"Ryan Ginstrom" <ginstrom@hotmail.com>, haber iletisinde ?unlar?
yazd?:bnn54f$13ju1r$1@ID-101276.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
> "Bryce" <fukuzzz@takethisout.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:aBBnb.429$Ru1.51663@news.uswest.net...
> >
> > "Michael Cash" <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
> > > They may succeed and live the life of Riley here, staying until they
> > > die at a ripe old age. Or they may get disgusted and leave in six
> > > months, taking with them a profound and everlasting hatred of Japan.
> > > Or anything in between.
> >
> > It's bittersweet either way I think.
>
> It could be worse -- unable to handle the real Japan, you could be forced
to
> flee to a small subtropical island, and while away your time on some
beach,
> drowning your sorrows in awamori.
>

Or to thirld world country, drowning your sorrows in Jack Daniels...

One sure thing is living in Japan -at least as a spouse to JW, remarkably
and irrevocably changes your life.

I always envied people with simpler lives, such as those who are married to
someone from their culture, or their country. Because in my case anyway,
there was always something missing. Don't get me wrong I loved my wife but
either I wasn't very much happy or she'd be miserable. We even thought
living in a third country such as US or Europe, hoping to find a place where
both of us could be reasonably familiar with the culture.

I remember the "homesick crises" that hit me at intervals. First was like a
month after I arrived Japan and it took me about 2 months to feel better. I
later figured out that it wasn't homesick, it was called culture shock. Than
about 6 months later a real homesick crises came. Another one was like a
year later. Than I felt OK for almost two years. But the last one was pretty
damn severe, it forced me back to Turkey.

Now I get homesick in my home country. Last weekend during one of those
crises, I ordered tendon, ocha and nigiri moriawase and except for saba, I
hate sushi and ocha has never been my favorite. Go figure...

So going back home ain't no solution. In my case at least, I got two homes
and I'm never fully at home.

Things might be better for gaijin-gaijin couples though. Cause I'm pretty
confident that both of them will have homesick about the same time and in
worst case they will catch the next flight home.