As much as stressful as those first days were after moving here, I kinda miss some bits of it. Everywhere I went was a whole new adventure with its new challenges whether it was the bank or a bar.
After 5 years reaching a very comfortable level with the language, knowing how to do most stuff without issues, and working my ass off to live in one of my dream places in the country, sometimes I forget I’m living in Japan.
The only thing I do to deal with that is to travel to someplace I’ve never been before and it helps revive some of the vibe. But at my current rate, I’ll probably have visited all prefectures by next year.
I feel like I’ve finished the main story line in a game and just doing little remaining side-quests now haha.
How about you?
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still loading…8months in….
Sure, but that’s life. You need to move to a completely different country every 5 years if you want to keep that feeling alive but that’s unrealistic.
There are plenty of challenges out there just waiting for you to find them. If you want to make life exciting, go out and do that.
It took me five years to get over my cultural shock. The sense of awe I felt when I first started living here is gone and I don’t miss it. Not being able to read signs or communicate in Japanese often left me feeling disoriented. I’ve settled into my life in Japan to the point where everything here seems normal now and that’s the way I like it.
I was literally stranded on Narita, as the person who supposed to take care of my arrival was missing. No information on where to go either.
Yeah that was such fun adventure, feeling like getting isekai’d without any clue on what to do.
Moving into a new rig in a new city tomorrow. Was last living in the sticks. Can not wait to try and negotiate Osaka on a Sunday morning. Is that the novelty you talked about if so fancy a swap?
I do miss the crazy-low hour work schedule but I sure as shit don’t miss the boredom from not being able to afford hobbies.
I was 18 years old. Of course.
Is your mindset that you will eventually return “home”?
I have never experienced what you describe, though I have seen it described here time and time again.
My first days were shit. There was novelty of course, but also so much fish-out-of-water uncertainty. I am so much more comfortable and do not miss the “adventure” of those first days/weeks/months/years at all.
I also never seem to forget that I am living in Japan. Like on a daily basis, I recognize and reflect on the fact that this is so completely different from my childhood upbringing in every way.
I honestly do not understand these posts, and I am not saying that to disparage you in any way. I just don’t get it, because over a decade on and every day I appreciate my boring and comfortable life on the other side of the world, in a totally foreign country.
This is the beginning of when you should “start making your own adventure” and stop relying on external stimulus.
New friends, new hobbies, relationship, and having your adventures with that bunch. It’s an endless journey.
I got married, had a kid, moved to inaka, started farming again, got laid off from my cushy remote job… been a wild 2 years 😉
Suing my company for abusive dismissal is my next adventure, hopefully it pays out!
No. Nobody was here holding my hand while I was getting acclimated to Japan, so it took some time to adjust before I felt comfortable. Tons and tons of Japanese study and getting used to the train lines before I really felt comfortable venturing out on my own into the city. I do have some fond memories of the places I used to go to study regularly, and they’re long gone now, but otherwise I remember a struggle at first. I’m a lot happier with my life now than I ever was in my first few months here, and I wouldn’t want to go back and relive it.
See? That’s your problem, you now know the language! Be like me, suck at it, and everything will be an adventure again!
Last month trying to do taxes was a blast for example! 😀
It’s possible for meditation/mindfulness to allow you to experience that freshness of the moment more often, even if you been somewhere before. Sure, it takes practice and dedication but you certainly don’t have to subscribe to a religion or any kind of woo to get into it. Happy to help you get started if interested.
It happens to work, romance and so many other situations in life. Definitely can feel nostalgic and I think it’s good to sometimes look back to the old days and reflect on how good (or not) they were and specially why. That helps getting the most value of such past.
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Regardless, I think that as time passes you need to put more conscience effort into looking at the good parts of Japan and be grateful for them. Us humans have a tendency to focus on the negative as a defense mechanism against danger so it’s very easy to see all the nuisances of Japan specially compared to the honeymoon days, but the good is there and trying to put your focus on it makes it overall better. A few examples above:
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1. You can interact with the environment in a more adult way with your language skills
2. The food, safety and convenience of the country as a whole
3. Not having to worry about conflicts regarding violence, difference of opinions, religion, etc.
4. A whole range of regions in Japan to travel through with both deep history and interesting present environments.
5. A wide range of work opportunities (specially compared to a lot of not 1st world countries)
6. A sense of security due to having health care, certain public aid and some of the points above
As per looking for adventures, I think it’s a mixture of having a good hobby and then traveling to even small but interesting places every once in a while. To me walking around just common neiborhoods and seeing how things are/used to be while listening to music is quite relaxing.
Not really. My first year or so in Japan were miserable. Lousy job, low salary, terrible company, no money to travel much or even eat decently.
Now that I`m settled in with a better job and higher salary, I very much prefer my days now.
I had a kid two years ago. Every day is a novelty XD
I came to Japan 5 years ago as a university student. Couldn’t really travel much and enjoy Japan because I was broke and busy with university. I wish I could do it all again and let loose. I was wayyy to serious with uni and didn’t want to be the gaijin tourist.
I’m now working and financially stable. All my uni friends are on their separate paths. As much as I’d like to travel, I don’t really have the time and friends for it.
Procreate.
You’ll have new shit every day.