This month’s Kansai Scene has three interesting articles on moving abroad. Not just limited to Japan, the articles cover reasons why one might choose to live abroad, and the resulting impact:

The expatriate becomes hung between two states, never quite of the place she or he lives, and separate from the culture of the home country. In the UK, returned expats are sometimes known derisively as ‘When Is’ for the perceived habit of beginning anecdotes, ‘When I was in Osaka/Vilnius/Bangkok/Johannesburg …”

There are lots of reasons to move abroad, but it comes with a lot of research and inevitable culture shock. Studying abroad is very close to what it might be like to live in the country, but the experience is filtered through the lense of the school and an English-speaking environment. You are in a safe community where you can find other English-speaking people for small doses of home. But once you move abroad for real, it might be hard getting started and creating a new network of friends from scratch (not to mention in another language.)

On the other hand, moving abroad might be ideal for those who don’t feel in tune with their own culture, or who know that they are “destined for greater things.”  Moving abroad definitely helps you grow up fast and get to know yourself a lot better, especially when doing it on your own.  Parents are not just a phone call away–often times they can be in a completely opposite time zone.  All you have is yourself to rely on.

Having traveled between the States and Japan my entire life, I know the feeling of being inbetween worlds all too well. People always ask me where do I feel the most comfortable, or what nationality do I feel I’m more like. I don’t have an answer to either of those questions–both places are my home, and at the same time neither are. I don’t feel in tune with either culture–not the misogynstic oppressiveness of Japan, nor the self-centered consumer society that makes up America.  But I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t lived in either country, which just goes to show the catch-22 of the whole thing–you have a wider perspective on the world, but it’s hard to find a place to call home.

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