Syrians in Japan - Part 2

OK, now to switch gears, let's lay this down for you, all Syrians and people out there who are either seriously interested, or casually daydreaming about going to Japan and live there for the rest of your life.

The following is based mainly on the impressions I got from my month long in Japan, and to a large extent, from examining the lives of a couple of Syrians and a Pakistani who all have been living here for the last 20 years. This is hardly comprehensive.. but remember that those guys have witnessed Japan in its best years... when the economy was much better... they witnessed the rise and burst of the 90s-bubble in Japan. So, you might wanna take the following opinions in consideration.

Remember, those are comparisons mainly to Syrians who are living in Syria or Dubai and want to/or think about moving to Japan (like myself :-)

The positives of Living in Japan:
1) Politeness and professionalism is the norm here.
2) If you're a single, and you like the idea of dating, Japan might be one of the hottest places to do that. Since it is very clear that a large portion of Japanese men don't give the same respect we give women in Middle east, any small gesture will make you a star here! (something as simple as pickup the bill or saying "ladies first" whenever applicable). Plus, despite of their pride of the heritage and everything Japanese, they seem to find the "non-Japanese" look more attractive. ;-)
3) Again, the people will not make you feel as foreigner. Especially if you're willing to except their culture.
4) The beauty of the nature here, and technological advantages.
5) The seriousness of the Japanese when working is unmatched.. if you could work in a Japanese company, you will learn a lot.. The bad news is that you will end up working from 9am to 10pm just to keep it up with you colleagues.. more on that below

Ok, now with the negatives... !

Negatives of living in Japan
You will find that around 90% of the negatives are related to raising your kids... something similar to what you would have in the USA or Europe.. But since in Japan you have only 175 Syrian and not that big Muslim community, your kids are bound to have an identity crisis.

1) Well, since people here are very polite... your kid will also be one (naturally) and being naive is one of the things he/she will probably develop. Let's be clear, street-smart is not big here. (I relate to that since I was raised in Saudi Arabia... but the case here is even more severe)
2) While school will allow you daughter to dress in a dress which will cover her thighs, but it seems that she will be expected not to wear the Hyjab.

Of course, as you have guessed from my previous blogs, the Japanese youth is not exactly as "conservative" as his elders...

An interesting reading is the study about Pakistani men getting married to Japanese ladies and then eventually moving out form Japan (guess where to?? Sharjah!) to get their kids more in touch with a more conservative Islamic community.
Checkout the article here

Of course, if you're willing to completely embrace the Japanese culture, and have a little or no connection with yours (or maybe a minor connection), then Japan will be a perfect for you...

Again, this is the mind talking... but if you ask my heart... well... I would LOVE to stay in Japan till forever!

With my personal opinion casted above, let's get down to the sample of Syrian bros in Japan.

Well, the common thing about them both is that they are lady loves, yep... you gotta love those Japanese ladies.. of course, as per them, if you're interested in getting married... it's easier than drinking a glass of water... cause those Japanese ladies are really into water... sorry... I mean marriage...

Of course, they also take breaking up pretty seriously... so don't try to start hinting the possibility of getting married in the future just to get her to do you-know-what... because it will not be a sweet ride for you... that's for sure... they don't take it lightly!

Well... a common thing about Syrians everywhere is their unbelievably good people-skills... another thing which is also impressive... is their unbelievable LACK of mastery of the foreign languages... which is something was evident for me.. even with my 2-words-worth of Japanese.

How Syrian are so bad in something essential for communication such as languages, and in the same time they manage to ... manage?? this is something beyond me...

Is it because 90% of our communication is non-verbal?? Maybe?

To summarise, we had a fantastic evening.. they gave me a lot of insight on the Japanese culture from the view of the Syrians...

One of the funniest things is that one of them was wishing that for once... only once! the Metro would get delayed... "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! JUST ONCE!"

He would stay in home sometimes just to break the routine!

"Routine, routine, routine... this is the biggest nuisance here..." he said, "See this new years ceremonies? they repeat the exact same thing they did last year... and tomorrow, on the down of the new year, they will repeat whatever they did on the last year... there is nothing new here!"

Well, since my host family will be visiting me in Syria soon.. I am sure they will not have a problem with THAT!

Syrians... never satisfied!