I liked Japan but less than I thought I would. I think most of the problem lies with high expectations. I've heard so much about Japan over the years, I used to be a huge otaku (in the American sense of the word) and a friend of mine recently came back from a year in Japan and he's obsessed and basically only talks about how amazing it was and how much he wants to go back. I've noticed that my male friends who have visited recount the experience very fondly while the majority of my female friends "had a good time but wouldn't want to live there" aside from one who does live there and hates it (because her husband is Japanese and from a "good" family and her in-laws want her to stay at home and learn a bunch of traditional things despite the fact that she's a foreigner).
There were some really amazing days in Japan like the days we went to Kamakura and Itsukushima, and it wasn't that the other days were bad but I didn't sleep well and understanding between 1/4 and 1/2 of random people's conversations was more distracting and frustrating than helpful.
I would go back since there were a lot of places I wanted to visit but didn't get to like Hokkaido, Kyoto, Osaka and certain Tokyo landmarks. Even so, I wouldn't really want to live there apart from maybe teaching English for a year (though for that I'd prefer South Korea). I would be happy with business trips there though.
No comments:
Post a Comment