Tokyo!
 

Well, it happened, I have moved to Tokyo.
I'll be here for the next year or so and all I can say is wow.
Japan is so diffrent then anything I have ever seen before.
I live with mostly Japanese people and will be taking classes in nothing but Japanese.
My Japanese ability isn't this good but it will have to get better. I'm in a sink or swim situation.

As for the largest culture shock, it is something to be such a major minority. It is often I am the only gaikokujin in a sea of natives. And the place I am staying has a public bath so that is something else I must get used to. Over all I am sure I will have lots of fun and learn much, but I also for see trying times ahead.

Anyway,


-Vince

That's awesome. Most people never even get a chance to do what you're doing so enjoy it and make the most of it :D I'm sure you'll get used to things quickly. Some friends of mine used to live over there and they only have good things to say. In fact, if they could move back I think they would. Anyway, keep us up to date on how things are going :thumbsup:

Hope you have an absolute blast......be safe and be happy. Keep your mind clear as these will be important memories to keep.

Kudos to you for taking a big step! Japan is really quite a lovely country with so much to offer. I hope to go back for a year or two to teach English after college. If I get placed near Tokyo, we could have a TFP Tokyo get together! :)

Best of luck getting comfortable in your new setting.

Looks like it's about time to change that, eh?

Sounds like you're enjoying yourself. Hope that keeps up, and good luck with your new home.

Good luck man, i plan to visit Japan sometime towards to the end of the summer, sure you'll have a blast. It was only about half a year since i came home from living abroad for a year and all i can it was simply the best time of my life. Your learn so so so much.

are you having "Lost in Translation" moments or "Mr. Baseball" moments?

I would also be interested in your perspective as to how it feels to be in the visible minority. Always. Any time of day. Everywhere you go.

Do people stop doing what they are doing, to look at you when you go into restaurants? Do you get prompt service at stores, or on transit etc?

Try to keep an open mind, be respectful and try to avoid "Ugly American Syndrome" if you can help it. It also helps to not compare everything with the US. EX: "Well in America we...." Remember, you're now representing the USA. Be a good ambassador.

Best advice?

"When in Rome..."

and

"Do unto others...."

I'm sure you'll have a great experience. A good book is "Culture Shock! Japan".

What you have done takes courage that most people don't have, but you will certainly be rewarded by your experiences. Please try to take a few minutes every once in a while to share them with us.

That's awesome! Enjoy it and live every moment!

Sweetpea

It is strange to be such a minority. I am much more adaptive then the people in those movies so I do not really 'but heads with the culture'.

I would say I am always noticed because I will be the only American around, the only non Japanese around. Kids will stare, some adults will too. Being in Tokyo though it isn't as bad as it would be in smaller places.

I can tell I make people in small shops nervous, when I walk in there is kind of a 'oh shit'. But I say 'excuse me' in Japanese and try to 'blend in' the best a white blond haired person can.

But I must admit I haven't really traveled to far from where I live yet. Today I plan on going on quite a trip so Imight have a better understanding afterwards.

Very cool. I hope that you have a great time, and be sure to explore around the city and such.

Tell me about the course your taking. Are you homestaying? Or in a dorm with other Japanese? I am interested in doing something like this in the future.

that's awesome, I plan on applying to go there for a year starting next fall, and I'll be there for a month starting the end of june. What school are you going to?

keep us posted

I think it's a little different in Tokyo because there are more gaijin there in general. Just wait until you go to some smaller towns! I want to know if crowds of small chilodren still follow you around shouting "gaijingaijingaijin!!" or "Jis is a pen!"

I lived in Japan from ages 8 to 13, and it was the culture shock exerience of a lifetime. It's funny because I was just telling my boyfriend about it last night over sushi - he was telling me about his first sushi experience, and I was telling him I don't even remember my first sushi experience because it was just one of the 10,000 things causing me culture shock every minute of the day. I told him it was kind of like this: Eating breakfast - culture shock! Going to the bathroom - culture shock! Walk out the front door - culture shock! Go to the corner market for a carton of milk - culture shock!

I'm sure Japan has changed a lot since I was there. Do keep us posted. :)

that sounds totally awesome man. Tokyo is such an incredibly fun city. especially for foreigners. however, i don't know if i could stand an entire year there. i was in japan for only four weeks (tokyo for only three days) and the culture shock was so freaking huge. i guess you get used to it after a while. you should keep us up to date on interesting things that you encounter in Tokyo. cuz there is TONS of interesting and wierd shit in that city. :-)

Japan is a great place. I loved it when I was there, and REALLY want to go back. You will have a good time there. Just remember, if you are polite, they will be. DOn't be the "rude American" some of them have come to expect. Asa much as I hate to say it, the les the friendly reputation that Americans have over seas have been well earned by the actions of some of us. Made me sick every time I saw a drunk sailor acting like an ass and treating the japaness like shit. Just please, have more taste then some of us have in the past. Other then that, have a ball man, and enjoy yourself. This is a chance not may get, live it to it's fullest.

I live in a kind of all male dorm. I have learned so many things about Japanese that I would have never known otherwise. At the cost of culture shock.

Let me list a few strange things (to me) that I have seen.

Japanese guys will say "lets go take a bath" to each other.
They will keep a puke bucket beside them and down another beer after using it (all of them).
Baths have huge open windows and the bathroom will have windows as well right beside the toleit.
Japanese guys like to strip naked when they drink.

Of course these are just a few of the things. There are many things, from the way they brush their teeth that are diffrent. Seeing so much of this at once has been putting me in a kind of tailspin.

I often will get soooooo tired I almost not make it to a bed.

I have only been here a week! And because I am in a dorm with Japanese people I jumped into the culture with both feet. Many people that come to japan live in apartments with other non-japanese or homestay. I do not think they get the same amount of shock that I am getting here. Because even at home I am still a HUGE minority.

Add the language gap and I'm really in a kind of hell. Not that I do not like it here, Japan is a cool place and I wanted to go and am glad I am here. But to say that everything is great is a lie.

Everyone should study abroad, it is great, really! Just because some things aren't wonderful, do not worry, it is those things that are really the most important to see. Or something.

anyway, long post

-vice

I live on a street in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto, which has become a hotspot for Homestay students who are here from japan (and some from Korea). I have often wondered how they felt when they get here, beyond their polite nodding and saying everything is fine. Ostensibly, they are here to learn English, but stay for 6 months at a time, and sometimes find jobs. to a person, they are surprised at 'slow'pace here, and quite enjoy it, but they tend to stick together. Now I am getting an understanding at how strong the cultureshock must be, and how alone they can feel.

When I came back from Japan, I had huge culture shock again because I had been totally immersed in Japanese culture. Americans seemed like crass, swaggering rednecks and everything was twice as big as I was accustomed to. It seemed like it took half an hour to walk across the street, for example. Those students are probably pretty homesick.

hey vincent I just heard about the earthquake that hit kantou this morning. hope everything is alright.

I was in bed and everything started to shake a little. But it wasn't too much because I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not.

After I woke up I went and checked news website to see that it was a quake!
I can add that onto my firsts here in Japan!

Have you had the raw egg and rice breakfast yet? I forgot what they call that.

haha, I don't know what they call it, but yes I have.

Mix a little soy, raw egg, and rice.... and it is a decent meal for breakfast.
I was thinking, "i'm going to die of raw egg poison".

Welcome to the neighbourhood!
If you ever fancy a trip up north give a ring up this way. Sendai is beautiful (well, more trees than Tokyo at least) and just a few hours away by Shinkansen.

i spent 5 weeks backpacking japan last summer, what a blast. wish i could have made it up north where Date the Banana lives (what a crazy nick that is).

frequent exhaustion is the name of the game when you switch environments like that. everything takes a little more effort; ordering food, getting directions, using the bathroom... they all require extra thought and care. you'll adapt, just keep that positive attitude as much as you can.

as for the crazy dorm behavior... i stayed for weeks with local japanese, don't remember seeing that!

don't be afraid to break the acculturation process once in a while. go eat some mcdonald's, find a gaijin church (if that's part of you life), or seek out some fellow expatriots at a gaijin pub. those hours of familiarity will help you remain engaged and patient with the whirlwind of changes that surround you for the rest of the day.

be sure to keep TFP current on your experiences. i spent 2 weeks in tokyo very recently, add me to the list of people you can PM with questions about the town or being a gaijin.

Maybe you can keep a journal here on TFP. It might be a bit easier for you and better organized.

Engaging in taste from home is an excellent idea. No need to push yourself too hard. Balance is the key.

Off topic - hehee...irateplatypus is a kinda crazy nick too LOL, as is DatetheBanana. There are different permutations of meanings there.

I suggest you meet her, and cultivate some romantic tension for an hour and a half.



http://www.theotherguy.com/~reid/hotgirl.jpg

I really do want to see more of Japan.

Some of the crazy dorm stuff is prob dorm specific.
But the naked drunk Japanese men, thats at many of the flower viewing parties.

There were some more tremers today kind of cool when no one gets hurt. The train is crazy though. My campus is in mejiro, good location I can take the JR line all around Tokyo.

I would invite friends to come stay, but the dorm has rules on visiters, the cost of dorm life I guess.

i'd sell my soul to be where you are right now ;)

i've always wanted to live in japan for a year or so. i believe its important to experience alternative ways of life, especially if you think them a little strange ;)

my biggest problem would be learning kanji.. my penmenship sucks in english. i'd make a total fool of myself with that ;)

Bermuda, i felt two earthdecent earthquakes today.
weren't too bad though even though they seemed to last forever.

Vincent, welcome, have you had a chance to go to hanami yet?
the rain has probably ended the regular sakura season, but there other varieties coming into bloom next week...
if you haven't, i'd avoid yoyogi park and head straight for shinjuku-gyoen... it costs 200 to get in, but the garden is prettier, and ugly american (or more appropriately ugly, drunk gaijin) syndrome is less apparent... and its closer to your campus.

I went to a hanami or two thus the 'drunk naked japanese men', walking around 'sakuuuura, ssaaaaakuuuura'. But they were small ones near the campus.

I wanted to go to shinjuku-gyoen, but I choose to go to palace that day, east garden is wild because it is so huge and open space right in the middle of Tokyo.

My first day of class was yesterday and holy shit... the test for placement was so hard... the school I am going to doesn't have many exchange students. In fact there are a grand total of 4 new ryugakusei... there is one other american...

There are 2 others that were there a semester before me, iceland I think. Its a big school too, just haven't done alot of exchange stuff yet I guess...

On campus is diffrent then the rest of Tokyo. I can walk around Tokyo and people will for the most part ignore me. I get some stares but nothing too bad. However on campus, the people will look and wonder if I wondered in off the street or if I got lost. I have to carry my id card all the time.

My Japanese has to improve...

Good luck on the studies! I'm working as a teacher up here myself.
My contract is up this year, and I've got an interview next week to see if I can extend it. I almost want to not get it; would love to take a year and do some language courses. Ah....school, how I've missed thee.

On the bright side, we've yet to get the sakura up here, so I still get to look forward to the blossoms and fun!

Good luck over there. I have a buddy from here in Antioch that went there for his final year. Kudos :thumbsup:.