How I Adjusted to Life in Japan

Interrupting my normal posts about my life in order to post about a couple of things I've been thinking about.  One, which I'm writing about in this post, is how I adjusted to living in Japan without feeling any real culture shock.  The second, which I'll write about later, is how I reached my current level of Japanese (the fact that I was able to hold a conversation in Japanese when I first came to Japan was shocking to many people).  I don't believe that either of these accomplishments (for lack of a better term) are because I'm some kind of genius or something, and the best way I can really organize my thoughts is to write them, so here goes!

How I Adjusted to Life in Japan


I think there are a lot of factors that went into the fact that I have not experienced any serious culture shock or homesickness.  Of course, there are things and people I miss from home, but I haven't once felt the desire to go home.  Why is that, I wonder?  Here are some thoughts.

1. GOD.  I sincerely believe that everything else I'm going to write here was provided for me by God.  He orchestrated my life in such a way that I was in love with Japan years before I came here, and that, since I've come, He's continued to provide for me above and beyond what I could ever ask for.  He proves His faithfulness to me every day!

2. POP CULTURE.  It sounds kind of ridiculous, and people tease me about it sometimes (which is fine, I know I'm a fangirl), but the first thing I loved about Japan was the pop culture.  I love it more than I love American pop culture.  (Seriously.  Ask me about the latest hit song in America and I'll probably have no idea, but I can tell you all about the latest releases in Japan.)  I listen to Japanese music way more than I listen to Western music, and the same goes for tv shows.  There's some quality in certain aspects of Japanese pop culture that I love and can't get enough of.  (Maybe I should blog about that sometime?)  And since I've loved the pop cultures for years before coming to Japan, being surrounded by it in a way that was impossible in America has been really fun for me!  I can go to any music store and find the cd's of bands I like.  I can turn on the tv and watch my favorite shows.  I was never able to do those things before.  I see actors and celebrities that I know and love in advertisements everywhere I go.  When I talk to people here about the music and tv shows that I like, they actually know what I'm talking about, and some even share my interests!  The fact that I know and love the pop culture has played a big role in me feeling at home here.

3. SPEAKING JAPANESE.  I studied Japanese in college, and after that, thanks to my interest in the pop culture, I was able to keep my Japanese up by watching Japanese tv shows.  I'll talk more about this later, but the fact that I came to Japan knowing enough of the language to more or less fend for myself definitely helped me feel at home here.

4. FOOD.  I LOVE Japanese food, and not just sushi (which is what most Westerners seem to think of when thinking of Japanese food).  I love that I can eat so much delicious food here, as you all know if you've been following my blog at all!  Of course, there are some American foods that I can't get here, or that aren't quite the same, but between packages from my family and trips to foreign food stores, I'm really not going without.

5. PERSONALITY.  I am naturally laid-back and easygoing and, whenever possible, want a stress-free life.  As such, I generally choose not to worry about things I can't change, and to go with the flow of life.  Sometimes I think I SHOULD worry more about things though, haha.  But in terms of me adjusting to life in a new country, this aspect of my personality has been a big asset.  Generally speaking, I don't mind doing things differently in order to fit in with the culture, and I'm usually able to accept things as they are, even if they're a bit inconvenient for me compared to my life in California.

6. PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE.  I owe this almost exclusively to my best friend and her family, and to the Japanese department at CSU Sacramento.  My best friend is half-Japanese and grew up in Japan, and it was she who introduced me to Japanese pop culture in the first place.  By spending time with her and her family, I've been able to learn bits and pieces about Japan.  And when I started learning Japanese in college, I thought I was only going to learn the language.  What I didn't expect was that I ended up making a ton of friends in the Japanese department, many of which will be lifelong friends.  Many of the people that I met had spent time in Japan, or were Japanese themselves and were in America to study, or in some other way had knowledge about Japan, and by spending time with these people, I came to understand more and more about the culture.  I also took a Japanese history class, which helped me understand more about why Japan is the way it is.  And, honestly, I learned about the culture by watching lots of Japanese tv.  With everything that I learned from all these different sources before coming to Japan, very few things about the culture caught me off guard.

7. SUPPORT AT HOME.  I've received support from many, many people.  My family has been especially wonderful.  It was actually my mom and brother who told me about this opportunity to come to Japan, and my brother told me many times how excited he was for me.  So they've been behind me from the start.  Even after the earthquakes and tsunamis and the nuclear power scare that followed, once they were assured that I was safe, they have never once asked me to come home.  (I have heard of many foreigners whose panicky families practically demanded that they flee Japan, thinking it was too dangerous to stay here.  I'm so grateful that my family is more reasonable!)  My extended family and friends have all been great as well, and thanks to the Internet (especially Facebook and Skype), I've been able to keep in touch with everyone pretty well.  I've never been so thankful for technology!  My Impact church family was also really wonderful and supportive, and I've had great experiences interacting with my other supporting churches as well.  People treated me with so much kindness and encouragement that, even before coming to Japan, I felt many times that being a missionary must be the best job in the world.

8. SUPPORT IN JAPAN.  One of the perks of being a missionary is that you have a built-in support system.  I've never felt alone here, and I know that there are people I can turn to if I ever need anything.  We missionaries here in Japan refer to each other as the missionary family, and that's really what it is.  Everyone treated me like family from the first time they met me.  Since we all love God and love Japan, we already have a lot in common just by being here, doing what we're doing.  Working so closely with Becky and Carol has definitely also played a role in this "at home" feeling.  Plus, I live with Becky, and she's been like an older sister to me, teaching me how to live in Japan.  She also introduced me to many of her friends and brought me to events that she attends, like the young adults group at church and the monthly Inspa returnees event.  Thanks to that, I've had lots of chances to meet new people and make friends.
In addition, since all of my friends from college were in the Japanese department, several of them are in Japan right now, most as part of the JET program.  I've been able to meet up and hang out with a lot of these friends already, and I'm hoping to meet up with those who live farther away at some point as well.  And thanks to the Internet, we're able to share our experiences of living in Japan with each other and exchange information about Important Things (like the latest promotions at McDonalds).  Because of all of these things, I have felt very little loneliness since coming here.  Of course, I miss my family and friends at home, but I have wonderful family and friends here as well!

9. MY JOB.  I (usually) love my job!  English has always been my strength, and it was my major in college, so being able to teach English here has been pretty fun!  And the missionary aspect of my job- helping run events here at the Center and stuff- is pretty awesome too.  On top of this stuff being fun, I really get the feeling, at least once in a while, that what I'm doing makes a difference.  After all, that's the whole reason I'm here.  :)

I'm sure there are more things than this, but I think these are the main points that I wanted to make.  There are a lot of times where I'm just so happy to be right here, right now, doing exactly what I'm doing.  Thanks to all of you who have made this possible for me.  <3