Goodbye, Japan! (For Now)

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I realize that I've had a few negative posts recently about my time here in Japan. However, these posts don't reflect my perspective on the country as much as they reflect my own quibbles (in regards to teaching for a private company that cares more about profit than it does its students) and my own struggles (in regards to making authentic connections with people); although there are certainly cultural aspects to both of those that are part of my criticism, the cultural role is minor. In short, the negative posts don't reflect my overall impression of the country.

As I wrap up my time here, I have to stand back and express my sincere appreciation for this beautiful country - its people, its culture, and its traditions. As if I need to state the obvious, there is no other country I have visited or lived in whose people are quite like the Japanese: the orderliness, the selflessness, the kindness. It's an amazingly complicated society with an exquisitely rich history and tradition which makes it an extremely difficult place for an outsider to penetrate without years and years of experience living here.

As an American who is used to open displays of emotion, egocentric individualism, and informal interactions, some aspects of the culture here have been easier to adapt to than others, but I think there is a lot for a Westerner to learn from living in Japan, or from an East Asian culture in general. Our constant myopic focus and maintenance of ourselves and our "selves" are in some ways shown a counterpoint in Japan.

From firsthand experience, I now understand why Japan is such an attractive place for expats to build a life and career. It is drastically a drastically different culture in the ways I mentioned earlier, but it is also sufficiently modern, developed, and accessible so that one can live day-to-day with great ease.

Thus, at this point, I am completely open to the idea of coming back to Japan in a couple of years and possibly even living here long-term. But I'm not sure what's in store for me after my next adventure, as I've found that my plans often changed based on my lived experiences. The future is a funny thing.

See you next life, Japan!




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