Image: MADAME RiRi

Your daily life changes when the environment around you changes. Many people who go abroad find their daily routine changing to adapt to the environment, sometimes without being aware of the change.

The website MADAME RiRi, which covers offbeat and interesting topics in Japan and around the world, gives some examples of how foreign people’s daily life has changed after they moved to Japan.

I have become addicted to tissues. (American living in Hokkaido)

“When I first came to Japan, I avoided people who were distributing pocket tissues. However, now I collect them  whenever it starts to get cold outside.  In fact, I am uncomfortable if I don’t have tissues in my pocket when I leave the house.”

 I started to sleep on the floor. (Canadian)

 I got used to the unavoidable humidity on July, and say “I’m sorry” when I hit bump into people accidentally, and keep pushing the Open button in elevators when I get to my floor. (American living in Korea)

 I take my shoes off inside the house obviously. (American living in Tokyo)

 I cannot live without five finger socks. (American man)

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 I still take my shoes off at the door when I return to my home country and I go to the convenience store 8 times a day. (Danish man)

I spend more money than before. I feel like everything is an adventure here. (Englishman, 36)

 I serve green tea when a guest comes, eat soba noodles at the station every morning. I have changed my life to adapt to the train schedule. I have started sorting the trash out into burnable and non-burnable. (Frenchman)

 I take a hot bath every night. (American man)

 I got used to eating rice with most meals. Now I love it! (French woman)

I got used to being treated as a foreigner. (American man)

“Japanese women became interested in me and people touch my long blond hair.”

 I got used to living in a small apartment. (American woman)

 I no longer drive a car and eat less meat and fewer snacks. (American man from U.S. Midwest)

I think before talking, have become humble and am satisfied easily even at the small things in my life. (Austrian man)

 I carry a dictionary everywhere and am more tolerant. (American living in Japan for 15 years)

 I lost my sense of humor, became perverted, I sleep in trains, became addicted to vending machines, stopped going for a walk to smoke. I have become serious about everything. (Dutchman)

 I pay more attention to my appearance than before, and I walk and read more than before. (American man living in Tokyo)

I got used to speaking simple English slowly, I spend a long time taking a hot bath and I bow slightly when I apologize or out of appreciation. (American woman)

 I can sleep easily. (Belgian man)

 I eat breakfast properly. (Mexican man)

“I used to drink only orange juice or coffee for breakfast before.”

 I cannot live without green tea. (Finnish woman)

My height is 194cm, so I am careful not to hit my head anywhere. I use the air conditioner in summer. I don’t go to friends’ houses or invite them to mine. (French man)

“It is usual to invite people over in France, but in Japan, I found it is more usual to hang out outside. Eating out is cheap in Japan.”

I walk on the left side of the road. (American man)

I eat less than before. (Canadian man)

“Now, I cannot eat a whole meal when I go out for dinner back in Canada.”

I lost 15 kg in an year. (American man)

I have fewer dislikes when it comes to food. I have even started eating raw fish. (Mexican woman)

How was it? How did your life change when you started to live in Japan?

Please share your comments with us.

 Source: MADAME RiRi