I Moved to Tokyo With No Language Skills, And You Could Too
I moved to Tokyo with no language skills with my brand new American husband for an English teaching job in the Fall of 2019. As an arrogant New Yorker, I thought living in another major metropolitan city wouldn’t be too difficult, and as an arrogant Westerner, I figured most people in that city would be able to speak some English (remember, they were the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics). “Why did you come here?” was the first question we were asked after we established our poor Japanese skills and American origins. While we still can’t answer that beyond “looking for an adventure!” I am here to share what it was like, from my singular, little American view, and to probe you to consider whether you could, too, move across the world in search of adventure.
Consider whether you would be up for this:
Kiss Goodbye To Whatever Routine You Had Before
Living in another country meant the most inconsequential interaction transformed into a sweat-inducing, high-stakes event. How do you order coffee in Japanese, before you’ve even ingested any caffeine? If you hype yourself up and memorize the single sentence: “Cohee o hitotsu, onegaishimasu,” you’re still not guaranteed a coffee instantly. There are follow-up questions: hot or cold? Milk and cream? For here or to stay? And these questions are not asked in English — you’re in Japan forcryingoutloud! If you make the mistake of correlating the nicely-designed English menu with a bilingual staff, you’ll ask for a “Cough-EE” and the nineteen-year-old cashier will look at you, wide-eyed and literally speechless.
The Joke Is On You
If you want to live abroad with zero language experience, you must have a sense of humor. If you’re unsure whether you have a sense of humor, think about the last time you felt shame or humiliated in public. Now consider whether you could handle that on a daily basis. Still not sure? Check out the following scenarios and consider how you might respond:
- A room full of 13-year-olds are out-dancing you in a K-Pop dance class advertised as “open level.”
- You are served chicken sashimi in a prix fixe course after expressly, repeatedly being asked whether you eat raw chicken. (In the spirit of cultural assimilation, we said “yes,” but the correct answer to this one is “no:” some delicacies are not meant for every gut biome.)
- You’re finished going to the bathroom, but none of the buttons on the Toto toilet say “flush.”
Ready For A Change?
We cannot imagine what lies outside of our comfort zone. If you are open to laughing at yourself (including laughing at your own cultures and traditions), assuming the role of social infant, and soaking up everything you have never known, you’re ready to live abroad.* This includes strong listening skills, masterful observation methods, cultural humility, and the capacity to show up even after getting it wrong (and you will get it wrong, often). Studying the language ahead of time will help, but a full vocabulary isn’t a sure ticket to social assimilation. Don’t get tripped up about the length of time that qualifies “living abroad:” if you’re a curious and resilient human being, you’re ready to start from scratch, abroad.
*Of course, securing a source of income is very important and should not be glossed over as I have done in this article.
