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Changes to your lifestyle since living in Japan

There hasn't been many changes for me. Apparently I have been used to a lifestyle closer to the Japanese one than many of you here, or just don't do it too traditional in Japan (my wife dislikes it). So no sitting on the floor and no kotatsu.

I always prefered tea to coffee, but in fact drink almost only water all day long (which is one of the rare thing that hasn't changed since I was a child). Because of this, I haven't grown dependent on vending machines either. They are just convenient occasionally, especially when travelling inside Japan. I use a bit more combini because there are more of them in my district than where I used to live before. But some small Japanese towns have in fact very few combinis, as I have noticed in my last trip. Not all Japan is Tokyo ! My local supermarket is about at the same distance as I was used to. No big change in this regard.

Let us not confuse change from life in the country to a big city, and change from life in one's home country and Japan !

I was used to removing my shoes, at least in some rooms of my house... I was used to separate my rubbish...

There have been changes in the environment but no necessarily in my "lifestyle". I just had to get used to the changes, such as the bitter cold of winter in the house (no insulation), or the mugginess of summer. Now that I think about it, a recent change has been to turn on the air conditioner as soon as I get home (both in summer and winter). I have to cope with the mosquitoes, cockroaches and foul smell of garbage in summer, which was new to me. Again that is not me who changed but the environment.

The biggest change has probably been going everywhere by bicycle and learning to ride a bike with an umbrella. Bicycles are not allowed on pavement/sidewalks in most European cities. Some cities have a bicycle lanes on the road, but I never really liked the idea of moving around by bike before coming to Japan.

Another change was, like Silverpoint mentioned, a more frequent use of tissues to clean the table, floor, kitchen or whatever.
 
Maciamo said:
Now that I think about it, a recent change has been to turn on the air conditioner as soon as I get home (both in summer and winter).
Click to expand...

Sorry for straying a little off topic, but a few weeks ago I had a look at an apartment with aircon you can turn on before you get home, by using your cell phone. Bloody marvellous. I want... I want...
 
Maciamo said:
Now that I think about it, a recent change has been to turn on the air conditioner as soon as I get home (both in summer and winter).
Click to expand...
This is interesting. The opposite has happened to me. When I lived in the US, I used airconditioning or heating almost every day, but now I rarely use it, even in the winter.

Other changes in lifestyle are much harder for me to think about. -thinks hard-
Once upon a time, I never took my shoes off upon entering buildings.
I take a lot more baths than I used to.
I eat a lot more rice.
I drive a lot less.
I watch much less TV.
I made the switch from briefs to boxers.
I eat less meat.
I eat much less candy and sweets.

That's all I can think of for now. I would say that I have a much simpler life than I once did in terms of pop culture. But I am a much happier person than I was before living here. I have changed in that I have come to appreciate the "wabi/sabi" frame of mind. I now truly believe that simple and plain is good. I never would have said that once upon a time.
 
I brought my proper/real mattress from England + some frame to raise it above the floor. At least some normality!! & comfort. Changes.....using a bum wash toilet seat, coins with holes in them, drinking industrial "beeru", definitely spending more money trying to 'discover' and alleviate the boredom of being in Japan another new thing the waistline expands discovering those new foods.
 
Riding bicycles on the pavement, especially with such a massive (Chinese style population) is nothing short of retarded, Needless to say I do not ride my shopping bike on the pavement. There is no other country which does this by the way!
 
listening out before I interrupt,
think a tiny moment to organize my response,
...talking less

being more humble,

limit myself to the joy of a simple life instead wanting all
enjoying quality - of food, services asf., willing to spend for quality

enjoying subtleties of ambience
 
anyone have an urge to want to be more fashionable since your life here started?
Click to expand...

NOOOOOOOO!


I bite my tongue to death here. Simple life... my life seems more complicated here.

As to five toed socks, yes I noticed them being sold in the UK as well. Might consider buying them in the summer (if I can find my size) as they help keep your toes cooler, but otherwise, no need.
 
It's time to revive this thread.

Changes in my lifestyle:
Driving on the opposite side of the road from what I was used to.
Putting on my laced shoes without untying and tying them.
Having to look for English operator manuals for many gadgets that I buy.
When I worked eikaiwa, the lifestyle change was working noonish to 9pm.
Initially, carrying a dictionary wherever I went.
Using a tiny plastic chest of drawers instead of a large wooden one for my clothes.
Initially, having to crank the spark maker to ignite the pilot light for my shower.
Having to hang laundry to dry. Doing laundry in cold water.
Gesturing a lot more, especially to sales clerks.
Getting used to new remote controls that I can't understand, and learning where the bilingual switch was for movies.

I'm sure there are more if I stop to think about them, but the biggest one is:
learning to be more patient with everything.
 
I've lost my sense of humor, became hentai, sleep in the trains, got addicted to vending machines, av, sailor moon, baseball, school girls, sushi, stopped smoking, became more serious in the things I do... etc...

70% is true.
 
I have to take a train, ride a bicycle, or walk everywhere I go. In America, I just drove a car.
I eat the same stuff almost everyday -- sandwiches and onigiri from the local konbini and family restaurants, izakaya, or local fast food-type restaurants in the evening. (lack of mobility)
My living space is about the size of a moderate American closet.
I always feel awful when I come home because the room is about as hot as the interior of a parked car. (It's summer now)
If I want to dry my clothes I have to painstakingly hang them to dry outside the window, pulling them in again when it rains (almost every day).
 
eeeto...

since moveing here i recycle more =P

no more tipping haha

sleep during the day and play at night

i cook less and eat ramen or yoshinoya cuz its right next to my apartment

i now use spray deordorent because Stick kind doesnt exist around here =P

i never buy tissues cuz i can jus get free tissues from people who give them out on the streets
 

They're called 'toe socks' here in New Zealand, and are quite popular. I'd get some too, if my second toe wasn't longer than my big toe - yes I know that is most likely a key indicator that I am a bit (physically) odd, but at 6 foot 6 and 280lbs you had better keep your mouth shut
 
Here are my picks (note: I am an expatriate who came back to the home base):
---walk more (which is good as my daily exercise)
---read more (while riding the trains, even though I felt I am a little awkward reading books in English among the regular Joe and Mary Japanese.
---feel more relaxed (I don't have to worry about my right to stay in Japan regardless of my employment status)
---more fashion conscious (I am more well dressed and maintained)
 
So of the 70%, I would say Dutch has become hentai, sleeps in the trains, got addicted to vending machines, av, school girls, stopped smoking.
 
I'm back in Canada.. after being there and being back again, the biggest lifestyle change was not driving as much in Japan and walking a heck of a lot more. Obviously because I didn't have a car in Japan I was forced to take public transit and whatnot.. but this I GLADLY did. The system is so fast and efficient.

I eat better in Canada though.. fruits and veggies are cheaper, there are also slightly better restaurants where I am in Toronto. Heartier, more variety, etc. Tokyo has some great places but the portions are better here and related to my first comment, things are cheaper overall when it comes to food.
 
I have gained a better perspective of history.

In NZ there is a European history of 150 years. We revere anything from this golden age. The native history of my country is stone age and artifacts are fairly simple. Oral history is rather vague.

Here I can visit a shrine 600 years old and be told that it has been burned down twice, and the present building is only 300 years old. I love the continuity here, and it helps put current afairs in perspective.

RK
 
While I was in Japan I didn't notice changes until after we got back.
1) I all used simpler English and spoke slower.
2) I'd say 'Sumimasen' when we bumped into others.
3) I got used to squating to use a toilet and carrying around tissues.
4) Kneeling was a bit more comfortable.
5) I had a craving for green tea. Lol
6) I noticed I was speaking with a slight Japanese accent. (My host family didn't speak that much english but when I did hear it, it was always with an accent)
7) Recognizing Japanese people became second nature.
8) I take longer, hotter baths.
9) Always remove my shoes at the front door. (I had to teach my family how to do this when I got my own place)
10) I noticed my matress and pillow were uncomfortable (I slept on a futon with a buckwheat pillow. Gosh it was comfy.)
11) Almost expecting my host sister to come wake me up in the mornings.
12) Slightly bowing my head when I apologize, thanked someone or said good morning. (I did that a lot in Japan to avoid being rude. XD)
13) Craving for Japanese sweets, snacks and foods.
14) Half expecting the vending machines to have green tea and hot drinks in them.

Now I really want to go back. T-T
 
Someone may have already said this but I noticed that while I was in Japan, I drank much more frequently, socially than I do in the states.

Whether it was a company outing or a visit with the neighbors, there was beer flowing a'plenty.

Here, I hardly buy or drink beer.
 
while i was on holiday in japan with my family :

*I saw and heared and tasted the word Kampaii more then 100 times
*I enjoyed real ramen instead of chinese packs thats done in 5 mins.
*I slept better (don't ask me why)
*I amused myself more and better then in Belgium
*I never knew you could buy Lego in a Vending Machine lol!
*I never tasted cold coffee
*I never forget the thousands machines of Kirin beer
*I enjoy taking a good warm bath
*I never noticed it but i always sit in seiza when im at home
*I'm better in japanese then i ever would imagine (not because im half japanese but because in my holiday i was speaking 24/24 japanese)
*I always knew that j-doroma's were fun but that were addicting?
*I never knew you had 3 type's of Sushi (chuutoro,toro,ohtoro)
 
One change was that here, I actually eat breakfast, haha, a complete one. I`m used to just drinking some juice and go to school.

The other change is that at noon I think it is 6 at night already, the sunset here is extremely early, I don`t like that.

The clothes are washed like 3 times a day, I swear.

Oh and something which I have to make a major effort is the bycicle. Today I fell down twice and damaged it.

Herbal Shin said:
*I slept better (don't ask me why)
Click to expand...
I swear, I could easily fall asleep at 8 o`clock here on this simple bed, I seriously love sleeping here. It is something else. I dont know why this is nearly everyone`s case, but for real, It`s way better.

*I never forget the thousands machines of Kirin beer
Click to expand...
Or Kirin coffee, haha.

*I'm better in japanese then i ever would imagine (not because im half japanese but because in my holiday i was speaking 24/24 japanese)
Click to expand...
In one week I could speak more Japanese than I learned in 4 months in my own country.

Mauricio
 
Pepe said:
yes I know that is most likely a key indicator that I am a bit (physically) odd, but at 6 foot 6 and 280lbs you had better keep your mouth shut
Click to expand...

What is 6 foot 6 and 280lbs in centimeters and kilos?


Ok. To the subject.

I'm back in my home country now but:
- I learned to love public transportation (Here I hate it)
- I learned lots of Japanese
- I still make a slight bow when saying thanks after receiving something
- I still sometimes have an awkward way of smiling (In Japan I must have looked like an idiot..)
- I got addicted to green tee (the instant coffee was an abomination)
- I got an urge to go back!
 
bumping my head

Hi,

I used to live in major European cities, and I have also been living in Tokyo for two years.

Probably the biggest change in my lifestyle was the number of times I bumped my head into something (being 194 cm -6f5i tall, just a few centimers more than most japanese doors).

Apart from that, taking the shoes off was certainly a change, and the use of the air con was quite new for me (I was living in old buildings in Europe which kept quite fresh even in summer).

I also ate out much more in Japan due to the number of cheap and still quite good restaurants there. In Paris, to eat more than a sandwich, you may have to fork out 15 Euros (23 dollars, 2400 Yens).

Also, in Japan, I almost never visited a friends home, which I was doing quite often back in Europe. It is so easy and cheap to eat out in Japan...
 
OMG! I never knew that socks with toes come from Japan! And they are the "hit" thing now in Europe, those socks come with funny colours, pictures etc...
And by the way: In scandinavia people do take their shoes off when entering the house. I can't imagine being in house with shoes, that would be very rude here and considered unhygienic...Like you wouldn't care about the hostess's efforts to clean up! And just a thought of bringing in all the snow in winter, mud in spring and autumn...noooo.
When living in Ireland, I always thought it's even weirder to have full carpets and then wear shoes inside...
 
- Taking baths. I almost never took baths in the US, mostly because the tub was never deep enough. I lucked out and had my own bath in the dorm for my school in Chiba - I took advantage of that, let me tell you. I'm not sure how I'd feel about sharing one, I've still never done that (didn't quite make it to the onsen phase...) I'm back in the US now, but I still take them pretty frequently.
- eating at Denny's. Okay so I don't do that anymore because it's just Japanese Denny's, but I pretty much never ate there in the US, but in Japan I was there pretty frequently. They have good food!
- carrying around an ID case to keep my ID & train passes in. I no longer have train passes, but I still carry around the case with my ID in it - previously it was in my wallet.
- buying groceries every day (or every other day). When I got back to the US it was so weird to not have to go daily and carry everything back with me
- knowing that if I'm thirsty, there's always a vending machine around the corner.
- wearing slippers inside - I still do it out of habit, I suppose it keeps the floors cleaner.
- needing to leave an hour before I had to arrive at school. I actually got used to that pretty quickly, but thinking about it now I wonder how I ever did that...
 
Mike Cash said:
Being from the South, I didn't know there was any other way to drink tea except iced tea until I was fourteen years old. I still find the idea of hot tea somewhat odd.
Click to expand...

That is funny. I on the other hand believed most of my childhood that cold tee it must taste bad or something. Now I like it but still can't drink in the morning ice tee it must be hot to enjoy it. I never knew that there are places where tee normally is cold.
 
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