This weekend a friend drove me around. We stopped at a rest area near this awesome dam. The area I live in (and maybe most of Japan?) has a lot of rivers and streams. In fact, there's a small dam on the river behind my apartment, a couple miles to the east of where I live. But this dam was huge. We drove up winding mountain roads that gradually climbed until finally we crossed this ridiculously high bridge spanning the distance between two mountain peaks. Way below us, tiny villages ran between the mountains like streams.
I've been hanging out with some local foreigners lately. I've noticed that other foreigners are pretty easy to befriend here in Japan. People make plans more quickly, offer help easily, and are more inclusive. People offer you rides, ask to do things with you, and even offer to let you crash at their place - and they don't wait until they've known you a while. They do it the first or second time they meet you.
Part of it is that they want to speak their native language and be with people who share their own culture and values. Another reason is that foreigners in Japan, especially ones in the countryside, tend to be a pretty lonely bunch. Japanese people are often kind and almost always polite, but as a group they are pretty reserved. And for foreigners with limited Japanese skills, it's even more difficult to build a social life.
As someone who's pretty reserved myself, it's an interesting experience. I've become more forward about befriending Japanese people, too. It's fun. It's made me realize that you don't have to have known someone for a long time to have an adventure together. Other people are interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment