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Here is a tip to dealing with culture shock that they didn't mention in the pre-departure lectures at UQ: before going to your host country, go somewhere else where the culture shock experience is about ten times worse.
Now, I know I'm biased because I've been to Japan before and I speak some of the language, but still, going from China to Japan was like going to heaven for me.
Every time a car stopped at the lights I wanted to give the driver a hug.
Every time someone walked down the street and didn't spit on the ground in front of me I wanted to applaud then.
And the toilets, oh the toilets! After China's traumatic experiences the public toilets in Japan were pure bliss.
Well, actually compared to any toilet I've ever been to before, some of the public toilets I went to in Osaka and Kyoto were just amazing.
In Osaka I went to a toilet at one of the train stations. I was still in the habit of emotionally bracing myself for Chinese train station toilets (train station toilets in China are just unspeakably gross).
However, the preparation was unnecessary. This toilet in Osaka, sparkling clean as per usual, had those nice heated toilets with all the different buttons you can play with. Upon exiting I found out the sink had an automatic soap dispenser, an automatic water tap and an automatic hand dryer - all in the one sink! And as if the luxury of being able to clean your hands without touching a single thing wasn't enough there was a vanity area to reapply your makeup.
But it seemed there was a competition to have the best public toilets, because in Kyoto I found my true toilet love.
It was all of the above plus more. The interior decor was just that much nicer than the one in Osaka. When you say down it automatically started that flushing sound so that others couldn't hear you do your business. When you stood up it automatically flushed. It was pure toilet luxury. And a public toilet at that. I couldn't believe it.
Since then I have of course visited some of Japan's less savoury public toilets. But even the worst I have been to would've been considered a fairly good public toilet in China.
Not that the toilets in China were all that bad. I mean, one particularly traumatic experience did make for a particularly amusing anecdote/reenactment when I went out drinking with some Americans in Kyoto. The girl I was talking to in particular, a gorgeous sorority college student, was definitely suitably disgusted and disbelieving at what I had to go through.
So anyway, if you're worried about experiencing culture shock in Japan just go somewhere else like China first.
If using a squat toilet would normally be a problem, after China as long as the squat toilet is reasonably clean it's no problem.
If I get annoyed about having to wait so long for the lights to turn to green so you can cross the road, I just remember when it didn't matter even if the lights were green, drivers would still try to run you over.
And if I find taking my shoes off and putting them back on constantly so much annoying, I just thank my lucky stars that Japanese people care about cleanliness enough not to spit everywhere on the street.
I don't know why no one ever suggested that before!
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