Goodbye Japan.
Hello from Japan, where I've just celebrated my first winter Christmas, and it was...underwhelming to be perfectly honest with you. Christmas Day is not a holiday here, so it was very strange to see shops open as normal, and people heading to work in suits and carrying briefcases. It didn't feel like Christmas, and not just because the seasons were opposite to what I'm used to. New Year is a far more traditional and important day here, so I'm quite looking forward to experiencing that.
As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, I'm leaving Japan after 2 years living and working in this wonderful and beautiful, but also at times incredibly isolating and confusing place. For some people reading, this may come as a bit of a shock, but it's something I've considered for a while, and there were a few more pros to leaving than cons. Today's post is a bit of reflection on my time here and what the future might hold.
I've dealt with problems that I'd never dealt with in New Zealand and I've been in many situations that I had never found myself in before, but I've also explored new places, had new cultural experiences, tried new foods and met a whole new group of friends who've become almost like a surrogate family for me over the past two years, and for that I can't thank Japan enough. It has given me a new perspective, it's given me new friends and a new respect for the Japanese culture and way of life. However, there are some things about this country and my job here that have gotten under my skin over the past two years that make me want to get out and take on the next challenge, whatever that may be. There will be things I'll miss of course, but also things I won't, and that's part of what I wanted to talk about in this blog. Let's start with the things I'll miss.
First and foremost, the food. Japan has some of the best food in the world! It's always so well presented and meticulously prepared, and you can tell the time and effort that goes into each dish. Also, eating out here is so much cheaper than in New Zealand, so I'll miss that aspect of it a lot as well. RIP my bank account...
Secondly, I'll miss the transportation system. Bullet trains need to be in NZ stat. We need trains and buses that actually run on time, and that get people anywhere they need to go. We also need other options besides flying to travel between cities. I've mentioned this a few times so I'll just leave it at that. But damn I love public transport and Japan has got it nailed.
I'll miss my friends, obviously, and (some of) my students! I've met some incredible people from all over the world, and have taught some really cool students who I'll miss a lot. This is one part of the job that I liked, just getting to talk to people and hear their stories and help them improve their English.
I'll miss the feeling of safety in the big city. Japan is one of the safest places in the world, and I think I've definitely taken that for granted while I've been here. There's been no fear of being robbed or attacked at random on the street at night, and everyone is just very trusting, which is wonderful. Not to say that New Zealand isn't safe, because for the most part it is, but there are definitely some areas in certain cities in NZ that I wouldn't want to be alone at night.
The convenience. This ties into the public transport thing, but also being able to pay bills, buy snacks and alcohol, and print and photocopy things at the convenience store any time of day, and being able to take so many day trips outside of Tokyo easily. From my hometown in New Zealand, it is difficult to travel to other towns or cities. There is no major train station, no airport and buses to other cities are infrequent. From Tokyo station, you can literally go pretty much anywhere in Japan by bullet train, and I will miss that a lot.
I'll miss the beauty and history of the culture, and visiting historical temples, shrines and the many world heritage sites that are scattered across Japan.
I'll miss the politeness of the people and the customer service standard here. The rumours about the excellent customer service in Japan are indeed true. You typically won't find yourself waiting long to be served food or drinks, and the staff are generally upbeat and welcoming.
This one might seem a bit vain or self absorbed, but I'll miss being interesting or special. Being a foreigner here makes you instantly 10x more interesting and people are curious to learn more about you and your culture. I will miss sharing tidbits of information about New Zealand and New Zealand culture regularly.
What I won't miss.
The work culture. The work culture in Japan is insane, especially for women, and there is so much pressure to meet certain expectations and behave in a certain way. There's been talk of certain businesses such as restaurants where staff wear kimonos and airlines banning women from wearing glasses, because 'glasses don't look good with kimonos', and women are expected to wear heels to work, which are both ridiculous, sexist rules. That's without even getting into the hierarchical structure of companies here, the hours of overtime you're expected to do, and the limited number of holidays employees are allowed to take at one time. If you don't want to fit into this rigid mould, or challenge any one of these incredibly strict societal expectations, then you can forget about fitting in in any way, shape or form, even if you're Japanese.
The summers. New Zealand summers win over a Japanese summer any day-especially a Central Otago summer. With summer in Japan came cockroaches, which were most unpleasant. Add the humidity and gloom of rainy season at the beginning of summer and typhoon season at the end of summer, and you have four months of tumultuous weather and discomfort. Not a fan.
The hyper-consumerism. If you thought the west was bad for this, just wait till you experience Christmas or Halloween in Japan! Japanese go all out for days that have historically meant nothing to them. It shows how much the west has influenced Japan, and then they go and take it to a whole new level. Having a bit of Christmas spirit is great, and much appreciated when you're away from home, but I do ask myself why Black Friday sales have become a thing here when a lot of Japanese don't know what Thanksgiving is, and why Halloween is such a massive deal when there are western countries like New Zealand and Australia that don't even really celebrate it. The Japanese people just love to consume novelty any chance they get, and it seems wasteful when these kinds of events were not traditionally important to them. I might get called a grinch for saying all of this, but I stand by it.
Despite the convenience of being in Tokyo and the efficiency of it's public transport, I will not miss crowded trains, and just crowds in general. I know this is not unique to Tokyo, but coming from a small town in New Zealand, it was something that took a lot of adjusting to, and even though I'm used to it now, it's definitely not something I enjoy. Being 1.49m (or 4 foot 11 for my American friends), getting on a rush hour train means getting pushed and shoved, not being able to reach the safety handles half the time and subsequently almost falling over when the driver slams on the brakes, not to mention being the same height as people's armpits. It's really not the most pleasant experience.
Let's turn this around and make it a bit more positive now shall we? Here's what I'm looking forward to.
Being able to go to a library and read a lot more! I have always loved reading, but during the past two years reading has fallen by the wayside as it can be difficult to find English bookstores that are inexpensive. I can't wait to walk into a library and choose a mountain of books to read.
Being able to cook and bake the food I used to love making. Not having a proper kitchen has been a huge source of frustration for me, so I'm really looking forward to having an oven and more than one gas burner again!
Seeing friends and family again. This one is obvious! There are so many people that I haven't seen for two years or longer, and I'm excited to reconnect with everyone. It may not be straight away as people are scattered all over the country, but I will get to everyone eventually!
Planning my next adventure! One of the main reasons I'm leaving is that I'd like to travel over to Europe in the next couple of years, and I can't do that while living in Japan and sticking with my current job. Moving back to New Zealand will allow me to save up a bit more money and plan at least a month long trip around Europe late in 2020 or early in 2021.
So there it is, my big announcement that I've been holding off making for a while and some of the reasons behind it. I definitely feel mixed emotions about leaving! It hasn't really hit me yet, even though I've already begun the process of arranging the cancellation of power, gas and water at my apartment, and I've started to go through the things I've accumulated over my time here. I don't think it'll truly sink in until I'm on my flight to Auckland (which leaves on January 17th by the way, for anyone reading who wants to meet before then).
To everyone I've met and to everyone who has helped me at any point during my time here, I owe you a huge thank you for making my time here as wonderful as it has been! I'm sure we'll cross paths again, and I have no doubt I'll be back in Japan on holiday before long.
I really don't know how else to finish this, so I'm going to leave it here before it becomes nonsensical, but I'm going to try and post another couple of blogs before I leave, and even some post-Japan updates once I'm back in Aotearoa covering the inevitable reverse culture shock.
With love,
Hannah. xxx
As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, I'm leaving Japan after 2 years living and working in this wonderful and beautiful, but also at times incredibly isolating and confusing place. For some people reading, this may come as a bit of a shock, but it's something I've considered for a while, and there were a few more pros to leaving than cons. Today's post is a bit of reflection on my time here and what the future might hold.
I've dealt with problems that I'd never dealt with in New Zealand and I've been in many situations that I had never found myself in before, but I've also explored new places, had new cultural experiences, tried new foods and met a whole new group of friends who've become almost like a surrogate family for me over the past two years, and for that I can't thank Japan enough. It has given me a new perspective, it's given me new friends and a new respect for the Japanese culture and way of life. However, there are some things about this country and my job here that have gotten under my skin over the past two years that make me want to get out and take on the next challenge, whatever that may be. There will be things I'll miss of course, but also things I won't, and that's part of what I wanted to talk about in this blog. Let's start with the things I'll miss.
First and foremost, the food. Japan has some of the best food in the world! It's always so well presented and meticulously prepared, and you can tell the time and effort that goes into each dish. Also, eating out here is so much cheaper than in New Zealand, so I'll miss that aspect of it a lot as well. RIP my bank account...
Secondly, I'll miss the transportation system. Bullet trains need to be in NZ stat. We need trains and buses that actually run on time, and that get people anywhere they need to go. We also need other options besides flying to travel between cities. I've mentioned this a few times so I'll just leave it at that. But damn I love public transport and Japan has got it nailed.
I'll miss my friends, obviously, and (some of) my students! I've met some incredible people from all over the world, and have taught some really cool students who I'll miss a lot. This is one part of the job that I liked, just getting to talk to people and hear their stories and help them improve their English.
I'll miss the feeling of safety in the big city. Japan is one of the safest places in the world, and I think I've definitely taken that for granted while I've been here. There's been no fear of being robbed or attacked at random on the street at night, and everyone is just very trusting, which is wonderful. Not to say that New Zealand isn't safe, because for the most part it is, but there are definitely some areas in certain cities in NZ that I wouldn't want to be alone at night.
The convenience. This ties into the public transport thing, but also being able to pay bills, buy snacks and alcohol, and print and photocopy things at the convenience store any time of day, and being able to take so many day trips outside of Tokyo easily. From my hometown in New Zealand, it is difficult to travel to other towns or cities. There is no major train station, no airport and buses to other cities are infrequent. From Tokyo station, you can literally go pretty much anywhere in Japan by bullet train, and I will miss that a lot.
I'll miss the beauty and history of the culture, and visiting historical temples, shrines and the many world heritage sites that are scattered across Japan.
I'll miss the politeness of the people and the customer service standard here. The rumours about the excellent customer service in Japan are indeed true. You typically won't find yourself waiting long to be served food or drinks, and the staff are generally upbeat and welcoming.
This one might seem a bit vain or self absorbed, but I'll miss being interesting or special. Being a foreigner here makes you instantly 10x more interesting and people are curious to learn more about you and your culture. I will miss sharing tidbits of information about New Zealand and New Zealand culture regularly.
What I won't miss.
The work culture. The work culture in Japan is insane, especially for women, and there is so much pressure to meet certain expectations and behave in a certain way. There's been talk of certain businesses such as restaurants where staff wear kimonos and airlines banning women from wearing glasses, because 'glasses don't look good with kimonos', and women are expected to wear heels to work, which are both ridiculous, sexist rules. That's without even getting into the hierarchical structure of companies here, the hours of overtime you're expected to do, and the limited number of holidays employees are allowed to take at one time. If you don't want to fit into this rigid mould, or challenge any one of these incredibly strict societal expectations, then you can forget about fitting in in any way, shape or form, even if you're Japanese.
The summers. New Zealand summers win over a Japanese summer any day-especially a Central Otago summer. With summer in Japan came cockroaches, which were most unpleasant. Add the humidity and gloom of rainy season at the beginning of summer and typhoon season at the end of summer, and you have four months of tumultuous weather and discomfort. Not a fan.
The hyper-consumerism. If you thought the west was bad for this, just wait till you experience Christmas or Halloween in Japan! Japanese go all out for days that have historically meant nothing to them. It shows how much the west has influenced Japan, and then they go and take it to a whole new level. Having a bit of Christmas spirit is great, and much appreciated when you're away from home, but I do ask myself why Black Friday sales have become a thing here when a lot of Japanese don't know what Thanksgiving is, and why Halloween is such a massive deal when there are western countries like New Zealand and Australia that don't even really celebrate it. The Japanese people just love to consume novelty any chance they get, and it seems wasteful when these kinds of events were not traditionally important to them. I might get called a grinch for saying all of this, but I stand by it.
Despite the convenience of being in Tokyo and the efficiency of it's public transport, I will not miss crowded trains, and just crowds in general. I know this is not unique to Tokyo, but coming from a small town in New Zealand, it was something that took a lot of adjusting to, and even though I'm used to it now, it's definitely not something I enjoy. Being 1.49m (or 4 foot 11 for my American friends), getting on a rush hour train means getting pushed and shoved, not being able to reach the safety handles half the time and subsequently almost falling over when the driver slams on the brakes, not to mention being the same height as people's armpits. It's really not the most pleasant experience.
Let's turn this around and make it a bit more positive now shall we? Here's what I'm looking forward to.
Being able to go to a library and read a lot more! I have always loved reading, but during the past two years reading has fallen by the wayside as it can be difficult to find English bookstores that are inexpensive. I can't wait to walk into a library and choose a mountain of books to read.
Being able to cook and bake the food I used to love making. Not having a proper kitchen has been a huge source of frustration for me, so I'm really looking forward to having an oven and more than one gas burner again!
Seeing friends and family again. This one is obvious! There are so many people that I haven't seen for two years or longer, and I'm excited to reconnect with everyone. It may not be straight away as people are scattered all over the country, but I will get to everyone eventually!
Planning my next adventure! One of the main reasons I'm leaving is that I'd like to travel over to Europe in the next couple of years, and I can't do that while living in Japan and sticking with my current job. Moving back to New Zealand will allow me to save up a bit more money and plan at least a month long trip around Europe late in 2020 or early in 2021.
So there it is, my big announcement that I've been holding off making for a while and some of the reasons behind it. I definitely feel mixed emotions about leaving! It hasn't really hit me yet, even though I've already begun the process of arranging the cancellation of power, gas and water at my apartment, and I've started to go through the things I've accumulated over my time here. I don't think it'll truly sink in until I'm on my flight to Auckland (which leaves on January 17th by the way, for anyone reading who wants to meet before then).
To everyone I've met and to everyone who has helped me at any point during my time here, I owe you a huge thank you for making my time here as wonderful as it has been! I'm sure we'll cross paths again, and I have no doubt I'll be back in Japan on holiday before long.
I really don't know how else to finish this, so I'm going to leave it here before it becomes nonsensical, but I'm going to try and post another couple of blogs before I leave, and even some post-Japan updates once I'm back in Aotearoa covering the inevitable reverse culture shock.
With love,
Hannah. xxx
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