Let me introduce myself. I'm a relocated Seattle girl (Seamaiden) living on a little island called Japan. I live in Chiba City, a.k.a the New Jersey of Tokyo. Our apartment is a ten minute walk from the train station, and it takes me 30-40 minutes to reach the heart of Tokyo. My new husband Justin and I moved to Japan in late July last year on the hottest day imaginable. It was a vile, hot, steamy, muggy day, and as I looked around our new apartment (devoid of cooking burners, ceiling lights, and all the other niceties I think of as essential to life- and also filled with the pungent aroma of fresh, fishy tatami (reed mat flooring)) I was simultaneously terrified and thrilled. Since then, our life has become considerably more comfortable, and it is no longer stressful to go to the grocery store, video store, or the bank.
We are pretty happy with our life in Japan, though occasionally we have to stop in our tracks and say WHAT THE HECK. I always thought that I could adjust to any culture, accept any differences and blithely accept them. Imagine my surprise to find myself, a mild mannered, calm, reasonably tolerant person throwing the occasional tearful tantrum in the privacy of our bedroom over what must surely be minor conflicts. It turns out that my home country gave me a few personality hiccups that don't quite fit into the Japanese paradigm. I'm stubborn, the kind of quiet stubborn that sticks and doesn't bend as much as it appears to. Authority figures make my teeth hurt. I think of myself as independent and self sufficient- I like to make things happen, and succeed or fail on my own merit. And I am proud of my individuality, and personal liberty. I am downright sappy and romantic, and I'm a bleeding heart for any stray cats, dogs, rabbits, or even turtles that I find.Turns out that in Japan, I'm expected to go with the flow- as dictated by my supervising bosses, and not question anything. I'm always under scrutiny as a foreign element- I can't blend in, hide in the cracks- my preferred position before scuttling (I am a Cancer after all) in to make things happen. My individuality is simultaneously why I was hired, why I chose to move all the way over here, and why it makes it so hard for me in a place where everyone is supposed to blend into the team. And I can't have so much as a hamster here, where the landlords will throw you out as soon as let you keep Fluffy or Spot in their precious apartments. It's frustrating, and much harder than I expected, on a personal and emotional level. My husband gets a little down for the same reasons, but he's more low-key. He takes things less personally than I do. And he's not as inclined to beat his head against a brick wall, trying to impress his co-workers and supervisors. We get on, are learning simply tons about Japanese culture, life, and ourselves. Sometimes though, I went to get off this crazy self-improvement ride and just go shopping at Target.
