9/27/2018

An ordinary Japanese mom in the US!

After a long interval, I have finally come back here!

Our family moved to Michigan in the US at the end of July because of my husband's job transfer.

We will be living here for about three years.


The first time we came here, we suffered from the terrible jet lag, especially my children!

My children fell asleep in the early afternoon because it was night time in Japan, and they woke up at night and stayed up all night!

Since I was able to sleep well on the flight, it was terrible that they interrupted my sleep every day.

I had to take a nap every day to compensate for the lack of sleep.


I would like to write about what differences I was surprised by between the US and Japan, after I started living here.


1. The different units of mesure

When I went shopping at the supermarket, I was confused the different units of mesure.

What is lb?

What is oz??

What is gal???

When I bought a bag of cherries, it was $3.99.

I thought it was very cheap because I believed that the price was for a bag of cherries.

But, it wasn't.

The price was per lb.

I ended up buying a bag of cherries for more than 9 dollars!

I don't understand Fahrenheit and mile well, either

They are still confusing to me.


2. The differences in traffic rules

I already passed the American driver's license test, but I was very scared of driving when I started practicing driving.

Because cars drive on the left side in Japan, but it's totally opposite in the US.

I often opened the right side door by mistake to sit on the driver's seat because the driver seat is usually on the right side of a Japanese car.

I often turned on the wiper by mistake when I wanted to turn on the blinkers because their places were totally opposite from Japanese one.

I was always saying "keep right, keep right!" while driving.

I was surprised that we still can turn right even the traffic light is red, if there is no car in the way.

We must wait until traffic lights turn to green in Japan.

I like this rule, it's very efficient.

I also like that highways are free!

But I was surprised and scared that cars drive so fast!

The speed limit on the highway in Michigan is faster than the Japanese one.


3. The days are longer

In summer, the sun sets around 9pm in Michigan.

It's about 7pm in Japan.

My children assumed that they could stay up late during summer.

I understood their feelings, it was too bright to go to bed at 9pm in summer.

But at a result, they couldn't wake up in the morning until after 9am.

I don't think it is a good for them.


4. Various diverse groups of peole

Needless to say, the majority of people living in Japan are Japanese.

Of course, some people are from other countries, but they are still very few, especially in rural areas.

Various kinds of people are living around here.

I realized that the US is a multicultural and ethnically diverse country.

People who live here are used to people who are from other countries.

They never seem to think that I may not be able to speak English.

They talk to me very fast and cheerfully.

Such kinds of small talk don't happen so often in Japan.

I can speak English, but it is often hard for me to catch what they say because they speak too fast.

I would like to improve my English more during our stay.



I would like to write more about the differences, but it would be too long to read.

I will write more about this over time.



Thank you(^o^) for reading this article!


10 comments:

  1. Good luck for your new life in the US ! It is a kind of a challenge !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      I would like to enjoy the challenges!

      Delete
    2. All the best Kumi, and welcome back 😀

      Delete
  2. Hello Kumisan,

    Sorry for not posting sooner, but I have been a little busy.

    Hope your time in the US will not be too stressfull or depressing. At least it is only for 3 years...

    On the positive side, it will certainly improve your English and American language skills.

    I am good here, recently I moved to a new SNS called MeWe.com as Google+ will be shutting down.

    I hope your children are okay adapting to the US

    Here are some issues I found with your post:

    Part 1:

    This line:
    First time we came here, we suffered from the terrible jet lag, especially my children!

    Should be:
    The first time we came here, we suffered from the terrible jet lag, especially my children!

    This line:
    My children fell asleep in the early afternoon because it was the night time in Japan, and they woke up a night and stayed up all night!

    Should be:
    My children fell asleep in the early afternoon because it was night time in Japan, and they woke up a night and stayed up all night!

    This line:
    Since I could sleep well on the flight, it was terrible that they interrupted my sleep every day.

    Should be:
    Since I was able to sleep well on the flight, it was terrible that they interrupted my sleep every day.

    This line:
    I had to take a nap every day to compensate the lack of sleep.

    Should be:
    I had to take a nap every day to compensate for the lack of sleep.

    This line:
    I would like to write about what I was surprised with the differences between the US and Japan in the US after I started living here.

    Should be:
    I would like to write about what differences I was surprised by between the US and Japan, after I started living here.

    This line:
    1. The differences of the units

    Should be:
    1. The different units of measure

    Note: Do not feel bad the Us is very backward in this regard, they have not adopted the metric system yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Part 2:

    This line:
    When I went shopping to the supermarket, I was confused the differences of unit.

    Should be:
    When I went shopping at the supermarket, I was confused by the different units of measure.

    Or:

    When I went to the supermarket, I was confused the differences (in/between) units (of measure).


    This line:
    When I bought a bag of cherries, it was 3.99.

    Should be:
    When I bought a bag of cherries, it was $3.99.

    This line:
    The price was for per lb.

    Should be:
    The price was per lb.

    This line:
    I ended up buying a bag of cherry for more than 9 dollars!

    Should be:
    I ended up buying a bag of cherries for more than 9 dollars!

    This line:
    I don't understand Fahrenheit and mile well, too.

    Should be:
    I don't understand the Fahrenheit or mile well, either.

    This line:
    They have still made me confusing.

    Should be:
    They are still confusing to me.

    Or:

    They still make me confused.

    Or:

    They still cause me confusion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Part 3:
    This line:
    2. The difference of traffic rules

    Should be:
    2. The differences in traffic rules

    Or:

    2. The different traffic rules

    This line:
    I often opened the right door by mistake to sit on the driver's seat because the driver seat was usually on the right side of the Japanese car.

    Should be:
    I often opened the right side door by mistake to sit in the driver's seat because the driver seat is usually on the right side of a Japanese car.

    This line:
    I was surprised that we can turn right even though the traffic light is red if there is no car.

    Should be:
    I was surprised that we can still turn right even when the traffic light is red, if there is no car in the way.

    This line:
    But I was surprised and scared that cars drive too fast!

    Should be:
    But I was surprised and scared that cars drive so fast!

    This line:
    The speed limit on the highway in Michigan is faster than Japanese one.

    Should be:
    The speed limit on the highway in Michigan is faster than the Japanese one.

    This line: Try to be consistent, and either end your titles with a fullstop or not.
    3. The days are longer.

    This line:
    I understood their feeling, it was too bright to go to bed at 9pm in summer.

    Should be:
    I understood their feelings, it was too bright to go to bed at 9pm in summer.

    This line:
    But at a result, they couldn't wake up in the morning until after 9am.

    Should be:
    But as a result, they couldn't wake up in the morning until after 9am.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Part 4:
    This line:
    I didn't think it was a good lifestyle for them.

    Should be:
    I don't think it is good for them.

    This line:
    4. Various kinds of people are living.

    Should be:
    4. Various diverse groups of people.

    This line:
    Needless to say, majority of people living in Japan are Japanese.

    Should be:
    Needless to say, the majority of people living in Japan are Japanese.

    This line:
    Of course, some people are from other countries, but they are still few especially in rural areas.

    Should line:
    Of course, some people are from other countries, but they are still very few, especially in rural areas.

    This line:
    I realized that the US is the multicultural and ethnically diverse country.

    Should be:
    I realized that the US is a multicultural and ethnically diverse country.

    This line:
    They seem that they never think I can't speak English.

    Should be:
    They never seem to think that I may not be able to speak English.

    This line:
    Such kind of small talks don't happen so often in Japan.

    Should be:
    Such kinds of small talk don't happen so often in Japan.

    This line:
    I would like to write them more, but it would be too long to read.

    Should be:
    I would like to write more about the differences, but it would be too long to read.

    This line:
    I will write them little by little.

    Should be:
    I will write more about this over time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oops I made a mistake:

    This line:
    My children fell asleep in the early afternoon because it was the night time in Japan, and they woke up a night and stayed up all night!

    Should be:
    My children fell asleep in the early afternoon because it was night time in Japan, and they woke up at night and stayed up all night!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Terry, how are you?
      I am very happy to hear from you!
      Thank you for a lot of corrections. I guess you had a long time to correct them... I really appreciate your help.
      I will sometimes write my diary, I always welcome you.

      Delete
    2. I am good Kumi. Busy and still learning Japanese. I hope America is treating you and your family well.

      Sorry that it took me so long to respond.

      Are your children getting to grips with the language.

      Delete