Girl’s night out

I did my first girls night out with my friends in Japan.
My goal was to establish something I used to have in the states with my friends.

I often feel that living in Japan people are put into some kind of category at all times. I am often approached in away that asks where I work, what my marital status is and how old I am. (The age discrimination is quite interesting in Japan) I think it's a way for people to find commonality with others but after a while, it gets really annoying. Also once people figure out you have no commonality they say, "I can’t do X because of Y" as if they are trying to convince themselves why we are different.

Anyhow, the reason i am totally excited about the 'get-together' was that I really thought I would not be able to find friends in Japan who I would feel comfortable being myself. But you know me, I am always myself......but at work and stuff, i have to act like Japanese or act like an American depending on the case.

The more time I spend here in Japan; I am surprised to see my ideas on Japan are changing. In a nutshell, it’s easy to label behaviors as Japanese or American. But when it comes down to it, everything has it’s own uniqueness and beauty which makes it hard to talk about Japanese people in general.

I had this conversation with Gavin the other day. I need to learn how to relay American experience using Japanese sense. Because Japanese feel they are very unique in the way they feel, that I often have a hard time telling them that it’s something very common and it's a universal experience. My work as Japanese hasn’t finished yet….it seems like it just started.