culture shock and expat lessons.

tomorrow i teach a discussion class on cultural differences, living abroad, culture shock, foreigners, etc.

for some reason, i never thought that i was an Expat...but an expat is just someone who lives in a foreign country. i suppose i'm an expat? 

i have a negative understanding of expats, but maybe that's just american culture? if you live in another country, you're betraying your own? america all the way? long live freedom and democracy and rodeos and free gun laws and all that?

but the thing is, i'm not planning on permanently living abroad in a foreign country. although, the more i think about my plans for the future the more i want to live abroad. its been an invaluable experience.

also, i don't think its difficult to move to a foreign country. i think people who think its difficult are just lazy or afraid to do it.

one of the vocabulary words for tomorrow's lesson is xenophobia. 

i think i'm past the culture shock of japan....and although i denied having it, i'm pretty sure it was just an overall slow process for me. it wasn't one particular event, but maybe the first 5 months or so? 

and i think i'm already experiencing reverse culture shock, without even going back to america. or maybe its just personal life shock...looking back on my life. i shock myself.

WE'RE JUST ALL PART OF THE UNIVERSE, MAN.

haha. i'm so lame.