If I moved to Japan....downsides

An important sidenote before I get into this post. I had no idea I was near my bandwidth mainly because I had only a vague idea what bandwidth was. The husband came to my rescue and according to him it should be restored today. Apparently I started my photobucket account on the 5th of whatever month. So sometime today the pictures should come back. I think. X__X Hopefully. Sorry about this though guys.

In case I haven’t mentioned it 239877 times already on my blog last May my husband I went to Japan. We saved for rough 2 years and spent a little over 3 weeks exploring and spending tons of money in the mecca that is anime, manga, and stairs. We had a blast and can’t wait to go back for another vacation.

Since we have been back life has been pretty busy. Running to weddings here, traveling to Otakon and AWA there, and trying to keep up with work and family life. But in the down times when things are just “normal” (you know, just work, eating, and keeping the house) the husband asks me what I think about living in Japan. Not that he immediately plans to pack our house up and move there. But I think he does search job opportunities, has become more serious about learning Japanese (??? X__X), and dreams of what our lives would be like there.

If my husband is going to dream about moving to Japan maybe I should sit down and think about how my life would change if I moved there too? XD Not that I ever think it will happen for a variety of reasons but I guess it is like a game of if I won the lottery.

*post has no pictures in light of maxing out bandwidth. Sorry if it looks too wordy. :( *

Wait if I did win the lottery moving to Japan would be easier…..but still there would be issues to overcome and get used as I have grown up in a medium size town in America.

Obviously the first issue I would have to get used to is moving away from my family and friends. Skype would become my savior but that is not the same as going to the movies, shopping, or hanging out in the house with them. I think my mom in particular would be terribly upset. It would just be lonely and a huge change.

I would then have to go through the hard task of making new friends. The friends I have now I have had for years, since high school! If I was in a different culture with a language barrier I am not sure how fast I could make friends. Heck I have problems making friends NOW! I don’t know how well my dry personality would go over there….

Of course one of the biggest issues I might have is the food issue. It is not surprise that I am a picky eater and when I was in Japan I was like WEEE McDonalds 3 minutes from our hotel. Of course we were staying in a hotel and couldn’t cook for ourselves. I do love me some chicken and rice. I would not starve and die. But things like mac and cheese, Froot Loops, Code Red, and tacos would be hard to come by. Other items like butter, cheese, and apples we would be able to get but there would be a heavy price to pay for them.

Along with the food issue would the issue of obtaining items that I have come accustomed to at home. Meaning hygiene products, clothes, and other goods would have to purchased/shipped to us. And I am sure that will come at a high price. Maybe we would come to embrace some Japanese products but let me tell you something. Me and Japanese pads….no. Just no.

I think for the most part I would have to get used to being poor. Either for the reasons above (food and other items costing a lot and rent being high) or for good reasons. Being that close to my lovely nendoroids and Hello Kitty might be detrimental to my wallet. I imagine it would be hard for me to save money. XD I would be happier but it my savings would be zero. Which is what they are at now so I guess nothing will change.

Of course…since space might be a problem maybe I can’t be a shopaholic. Actually where are I going to keep all the stuff I have now? Unless we win the lottery or my husband magically gets an awesome job we might be looking at a smaller place than we have now. I think the size place we have now is perfect and I think 1,200 square feet. But we have many closets that helps hold my many Christmas trees and other lovely items. If we moved there I might have part with some of my lovelies. Can I have a Christmas with only three trees?! And what of my giant bookcases and display cases?

Now this is not true in all cases but it is pretty well known that walls are rather thin in Japan. Why do you think there are so many love hotels? XD Now my main concern with this is I am a late sleeper and a light one as well. People getting up at the crack of dawn might ruin my 235 hour beauty sleep. Of course my husband does get up at the crack of dawn and most of the time I don’t wake up. But he is actively trying to be quiet. Other people might not realize that 8 am is not a suitable wake up time for Tenchi.

If I lived in Japan my sense of time would have to change. Of course I should work on that NOW and not be late. XD But in Japan I probably wouldn’t be able to hop in my own car and control when I get places. I would have to walk everywhere or take trains. So I would have to plan accordingly and make sure I had some cushion time. Things like weather conditions, time of day, number of people on the trains, and actually waiting for the train would have to be taken into account. I would be forced to be on time!!!!

We were stared at quite a bit of vacation. Almost everyone single person was nice and or tried to practice English around us. But while most of this staring was nice I am it would get old after a while. Little kids with their huge MOG eyes or people not wanting to sit with us on the train. It might feel as if we were constantly being judged and I don’t want to be a poster child for foreigners. While some of the attention might be positive it would be something to get used to. Because here in America I can fly under the radar since I am only half Mexican. XD

Finding an apartment/house in Japan is different when you are a foreigner. I don’t have rose colored glasses on. Japanese people are just as capable of racism and stereotyping as Americans or anyone else for that matter. So not only would we have a language barrier problem when looking for a place we would not be shown a great number of places due to being foreigners.

Also I do have my cat (only one now :( ) to think about. Many places do not take animals and taking an animal to another country is a pain. And there is no way I would ever EVER leave her behind. So we would have to deal with apartments that don’t accept foreigners AND pets. Poor Kira. I love you baby!!!

Another….funny thing that is probably only Tenchi specific is I would have to get used to SEASONS. I live in Florida and right now it is cold! COLD FOLKS. And I am miserable. I am use to hot weather and some rainy days. I don’t deal well with CRISP weather, cold weather, and freezing weather. XD Guess I would have to man up.

Another silly point to mention is my sad TV habits. I kinda watch a lot of TV…a lot. And most of them are special reality show type deals. I am not sure how easy it would be to watch these programs on the internet. Oh and my anime. XD Seeing how I don’t speak Japanese I would probably still near to rely on the internets for my anime needs despite being IN the land of anime.

I think that is plenty of reasons for now. I am in no way saying that Japan is inferior or not a nice place to live. I am just being realistic about what life would be like in Japan. Maybe in the near future I will do a HAPPY if I moved to Japan post. Also to note I am a person who hates change. XD I probably wouldn’t like it if we had to move to another state.

Japan is a lovely place to visit but would require a lot of work and money to move and live there.