By Kevin Cooney
I recently went home to America, which is not to say the country I call home. It's a weird thing landing in Narita and thinking to oneself "I can't wait to be in my futon." That's an odd feeling to have for some one from the ol' US of A, because though I am American, I feel after 9 years abroad less and less at home there. When I do the math, I've spent nearly a third of my life in Japan. I'd never envisioned this when I was young. Even when I made the decision to live in Japan, I had intended to stay for just one year. Life has a funny way of surprising you. Home is where the futon is I suppose.
I've never understood the concept "culture shock." I had exactly zero when I came to Japan. Nothing was or is shocking about Japan to me. Sure things were new, but that's what I was expecting, even hoping for when my plane landed that first time in Narita. Ooooooohhhh they eat raw horse meat! I wasn't shocked, because a foreign place should be... well, foreign. Seriously, who is "shocked" that things are different in a foreign country, even surprised.
What does shock me, however, is the return. "Reverse culture shock" is actually something I understand. It shocked me, because I truly was surprised. This last trip home bewildered me. It had been about 2 years since my last trip back to the US. More than ever before I felt out of place. It was as if I was a second or two behind everyone else. I felt out of sync with society. I got cut in front of in lines. I didn't know how to banter with sales staff. I saw famous people on TV I didn't know. I heard songs by top selling artists I've never heard. It was like visiting a foreign country, where they spoke English. I felt like a non-native. My own english having devolved over the years I found myself muttering Japanese reactions like "Ehhhhhhhh" in the middle of conversations and getting awkward looks from friends.
I have no new opinion of America. I will always love the US and consider myself an American; a New Yorker. I have no interest in becoming Japanese either culturally or legally. That said I was surprised by how foreign the place seemed. It's hard to put a finger on exact details. The sass from the girl at Starbucks. The size of the oven in my parents house. The rifle and shotgun section in Wallmart, where I could have bought a .22 had I the need for one. Which, frankly, on the packed and crowded streets of Tokyo I think I might.
Again, I'm neutral on all these things. I'm not saying attitude from a barista is bad. In fact, I kind of miss it. But I had never noticed it was there before my long years abroad. It just was. The returning is odd because you notice that you never noticed it before. You take for granted that things are the way they are supposed to be because that is "how it is." It's strangely alienating, yet I'm a non-alien. I love America, but it now befuddles me. I never expected that. You could say, I was shocked.
I recently went home to America, which is not to say the country I call home. It's a weird thing landing in Narita and thinking to oneself "I can't wait to be in my futon." That's an odd feeling to have for some one from the ol' US of A, because though I am American, I feel after 9 years abroad less and less at home there. When I do the math, I've spent nearly a third of my life in Japan. I'd never envisioned this when I was young. Even when I made the decision to live in Japan, I had intended to stay for just one year. Life has a funny way of surprising you. Home is where the futon is I suppose.
I've never understood the concept "culture shock." I had exactly zero when I came to Japan. Nothing was or is shocking about Japan to me. Sure things were new, but that's what I was expecting, even hoping for when my plane landed that first time in Narita. Ooooooohhhh they eat raw horse meat! I wasn't shocked, because a foreign place should be... well, foreign. Seriously, who is "shocked" that things are different in a foreign country, even surprised.
What does shock me, however, is the return. "Reverse culture shock" is actually something I understand. It shocked me, because I truly was surprised. This last trip home bewildered me. It had been about 2 years since my last trip back to the US. More than ever before I felt out of place. It was as if I was a second or two behind everyone else. I felt out of sync with society. I got cut in front of in lines. I didn't know how to banter with sales staff. I saw famous people on TV I didn't know. I heard songs by top selling artists I've never heard. It was like visiting a foreign country, where they spoke English. I felt like a non-native. My own english having devolved over the years I found myself muttering Japanese reactions like "Ehhhhhhhh" in the middle of conversations and getting awkward looks from friends.
I have no new opinion of America. I will always love the US and consider myself an American; a New Yorker. I have no interest in becoming Japanese either culturally or legally. That said I was surprised by how foreign the place seemed. It's hard to put a finger on exact details. The sass from the girl at Starbucks. The size of the oven in my parents house. The rifle and shotgun section in Wallmart, where I could have bought a .22 had I the need for one. Which, frankly, on the packed and crowded streets of Tokyo I think I might.
Again, I'm neutral on all these things. I'm not saying attitude from a barista is bad. In fact, I kind of miss it. But I had never noticed it was there before my long years abroad. It just was. The returning is odd because you notice that you never noticed it before. You take for granted that things are the way they are supposed to be because that is "how it is." It's strangely alienating, yet I'm a non-alien. I love America, but it now befuddles me. I never expected that. You could say, I was shocked.
This was really interesting, I've heard people mention reverse culture shock before but no one has really explained what it feels like. I've got a feeling I'm going to get it pretty bad after my exchange (which is in a year and a bit) when I return to one of the most isolated cities in the world.
This actually makes me happy to hear I'm not one of the only people who went through this when I returned home for a month's stay in USA. I know this may sound strange coming from someone who has only lived here for a year and a half.
anyway, these are interesting thoughts. As a matter of fact, I made a vlog about this. Not sure if you caught it. Its called BIG in Japan.
The first half is about this, the second half is me being too presumptuous for my own good.
I hope to see you make a video about this sometime, if your interested.
oh dear, I know what you are talking about.
From the first moment i ever entered Japan, I personally felt home there and everytime I come back to germany I feel like in a totally different world. One more thing is, that it feels like the world in moving and we are moving towards future in Japan, but in Germany it feels like a still stand.
I could talk about so many examples, why I am always shocked when I come back to Germany, but I guess that would be too much haha
Can't wait to be home in Tokyo by next week.
Hope to see ya Kev
Hey Cooney, I know what you feel like on a smaller scale. Coming home after 8 months at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri. I live in Utah by the way, and I was just NOT USED to the Utah ways anymore. Most Missourans speak frankly and bluntly; Utahns instead are sarcastic about most evrything took adjusting.