In Japan for half a year!!??

Can you believe it? I been living in Japan for half a year? I can’t. Time flew by.

This half-year many things happen. First of all my Japanese skills didn’t improve as much as I wished for. I still can’t talk a basic conversation in Japanese at all. The first thing I need to work on is my Japanese. If I can’t speak Japanese, I won’t be able to survive in Japan. I need more basic Japanese before I can fully enjoy the life here. Am I enjoying life in Japan? Not as much as I imagined. Yes, Living in a foreign country is fun and interesting. I get to be a tourist every day. Exploring and eating new food. Dipping my toes into other culture. That is the life. But on the other hand, in order for me to do this, I need to be working. The work style is much different back from home. I expected this. Since I’m living here now, there is many things I have to deal with such as paying bills, setting-up internet, calling the plumber if something broke etc etc. All can be done easily if you can speak the language. If we can’t speak the language even getting a hair cut is hard. These small things that I was able to do in Canada easily without any thinking, I have problems doing so in Tokyo. The small things add up and its frustrating. The only thing that can overcome this frustration is to learn Japanese.

I will admit I am not the smartest person you will find in this world or the dumbest; I’m a typical average guy who likes to have fun. So telling me to study Japanese on my free time won’t happen that often. It will happen for a few days, then I will loose motivation and I would go out and play! I mean, I am living in Tokyo! There is so much to do everyday! For the first few months, I had been going out everyday and exploring the city. Enjoying my life in Tokyo! It was fun. But I think its time for me to change, and settle. To settle, I will first need to learn the Language. This is what scares me. Do I really want to settle? I don’t think I am ready to settle. I am still young and still have 20+ years of working. So who knows where I will be next. But one thing is for sure, learning a new language is a good thing.

Since I got to my company, I meant many people who knew multiple languages( 3 or more). And I thought I was good with 2. I wished I studied more Chinese when I was a kid. Learning a new language is a life skill. I can talk to locals and learn about their stories whereas if I can’t I won’t be able to do so. In my time here, I had many language barrier both at work (which should not happen…) and after work. I think I am a chatty guy, but when I can’t chat with people who speak different languages. So if I learn more languages, I would be able to speak to different type of people. Different type of people thinks different and his different opinion. That’s what I want to learn in life. Why people do things the way they do.

One thing is for sure; it’s been fun and games so far. But I guess its time to learn Japanese for real. I always have to learn it the hard way. Motivation is like taking a bath; we have to do it daily.

The number thing on my to do list is to learn Japanese as much as I can and as fast as I can. If you have to do something right, you have to do it yourself.

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