Three Things that I Have Learned since I Moved to Another Country when I Was Forty

Ten years ago, I moved to Malaysia from Japan. Though I am still in the pandemic and cannot communicate with people under quarantine, I have learned tremendous things from this beautiful place. Although in the middle of the pandemic crisis, I really want to share my experiences and what I have learned here.

At first, I thought I was a person who came from an advanced country; however, now, I realize that I am just a person who came from a small far east country and does not know about the world at all.

1. Living in a different country means you are starting your life from scratch

Starting a new life in a new country is similar to being reborn as a baby again. When I came to Malaysia, I was just like a baby. I did not understand their languages, cultures, and customs. I did not even know the dos and don’ts here, so I went back to square one.

Everything was different. I did not know how to rent a house, how to open my/a bank account, or what to do during my free time. I did not know how to drive, even though Malaysia is an automobile country. I did not even understand what people in the gym were talking about after the classes.

2. You must forget your old ways

Living more than 40 years in Tokyo, my brain used to be quite stubborn. At first, I really did not want to change my old ways — I got easily upset in front of people. I was like a typical Japanese, very punctual and always demanded things from other people to do. I did not have patience and showed my emotions often until people called me an “angry bird”.

However, honestly speaking, it was not so easy to abandon my old ways. After several tries and terrible blunders, I came to learn that my attitude aggravated the situations. Finally, I found my old ways did not work well in this tropical country. They have their own ways. It was me who must learn how to behave like the locals. Thus, I have learned patience. I have trained myself to manage my anger. Meanwhile, some of my friends taught me that I must show respect to everyone which I never learned in Japan. In Japan, all I had to do was to recognize the people whom I must show respect to and show it accordingly.

3. Language is the key to another world.

When I was in Tokyo, I thought it would be impossible to become trilingual in my 40s like the Malaysians. I am sure many people still think that it is hard to learn new languages as you get older. However, I have found that if I am really eager to learn some culture, learning their language is a must. At first, I thought it was enough to speak English here in Malaysia, but eventually, I have learned that if I wanted to understand more, I must know their languages as well, so I started to learn the Malay language during the pandemic. It has led me to a world of Malay dramas and some other parts of their cultures which I have never seen before. Perhaps I have to learn Chinese and Tamil in the future.

In conclusion, the best thing I have learned was I realized that there are plenty of things I have not known before. After living here for almost 10 years, I have learned a lot of things and I am still learning. There are plenty of things that I need to learn in the world.