan, with more career flexibility and autonomy.
However, all these years later, I still have dear feelings about Japan and keep in touch with my college friends there. My family and I visit them, and they come and visit us. My children were the rings carriers for one of my friends wedding ceremonies.
Compared to Japan, America’s individualist culture sometimes feels very stressful, selfish and competitive. I am grateful for my life here in the SH.BA, but I often think life in Japan is probably the best – a little more peaceful, generous and gentle.