I met my English husband in my home city of Nagoya, where he worked for one of the large language schools that draw thousands of young western graduates to Japan every year...After moving to England, our first home together was a ground floor flat in a large Victorian house in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, where many students live...I've heard British people say that Japanese people live in rabbit hutch homes. I've lived in four different flats in England, and I would swap every one for a modern Japanese rabbit hutch. I particularly miss the concrete floors and walls, which give excellent sound insulation. I found it strange to be told privacy was important to the British. So many people I know live in flats where you can hear your neighbours footsteps, conversations, televisions, music, and even snoring. It was during that winter that we were regularly woken up in the middle of the night by parties that carried on until the morning...When I watched the film Lost in Translation, about two foreigners experiencing culture shock in Japan, I noticed the only Japanese people the main characters liked were the ones that had a noisy western-style party in their flat. In Japan, homes are a necessary retreat from the pressures of public life we entertain in restaurants or izakaya. I couldnt understand the way houses in Leeds 6 were used like nightclubs.
...After a time we moved to a new flat in a small market town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. There were surprises here too. For young Japanese, the idea of going for a walk is unusual, though older people may take some exercise around the streets of their neighbourhoods. Generally though, Japans geography is divided between very flat, urban areas, and the wilderness of the mountains; there are no small hills on which to ramble, and we dont walk between the rice paddies, as there are snakes. On my first walk in Yorkshire, I wanted to know where we were going and why.
...I am not naturally someone who prefers the countryside though. I love Japans big, modern and exciting cities with their high-tech buildings and cheap, clean, easy to use transportation systems. I dont really understand why British cities are so crowded, old-fashioned and inconvenient to get around. Talking to English people about the differences between cities in Japan and Britain, I have heard the words shabby, genteel and NIMBY. For better or worse, these concepts are entirely alien to Japan. Ultimately, I cant help thinking that Britain just isnt equipped with the infrastructure to deal with modern life. I also find it astonishing that some British people who havent travelled much seem to think that the rest of the world is behind them in terms of technology...more...
Sounds like she had a great time.
