Ideally, I’d like to be physically closer to my family in Canada.
But these are the choices we make…
Fulfilling interactions with every day people
Delicatessens
Obnoxious friendly people, terrace bars, cheese, croquetas and Spanish ham.
A garden.
Mature cheese that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg
A pool, a hot tub, a decent BBQ. Just some luxury items really. Japan is amazing.
Friends… but I think that’s more about approaching my 40s than Japan.
Artichokes
#LENGUA BURRITO
Friends
My cultural heritage
Sandwiches that are meals unto themselves. Japan has adopted lots of different cuisines, but other than hamburgers the sandwich culture is sorely under-developed here.
Clothes that I actually like AND fit right.
Proper European bread
Interacting with people, cheese, fruits, tennis
Salaries that match the same role you are working in overseas.
Pancakes 🥞 specifically ihop pancakes
An oven
Having a life outside of work.
Work life balance
easily accessible Reese’s cups
Some spicy food.
Mexican food
Time
Cycling without feeling like I might get hit at any moment, gyms that are open in the morning
A low humidity climate. I’m sweating beads from my arms like an asshole ova here.
GREEK FOOD!!
I lived in Toronto in the heart of Greektown, there was the delicate waft of olive oil and tzatziki in the air everywhere. I would sell my son into bondage for some good pork souvlaki and roasted potatoes…
​
Oh yeah, and Honeycomb breakfast cereal. And french onion chip dip.
​
Yes, I am that shallow.
A summer that doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to die any time I go out
When I lived in the UK, I would meet my friends weekly to play magic the gathering or dungeons and dragons. It wasn’t much but it kept me sane and was something I looked forward to weekly. Now I live alone, go to work and come home and sit around doing pretty much nothing. I kind of began to lose hope in the future and just take every day aimlessly with no real goal in mind.
A big part of this is my own fault of course. I stagnated with my Japanese studies and started living like a shut-in. But yeah, the main thing that’s missing is friends.
Actual Mexican food
Döner
Mexican food that doesn’t suck and sports bars.
A bunch of food stuff (same as everyone else)
Easily accessible, free, wild, open-for-public-use spaces (like BLM land in the USA that is free for anyone to use for camping, 4-wheeling, shooting, etc.). Nearly everywhere I’ve ever lived has been 1-2 hours drive from somewhere I could go innawoods and expect to see less than a handful of people the whole weekend.
An under-the-counter dishwasher and an electric disposal unit in the sink
Casual banter with randos at the store, in line at the bank, etc.
The fear of getting murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time… oh wait, that’s one I DON’T miss.
Spontaneous calls/messages from friends to go do stuff this afternoon/evening (because the weather is nice, because I bought an extra ticket, because I have to drink it before it goes off, etc.)
As someone who is from a tropical country where you can buy 3 mangos for one dollar I NEED MY FUCKIN FRUIT
Marriage equality
Driving !
Bacon that doesn’t taste like poor excuse for a ham
Personal space, my quiet, an appropriate salary for the work done and proper holidays.
Cheese. The Japanese don’t know how good a mature cheddar tastes. I’ve converted so many people after getting some imported. I can’t live without cheese.
I miss bright and colorful clothes! My entire wardrobe has slowly morphed into almost all white, black, brown, and beige clothes since moving here. I was able to snag a bright pink shirt at H&M recently, but most average stores near me don’t carry any fun colors 🙁
A more open and out lgbt dating scene
Good cheese
As an Aussie, irreverent, sarcastic humor, “taking the piss outta your mates” (i.e. insulting your friends without meaning any harm), and playful, creative slang.
Deep Dish Pizza….and my old Salary
Living in Northern Japan, I’d say the big one is infrastructure that’s properly adapted to winter. Mainly insulation and heating (central or baseboard heating, not bloody space heaters), but also regular widespread snow clearing of roads and sidewalks, as well as sand / gravel and salt. Kids wearing winter coats inside because schools are fuckin’ froze is nonsense to me, nevermind my apartment.
More vegan food options would be nice. There’s been a bit of an improvement recently, but I went back to the UK last summer and was blown away by how easy it was there. Even restaurant has multiple vegan options on the menu even bloody McDonald’s and KFC, and every supermarket has an entire vegan aisle with dozens of different plant milks, yogurt, cheese, Ice-cream, meats and ready meals. That said, I’d probably be a lot unhealthier if we did have all that stuff easily available here.
Also Christmas here kind of sucks. Understandable since it’s not a “Christian” country, but everything about Christmas here just feels so hollow and naff.
Someone else mentioned linguistic kind of things, and I want to expand on that.
I miss word play and innuendos. Like, if I say something that could be taken in the *wrong* way (in English), I usually make a snarky remark about it and everyone around me laughs. If I do the same thing in Japanese (**with natives**), they look at me like I have three heads.
Also, I miss being able to make self-deprecating jokes that are met with laughs instead of looks of concern lol.
I have another one.
I miss simply being a gay male and instantly being able to make female friends like a magnet without even saying a word. Here, people’s reactions range from genuine shock as if it’s a compliment to “I’m trying to be more progressive so I’m not gonna react” lol. But Japanese girls still treat me like any other male acquaintance they barely know (save for actual friends). I mean that’s fine, I can’t expect everyone to get on with me. But treatment here is just plain cold here to begin with.
https://www.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1562602.html Japanese government entities will stop using floppy disks. I thought y’all might be interested in this news.
49 comments
Mettwurst.
I miss that.
Ideally, I’d like to be physically closer to my family in Canada.
But these are the choices we make…
Fulfilling interactions with every day people
Delicatessens
Obnoxious friendly people, terrace bars, cheese, croquetas and Spanish ham.
A garden.
Mature cheese that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg
A pool, a hot tub, a decent BBQ. Just some luxury items really. Japan is amazing.
Friends… but I think that’s more about approaching my 40s than Japan.
Artichokes
#LENGUA BURRITO
Friends
My cultural heritage
Sandwiches that are meals unto themselves. Japan has adopted lots of different cuisines, but other than hamburgers the sandwich culture is sorely under-developed here.
Clothes that I actually like AND fit right.
Proper European bread
Interacting with people, cheese, fruits, tennis
Salaries that match the same role you are working in overseas.
Pancakes 🥞 specifically ihop pancakes
An oven
Having a life outside of work.
Work life balance
easily accessible Reese’s cups
Some spicy food.
Mexican food
Time
Cycling without feeling like I might get hit at any moment, gyms that are open in the morning
A low humidity climate. I’m sweating beads from my arms like an asshole ova here.
GREEK FOOD!!
I lived in Toronto in the heart of Greektown, there was the delicate waft of olive oil and tzatziki in the air everywhere. I would sell my son into bondage for some good pork souvlaki and roasted potatoes…
​
Oh yeah, and Honeycomb breakfast cereal. And french onion chip dip.
​
Yes, I am that shallow.
A summer that doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to die any time I go out
When I lived in the UK, I would meet my friends weekly to play magic the gathering or dungeons and dragons. It wasn’t much but it kept me sane and was something I looked forward to weekly. Now I live alone, go to work and come home and sit around doing pretty much nothing. I kind of began to lose hope in the future and just take every day aimlessly with no real goal in mind.
A big part of this is my own fault of course. I stagnated with my Japanese studies and started living like a shut-in. But yeah, the main thing that’s missing is friends.
Actual Mexican food
Döner
Mexican food that doesn’t suck and sports bars.
A bunch of food stuff (same as everyone else)
Easily accessible, free, wild, open-for-public-use spaces (like BLM land in the USA that is free for anyone to use for camping, 4-wheeling, shooting, etc.). Nearly everywhere I’ve ever lived has been 1-2 hours drive from somewhere I could go innawoods and expect to see less than a handful of people the whole weekend.
An under-the-counter dishwasher and an electric disposal unit in the sink
Casual banter with randos at the store, in line at the bank, etc.
The fear of getting murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time… oh wait, that’s one I DON’T miss.
Spontaneous calls/messages from friends to go do stuff this afternoon/evening (because the weather is nice, because I bought an extra ticket, because I have to drink it before it goes off, etc.)
As someone who is from a tropical country where you can buy 3 mangos for one dollar I NEED MY FUCKIN FRUIT
Marriage equality
Driving !
Bacon that doesn’t taste like poor excuse for a ham
Personal space, my quiet, an appropriate salary for the work done and proper holidays.
Cheese. The Japanese don’t know how good a mature cheddar tastes. I’ve converted so many people after getting some imported. I can’t live without cheese.
I miss bright and colorful clothes! My entire wardrobe has slowly morphed into almost all white, black, brown, and beige clothes since moving here. I was able to snag a bright pink shirt at H&M recently, but most average stores near me don’t carry any fun colors 🙁
A more open and out lgbt dating scene
Good cheese
As an Aussie, irreverent, sarcastic humor, “taking the piss outta your mates” (i.e. insulting your friends without meaning any harm), and playful, creative slang.
Deep Dish Pizza….and my old Salary
Living in Northern Japan, I’d say the big one is infrastructure that’s properly adapted to winter. Mainly insulation and heating (central or baseboard heating, not bloody space heaters), but also regular widespread snow clearing of roads and sidewalks, as well as sand / gravel and salt. Kids wearing winter coats inside because schools are fuckin’ froze is nonsense to me, nevermind my apartment.
More vegan food options would be nice. There’s been a bit of an improvement recently, but I went back to the UK last summer and was blown away by how easy it was there. Even restaurant has multiple vegan options on the menu even bloody McDonald’s and KFC, and every supermarket has an entire vegan aisle with dozens of different plant milks, yogurt, cheese, Ice-cream, meats and ready meals. That said, I’d probably be a lot unhealthier if we did have all that stuff easily available here.
Also Christmas here kind of sucks. Understandable since it’s not a “Christian” country, but everything about Christmas here just feels so hollow and naff.
Someone else mentioned linguistic kind of things, and I want to expand on that.
I miss word play and innuendos. Like, if I say something that could be taken in the *wrong* way (in English), I usually make a snarky remark about it and everyone around me laughs. If I do the same thing in Japanese (**with natives**), they look at me like I have three heads.
Also, I miss being able to make self-deprecating jokes that are met with laughs instead of looks of concern lol.
I have another one.
I miss simply being a gay male and instantly being able to make female friends like a magnet without even saying a word. Here, people’s reactions range from genuine shock as if it’s a compliment to “I’m trying to be more progressive so I’m not gonna react” lol. But Japanese girls still treat me like any other male acquaintance they barely know (save for actual friends). I mean that’s fine, I can’t expect everyone to get on with me. But treatment here is just plain cold here to begin with.