The young priests don't have English speaking classes in their 4-year learning program. Soto Zen establishments still don't show a clear and definite openness towards foreigners students in Japan. They are more likely to be open-minded to the needs and the special situation of the western Zen student. Few older teachers also have this attitude. Japanese understanding of time is sometimes different then those of the western people.
Japanese people tend to establish deep relations more slowly and less easily.
They cherish the old costumes of the etiquette and norms of the monasteries and of long period of continued training at the monasteries as signs of seriousness and commitment. They expect the foreigners to adjust themselves to those norms. For Zen students that can effort only one to three months, this can becomes an uneasy situation, frustrating one indeed. Many westerners come to Japan because they have combined interests in the Japanese Culture. They have to build a tight schedule.