Ruth and I started our married life in America, and then lived in Brazil for 7 years before moving and living in Japan for over 8 years. In all of our life’s experiences, more than once I have thought “this would be an interesting documentary.” Yes, our life moving from country to country has been anything but boring, and many times an overwhelming challenge.
One of our biggest challenges of adapting to life in Japan was learning how to shoehorn our family of six into a 3 bedroom apartment. We recently visited this subject in an episode of Life in Japan, because as the kids grow, so does the challenge.
Although living in Japan is full of challenges for foreigners, it also has its perks. One of them are the fireworks shows. As an American, I have a high standard for what a fireworks show should be, so I was happy to see that the shows here in Japan do not disappoint.
The longer we live in Japan, the more we adapt to the unique taste palette of their foods. Even American chains like McDonalds and Starbucks offer Japan-specific menus that cater to the Japanese taste buds. So recently we decided to try out a Japanese restaurant chain to see how much we’ve adapted to culinary society here in Japan.
One of the biggest challenges for me has been finding hobbies and things to do that get me out of my house, out of my comfort zone and keep me healthy mentally, physically and spiritually. Approaching life passively does not help one grow in any of these areas, so it was fun when Ruth came along with me as we went exploring the nearby Japanese countryside to see what we could find.
So as we continue to live life moving forward, we look forward to new experiences and understanding Japan in a deeper way. A big part of that is continued language study and practice, and while we still have a long ways to go towards fluency, we have already made big strides towards getting there. In the meantime, we get by with a little help from our friends — and that’s not so bad.