最後のメキシコさんぽ

This is the last video from Mexico! (Maybe I'll upload a short video?) Next time, I'll give a room tour of my current home in Japan, so stay tuned! ❤︎ Luz Guadalupe's Unsolicited Column Vol. 4 "Living as a Foreigner" Whenever I say things like, "There's no pressure to conform overseas," people respond, "That's because you moved abroad and are living as a foreigner." I certainly think that's true. You escape the Japanese crowd and live abroad. At the same time, you can't fully integrate into the local community. This indecisive state of living as a "foreigner." That's exactly what I did in Mexico, but it was so easy. Even when I heard about something happening in Japan on the news, I just thought it seemed so difficult and treated it like it was someone else's problem. In fact, I've been consuming less Japanese news, which may have also increased my happiness. Also, even when people around me talk about corruption in Mexico, I can remain irresponsible by thinking, "I'm a foreigner, so I don't have the right to vote." When you "belong" to a country, I feel like you start to see the various events that happen in that country as "your own." So when I was a foreigner, undecided between my home country and the country I moved to, I was less interested in "other people's business" and felt very comfortable. I think people, fundamentally, can't escape "belonging." Throughout my life, I've belonged to many things: family, friend groups, part-time jobs, workplaces, countries, etc. In the midst of all that, I learned a technique to make life a little easier. And that's to disclose yourself early on. Don't try to conform too much to those around you, but show a moderate amount of your true self. If you don't conform, people will think you're weird or inconsiderate. Then, gradually, no matter what you do, people will stop being surprised and stop expecting things from you. Perhaps it was worth it because when I told people I was going to Mexico, they said they knew that was the kind of person you would be. And that's why life as a foreigner is easier. For example, if there's a line of people walking on the right side of the road in a crowd and a foreigner is driving against them, I don't mind, thinking, "Oh, they're a foreigner and can't read the situation." Even if the customer service at a Chinese restaurant run by Chinese people where Chinese is everywhere, I don't really mind, thinking, "Well, that's understandable." (There are actually a few of these in Fukuoka lol) In this way, once you realize that they're a completely different race from you, you no longer have high expectations of them. Of course, you have to obey the law regardless of race, but when it comes to small rules, unspoken understandings, and other things that aren't enforceable, you just have to give up if you can't understand them. In the end, I think it all comes down to the boundaries between yourself and others. When you think of yourself and others as the same kind of person, those boundaries become blurred. You tend to expect others to be able to do what you can, and expect them to do the same. You can't tolerate differences in thinking and seek conformity. However, when dealing with people who have obvious "differences"—such as appearance or the language they speak—you can clearly draw a boundary between you and them, knowing that they're different from you. In fact, living with my husband, I sometimes wish he'd done things more like this. But I often give up, thinking, "It can't be helped, because it's a cultural difference." If this had been between Japanese people, I might not have said this. Ultimately, everyone lives their lives self-centeredly, so we want to control others and make them do what we want. And this thinking comes from the expectation that "we should be able to control them." People often say, "Don't expect too much from others," but since moving to Mexico, I've adopted the mindset of "don't try to change others." Regarding peer pressure, I feel that it exists in Mexico as well. However, it's a different type than in Japan. There's no expectation of dressing appropriately for your age, or that living at home is uncool, or that you can't leave before your boss, or that it's difficult to take paid leave. However, I do feel a certain amount of pressure when it comes to "family." There are so many family and relative gatherings! And they last so long! The average stay is eight hours. (According to my research) But I used my "foreigner" status as an excuse to turn them down or leave early. Apparently it's rude to leave after only 1-2 hours, but my husband's family was understanding of cultural differences. I often hear people say that they can be themselves abroad, but perhaps it's because they're less likely to be controlled by others that they feel comfortable. If I ever have the opportunity to work in a Japanese workplace in the future, I think I could just introduce myself as someone who lived in ...