Renee the American

The number one thing about adapting to a new culture is that I have to be aware that I am not in America. Things that may seem like they should be the same, may not be. And that's ok. Great actually. It keeps humans from being really boring. However, this brings a challenge when I'm going to live in Japan for about four months.

I recently found out through the Cultural-Context Inventory that I embody a low contact culture. This makes sense. America is on the medium low scale in term of cultures. This is a little bit of problem however. See, Japan is an extremely high contact culture. Like really high. It's usually the example for a high culture. This means that I'll have to be careful in what I expect from people around me. Japanese people are a collective culture where the group is more important than the individual. America does not do that. Instead, we focus on the individual, how can I succeed and such, instead of how can the group succeed. This will probably come to head when I make Japanese friends. I'll have to make sure to think more about their concerns and feeling than I would here. Not that I don't already, but I must be more proactive in my thinking than usual. This also might appear in school work. I'll mostly be working with internationals, but there's a chance that I might be in an elective or club that's mostly Japanese students. I prefer individual work, while they probably prefer working in a group. And they care about that group. This will probably be a positive. Instead of the usual "one person does the work for the entire group" mentality and tendency, Japanese students might actually work together and make sure everyone is on the same page and have the same share of the workload. This, of course, is only speculation. But I most be prepared for any and all sides of the the spectrum.

The High and Low Culture difference is not the only thing that will pose a challenge. See, Americans and Japanese tend to be different personality wise. I'm a very blunt person. It's very American. If you don't like something, tell me. Don't beat around the bush. That's not Japanese at all. They are the opposite. In fact, saying no is considered pretty rude. They instead prefer to say their equivalent to maybe. They also have a different sense of humor. I'm a very sarcastic person. My friends often joke about the fact that noooooo waaaaaaay am I sarcastic. My humor is a part of me. I won't stop being sarcastic simply because I'm aboard. Well, I'll probably decrease it, but not fully take it away. This is something I can showcase and educate people on while I'm there. They may not understand it or get why it's funny, but at least they'll know about it now.

This is one thing I am nervous about- culture shock. It's going to happen. In fact, I experienced it before. When I was originally going to Japan back in high school, my program made us go through some cultural websites before we went to orientation. The things that they covered were so drastically different that I panicked. It was honestly really scary. This time though, I'm prepared. I know culture shock is coming, I think I know how to keep myself from panicking. I have a journal that I write in from time to time. While I'm abroad, I'm going to write in it as often as I can. Having a space to pour out my feelings in my native language will really help. This method as helped me in other times, so I'm know it will work. I'm also going to be more open minded. Last time, I had an idea on what to expect. When my mind didn't fit reality, I couldn't handle it. This time, I have a general idea on what to expect through research, but I'm keeping my mind very open. This way, I don't have a true firm idea on everything. I'm exploring and learning something new everyday this way. It might be the same from American or it might not. Either way, by keeping an open mind, I can be prepared for almost anything.

In general, as I go aboard, I must keep an open mind and observe. The culture will show itself al lot more if I just observe. The number one thing I will observe is the interactions between people. Being collective and high culture, I imagine that their interactions will be drastically different (they may not be). I can learn a lot by doing this. Doing these things should help me adapt better to Japan. I also must be true to myself. I'm an American, first and forth most. I will never be Japanese. I physically can not be. I will forever be a foreigner to them, even if I become a citizen in the future. But that doesn't mean I can't learn, and they learn from me. Hopefully with all these things, I'll be ready to go abroad!