Quote:
Originally Posted by JamboP26
As a young person, perhaps some some opinion from the 'horse's mouth' might help. I want to live in Japan for many reasons. Now, before I begin, I make clear that not all young people will have the same reasons. But for me, the experience of living in the UK as a teen has been a frustrating one. I am easily annoyed by phone helplines, & their lack of help. I am annoyed at government schemes f***ing things up. I am annoyed by the British public. I am annoyed at the state that some residential area's are left in, & the amount of society's scum that wander about. I feel I don't fit here. My mind & personality is different from the norm here. Don't get me wrong, I will miss a number of things here, but I see too many negatives to stay after uni. Why Japan though? It's simple. I love Japan, & from what I've watched, seen, read etc., I feel I would fit well with the culture & customs. Its not all about being in 'the anime capital' or whatever. I feel it's deeper than that, & after uni, hope to make this happen  |
As another young adult from the UK I can totally relate with you on that. There's something inherently different about Asian culture and personality (and not just Japan, but Asia in general). I had this discussion with a few of my Asian friends when I went to China this summer. In Asia we've noticed people to be more friendly, generous, mindful of others and well-behaved. In the West everything seems to center around oneself. People tend to be selfish, bitchy (which we noticed even more with the Western friends who came with us to China when we could clearly see the contrast) and bratty.
You only need to compare an Asian classroom to a British classroom to see what I mean. Asian classrooms are generally full of attentive kids who at worst would be asleep, while Western classrooms it wouldn't be unusual to see a teacher crying and having a breakdown at least once in the year because the students are tormenting them.
Also simple differences in culture reflect this. In the UK, evening entertainment is getting absolutely paralytically drunk for 90% of students. In Asia, while drinking does form a part of fun, there's tons of other stuff they do too. We have a seriously strong drinking culture and it results in many of us having a very boorish attitude. The shouting, angry, drunk who will happily beat up a woman is not an uncommon sight; particularly in university towns (actually I have a whole house of them next door to me). Time I've spent in Asia has helped me to get away from all that. It was really relaxing for the soul (sounds cheesy but it's true).
And Jambo I'm sure you can agree with me on this one word that makes UK life and reputation a dreadful state....."Chavs". Enough said really!
I realise there's always going to be exceptions to these rules, but my comments are on overall differences in culture, personality and attitude.
As for why I'm interested in Japan? Well it just happened to be the first Asian country I started reading about. In this respect, I haven't just limited myself to Japan saying that I absolutely will move there. Instead I keep my options open and until I've fully explored most of the Asian countries, I don't intend to make a decision about where I'd want to move. But it does help Japan's case that Japanese is my strongest Asian language and that I have a few (some wealthy) contacts as well as family members (married in, not blood) that could help make a transition easier. Not to mention my uncle lived there for a few years so I have someone close that can give his two cents and advise me on the ins and outs.