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 I returned to the UK last week after living for 8 years in Japan. It's my first time back in 8 years. After living so long in Japan I "went native" over there, so to some extent I am seeing the UK through the eyes of a Japanese visitor. What a lot of shocks I have had in the last week!! Just for fun really, I thought I'd list up some of the initial impressions and things that struck me on my return:
BROKEN MACHINES
Lifts, toilets, vending machines, telephones, escalators, trains: why are so many broken down? They're broken so much that they actually have printed signs saying that they're out of order! CAR PARK METERS DON'T GIVE CHANGE
That is soooo annoying! A vending machine that doesn't give change is unimaginable in Japan. PRICES HAVE GONE INTO ORBIT
I nearly keeled over on seeing the prices on my first visit to Sainsburys - about 50% higher than a typical Japanese supermarket. How does anyone feed their kids here? PEOPLE DRIVE TOO FAST
Speed limits are so high, generally about 15-20 km/h higher than on an equivalent road in Japan. I mean, you can legally drive at 120 km/h on the motorways - that's scary! (I'm still thinking in metric all the time and mentally converting miles to km). YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PARK AT THE SUPERMARKET
Now this freaked me out because I had forgotten about it, after so many years of free parking practically everywhere in Japan. Here it's 1 or 2 hours of free parking, then after that you have to pay. Huh? Do they not want you to shop there? THERE ARE SO FEW TOILETS IN SHOPS?
What do you do if you're caught short while you're out shopping? In Japan you use the shop toilet, but here you have to walk half way across town to the public conveniences. May as well go home and shop on the Internet instead. FAT PEOPLE
The first thing I noticed as I left Heathrow: how come half the population is overweight? You rarely see obese people in Japan. I felt like I'd walked into a whale colony. TV IS CRAP
What happened to British television? As the nation that invented TV and created the world's first broadcasting company, TV standards seem to have collapsed. Mind you, it still surpasses Japanese TV by a wide margin... I did have some pleasant surprises as well:-CHEAP INTERNATIONAL PHONE CALLS
I found a company that charges me just 1p/min to call to Japan - that's about ten times less that I paid to call the UK from Japan. Great! DIAL-UP INTERNET IS REALLY EASY
I was worried about connecting to the Internet after I returned to the UK, because it's a hassle in Japan. But I was using the Internet within 15 minutes of arriving home, using one of these pay-as-you-go providers. Good idea! THERE ARE STILL GREAT PUBS
I wasn't aware that I missed pubs in Japan, but I was so happy to go to a good pub in the UK. There really is nothing with that same atmosphere in Japan. Lastly, but long-term perhaps most importantly, I began to feel more intangible advantages to the UK:-PEOPLE COMMUNICATE BETTER
Strange as it may sound I think the British are quite good at talking to strangers. I immediately noticed how, just in shops, the staff actually talked to me. In Japan they just followed the politeness script ("have a nice day" etc.). I am fluent in Japanese but still I couldn't really communicate with strangers in Japan like I can here. Ask a tricky question in Japan and all you get is an um, an ahh, and a sharp intake of breath. Here you get a straight answer, or at least "I don't know". It's refreshing. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
Britain is a beautiful country! History is alive here. The countryside, the old buildings and the quaint little towns look really great. So much better than the park-free concrete jungle of a Japanese town! PEOPLE ARE MORE TOLERANT
Every time I went anywhere in Japan I had to deal with the look of horror and fear that swept across the fact of the staff when they saw me, a dreaded foreigner. Plus I always had kids staring and pointing at me and calling me names. And their mum's said nothing about it. Yet in the UK people don't seem to turn a hair when they see someone different, and (most) parents would chastise their child if they shouted out some insult. THERE'S SO MUCH MORE CULTURE AND CREATIVITY
Culture and creativity are really exciting compared to Japan, and ordinary people seem somehow smarter here. EVERYTHING IS UP TO YOU
Compared to Japan there is much less regulation, less infrastructure, and less help. You really are on your own here, and you have to make decisions and take the consequences. I realise that there's an underclass of benefit scroungers who don't take responsibility for their own lives, but most people seem to do so. It's a good attitude in some ways, although I think maybe now Britain could do with a bit more Japanese-style group awareness and social harmony. So after a week in the UK I am beginning to come to terms with the old place again. Life is noticeably more expensive, less safe, tougher and less convenient than in Japan. But I had good reasons for returning to the UK, and when I hit yet another shock I keep those reasons in my mind. I can't honestly say I'm unreservedly happy to be back, but I was right to return. Good luck to everyone else who is adjusting to life here. |
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