Maciamo
先輩
- 17 Jul 2002
- 3,423
- 261
- 122
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.
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.