| It's funny how you adapt to new situations and how | | | | stunned; suffocated by the atmosphere. |
| even things which are out of the ordinary become | | | | 5. 99's & pasties - eating pasties out of white paper |
| part of your everyday life. After a year in Japan I | | | | bags, the smell was comforting the taste was |
| had got well accustomed to my new lifestyle. The | | | | revolting! |
| lack of responsibilities, demands, and expectations I | | | | 6. Abuse - Scally abuse - I had forgotten how to |
| experienced as a foreigner made me feel so | | | | handle it. A scally confronted me on the underground |
| liberated. The Japanese had taken me into their | | | | two weeks after my return to the UK. He asked |
| hearts and could not do enough for me. I felt like the | | | | where I was going - I didn't want to tell him in fear |
| vulnerable foreigner who they couldn't help but love. | | | | that he might follow. My response: 'I don't know'. |
| However, on my arrival back to the UK I began to | | | | What kind of pathetic, stupid reply was that?! Where |
| suffer an identity crisis. I was not a foreigner, but I | | | | had my wit, my speed, and my defence gone? |
| certainly felt like one. What if I was to let what I | | | | 7. English slang & proverbs - I found myself using far |
| was feeling slip out,people would think I was seriously | | | | too many, I felt like a foreigner with a strong grasp |
| strange, I mean, who gets culture shocked intheir | | | | of the language. I wanted to show off my |
| own country? | | | | proficiency by overloading a sentence with as many |
| Here is a top ten rundown of stuff that genuinely | | | | cliches and proverbs as I possibly could. You could |
| shocked me, and I'd forgotten all about during the | | | | have knocked me over with a feather! |
| previous twelve months. | | | | 8. The feeling of crossing the road not at a |
| 1. The Scotch Egg - While walking around a | | | | designated crossing - setting foot on the road I felt |
| supermarket I found it difficult to hide my emotions | | | | that it might dissolve into molten lava. |
| when I happened to spot this reassuring sight for the | | | | 9. The Language Barrier - On return, not being able to |
| first time. It was certainly comforting - I didn't want | | | | cope, the sheer intensity of being able to understand |
| to buy it, taste it, see how much I could fit into my | | | | what everybody was saying felt like someone had |
| mouth in one go, but I felt secure in the knowledge | | | | turned the volume up again. |
| that it was there, it was available, and the next | | | | 10. Dirt - dirty black pigeons in the park, and loads of |
| Scotch Egg was a maximum of only 5 minutes away. | | | | litter: compared to Japan it felt like the UK was about |
| 2. Obese men driving small cars - their belly squashed | | | | as clean as Pete Doherty. |
| up against the steering wheel, their pale, round, | | | | To sum up cultural differences and similarities |
| shaven head glaring at you as they go past. Catch | | | | between countries I asked the Japanese and a |
| their eye and they will engage you in a staring | | | | handful of other foreigners what they thought about |
| competition - back in Japan people avoided any eye | | | | English people dipping their biscuits into tea - I gave |
| contact at all costs. | | | | them three choices |
| 3. Metal baskets of discounted fizzy drinks - Fanta, | | | | -Polite |
| Diet Coke, Lilt sitting at the front of shops, children's | | | | -Impolite |
| garden toys - scatch, hula hoops, skittles; bins full of | | | | -Or showing appreciation for the tea |
| half price chewy sweets. Such familiar, unfamiliar | | | | Most believed it was a sign to show great |
| sights. | | | | appreciation and enjoyment for the tea. Interesting |
| 4. Smell of fish 'n' chips and the noise in pubs - This | | | | that. |
| was all too over powering, I sat baffled, bemused, | | | | |