Living in a Foreign Land
By: Alex Fisker-Van Veen
Tags: Impressions, Japanese Culture, Japan, Living Abroad

Ever wanted to know what it is like to live abroad in a country where you don’t speak the language? My name is Alex Fisker-van Veen and I am currently 17 years old. I lived my entire life in London, UK, and moved to Japan when I was 14 years old. When I moved, I had no previous knowledge of the language or the culture and, I’ll admit, it was a bit of a shock when I traveled over. Not speaking the language ruled out any chance of me going to a Japanese public school, so I ended up going to an international school. At this school, I take Japanese classes every week, though this has not allowed me to come even close to becoming fluent, even after over 3 years living here.

Those of you who have ever learned a language at school are probably shocked that I couldn’t learn Japanese while living in Japan for over 3 years. And yes, if I had lived in a different country that had a language more similar to English, I probably would have learned it within a year. However, the Japanese language is completely different from English. For starters, the alphabet is completely different and it incorporates Kanji, which are Chinese characters, and there is essentially a different character for every word in the language. Even Japanese natives do not know all these Kanji!

My day to day experience in the country has been both encouraging and disparaging. I easily picked up the culture, learning when was the appropriate time to bow (if ever in doubt, just bow), and learning appropriate phrases for each situation. I learned how to say no to a plastic bag at the convenience stores, how to ask for directions, how to understand some of the announcements at the train stations, read station name kanji, and much more. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I could survive and function substantially in Japan if it were not for human interactions and conversations. Having a small conversation with someone on the train, next to you in a line, or across the road from you in the neighboring house is a given in everyone’s lives. These small interactions were made almost impossible for two reasons:

1. My lack of understanding of the language would not allow me to understand casually used language or reply to such language

2. The Japanese culture is definitely more of a “keep to yourself” place. If Japanese people see anyone in trouble or struggling they will not offer their help, as most other people would do in other countries, but will actually try to avoid that person. And it is not for any selfish reasons. It is actually because if you see someone struggling, you assume that they are embarrassed, and helping them would add to that embarrassment and would create the impression that they are being pitied.

The practice of being distanced from others is extremely prevalent in Japan. Although, yes, people do have friendships and relationships, they are more uncommon than you may think, and the sole act of going to someone’s house and ‘hanging out’ is a concept that does not exist in Japan. Many people in Japan live alone and do not enter other’s houses unless they are family members.

When I first came to Japan, I found this concept extremely strange. In fact, I still am puzzled by this distance that exists between people. As I have continued to live here, although I do not think this practice is good for the wellbeing of individuals, I have begun to understand that this pattern has been derived from a long history of respect and service. This practice does help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 though!

I will continue to be sharing my thoughts on Japanese culture and my experience living here. I have so many stories to tell and this piece was a short introduction to my work.