It's not easy being an expat. While most of us choose to live in Japan of our own volition, there are still times when we're frustrated with the way things work — or don't work — and the Community page often serves as an outlet for our gripes.
On this page we have, over the years, pondered squat toilets, table charges, the rigid Japanese education system and why in the world we have to wait till 9 a.m. for the gym to open. Then there is the ongoing debate about English in Japan and why the Japanese can't seem to get a better handle on this seemingly universal language, why the education system has been so slow in adopting English and why there aren't more English signs to help tourists who don't speak Japanese (or Chinese signs, to be honest).
If you were to look further afield than the countries and cultures of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom — nations where English is the native language and the majority of the people are monolingual — we might start seeing that some of the grievances of the foreign community here in Japan aren't so unique to this country. The following is a light-hearted account of my own eye-opening experiences while traveling across mainland Europe for the past two months — keep in mind those common expat gripes about Japan as you read on.