My time living in Japan vs now

As a military child, I have been acquainted with moving frequently. This move has been different, though. Not only did I move back to a place where I lived before, but I also moved back from an entirely different continent! 

I left in the summer of 2020, right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so to say I was “living” in Japan is somewhat of a stretch. My family did not go out much, but when we did, it was mostly on the American part of the island. While it did not feel like I was living in Japan, it surely did not feel like living in America. The buildings were all made of concrete because of the frequent earthquakes and the annual typhoon season. The roads, cars, and food portions were much smaller than here. I was also surrounded by signs, announcements, and people that I could not understand. 

August 2020 is when things started opening back up. Due to living on the small island of Okinawa, the number of COVID cases was more manageable, so schools were able to open earlier than they did here. When you think of Japanese schools, you might start thinking about the uniforms, chalkboards, and delicious lunches that you might have seen in anime. But to both yours and my disappointment, I had none of those things.

I lived on the Kadena Air Force Base. Since I was living on a base rather than the actual Japanese part of the island, I got a diluted version of Japan. Things on base felt like 50 percent American and 50 percent Japanese. For example, rather than driving, everything you needed was within walking distance, like in Japan, but the road signs were shaped like how they were in America. The grocery store had products in both English and Japanese, and the people spoke both languages as well. 

The winter of 2022 is when I truly started living in Japan. I finally started seeing more of the island I had been on for the last three years. Every time we went somewhere, the sense that I was not living in America became stronger.

As planned, we came back to America in March of 2023, and I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I was happy to be able to see my friends and family again, something that I could not do for the past three years. I was also able to go to places that were not in Japan, like Chick-fil-a, but that did not outweigh all my emotions about Japan. The language, the culture, the climate, the friends, all of those things I will miss more than anything and never forget.

In Okinawa, I mostly went into the city whenever I went out, so it was strange coming back and seeing everything being so suburban. Another difference is that there is a lot more diversity here. So when I came back, it felt weird hearing Spanish being spoken commonly. These differences were not hard to get used to as I have lived here before, but it was a surprise to forget that I am back in America and see people driving on the “wrong” side of the road.

Now, it might seem like I am “hating” on America and that I think Japan is superior, but that could not be further from the truth. I love both Japan and America and while it was sad to leave the place I just got used to, I am definitely excited to start my new life in an old place.