You're watching a segment of TWIJ or This Week in Japan. To watch the full episode please click on the link at the end of the video.
So as soon as I finished my vlogmas I headed on a plane and headed back to Toronto.
But I received and amazing and unexpected surprise from my sister, my mom and my dad.
They planned an all inclusive 5 day trip to the Caribbean Dominican Republic. We hadn't had a family vacation since I was 15 and we went to Disneyworld.
So spending time on a beach resort for 5 days with my mom, dad and sister and relaxing and being away from other friends, family, smartphones and other distractions like that
It was a really good chance to get to know my family a lot better. We reminisced about times when we were younger living all together
We talked about our present and future plans, we talked about health and life and love and everything that I didn't know about my parents because I'd been gone and away for so long.
We went to the beach, sat by the pool, we did some ATV driving, horse riding, zip lining, we saw how they make Cocoa and coffee, milked a cow, drank cocktails,
We danced, we ate nonstop food at all the buffets, we saw lives shows and I even did karaoke!
So that was all great and fun. But then I returned back to Toronto for about 5 or 6 days. And wandering around the city and meeting all my old friends and family
It really hit me how much I've changed. I really felt foreign and out of place I guess it was reverse culture shock.
But I really felt like I wasn't Canadian anymore. And back in Japan I don't feel Japanese either. So I kind of felt like I was this alien just wandering through two different cultures and lives
After living in Japan for almost 10 years my personality and outlook on life has definitely changed quite a bit.
At first I noticed the obvious differences between Japan and Canada. Like generally Canadian people are taller, bigger and a little bit more obese.
Also I noticed the city is a little bit more louder, I noticed people talk a lot more and they actually use their phones to talk much more than in Japan.
Japanese people in public tend to whisper to each other or they have headphones on and their constantly looking at their smartphone because they're reading or watching something.
I haven't really seen Japanese people talking on the phone
I noticed that the services and restaurants, bars and shops is a lot less efficient and lot slower.
And also I don't think they mean it but the staff tends to be less helpful and less polite.
There's no precise time for trains and buses. It's kind of just a frequent service just hopefully it will come eventually and you just wait.
Food and drink is a lot more bigger portions.
And people don't pay in cash anymore. It's mostly credit card or Interac. But along with these obvious changes I noticed changes about me.
For example I was a lot more quiet than I used to be. I noticed in Toronto when you're waiting in line, sitting next to someone on a train or you're just out and about
you make a lot more small talk with the cashier or wait staff you are always asking how's it going, talking about the weather or whatever interesting or funny thing that pops into your head.
And I used to do that too when I was in Toronto but I noticed it was much harder for me to make small talk
I usually just stayed quiet and waited to be spoken to before I said anything.
Also I noticed I speak a lot more slower in speed and I pronounce my words a lot more carefully. that's because I've been around non-English speakers for so long.
But my friends and family really noticed it and thought it was weird.
Also because I've been in Japan so long I did some gestures that people don't do in Canada. Like I kind of bowed a lot and did that when I was sorry.
Or I think I turn my head when I'm thinking
I also use this gesture to come closer instead of this way.
I was counting like this. I was pointing to myself like this rather than like this.
I know Canada and specifically Toronto is really multicultural and you can find people from all over the world living there
So it's not like I felt completely like an outsider like I do in Japan, where I'm obviously a foreigner and not Japanese. But I still kind of felt kind of out of place
because I wasn't used to the pace and the manners that Canadians are used to.
I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. maybe if I return to Toronto and live there a long time, all those habits will come back to me and I'll be back to being Canadian.
rather than a foreigner in japan.
If you're living in a country other than where you grew up in, are you finding it strange when you go back to your original country or are you still pretty much the same?
Let me know in the comment section below.