Culture shock
Phew. Here I am by the skin of my teeth, just back from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria, where touching base with non-Japanese friends met here was sobering to say the least.
One took 18 months to travel back to British Columbia after a decade here. An excellent idea (making a slow transition from East to West) except that two years later she's still looking for a decent job. Cuts in education on the West coast mean she may be back in Asia before long, which was not part of the grand scheme at all.
Which reminds me of my favorite joke: Know how to make God laugh? Tell him/her your plans.