My Japanese teacher did warn us that when Japanese people say the know “a bit” of (Spanish or English etc) they usually mean good enough to hold a social conversation. So you shouldn’t say you know “a bit” unless you can hold a somewhat coherent conversation because you’ll be expected to understand more than you think.
I mean, r we not suppose to talk to strangers? Wut Edit: language barrier. english is my second language. What i mean is yes i agree pls dont talk to me if you're a stranger thank you 🤣🌸 and i find it odd in america if they just do that like if that was me, id be like "who the fck are you"
I think the child's first language question is nice. When they're younger, it's easier to learn and memorize all the languages as long as you keep talking to them in those languages. My parents are Japanese, but I was born in the US so I would speak in English outside, and at home it would be Japanese. Just make sure to also teach them how to read and write because I can't read and write Kanji that much. I really like Japan, I'm happy to see you're having fun there!
they’ll be able to as they’d attend school in japan-i think that’s the difficult challenge of parents outside of japan! we’re a nordic and mixed japanese/cuban married couple, and i definitely want to teach my kids to read and write in japanese in the future! i think it can be hard to feel connected to our culture when living away from japan, so knowing how to speak, read and write as well as visiting often can be so important for kids to feel immersed in their culture. you can always pass it down! ♥️
2 languages is not a problem for a young child. 3 or 4, you may start running into problems. Typically with foreign children in Japan, they enter grade school without a lick of Japanese. It's a tough first couple of years, but they'll pick it up naturally from then on. If you bring them to a Japanese pre-school, there won't be any issues. If you send them to an international school, they'll use English past the point where they can pick up Japanese naturally and will chafe against learning a second language. I say this as an Elementary school teacher in Japan for 13 years and counting.
Congrats on the move to Japan! My wife and I hopefully will be able to follow in the same footsteps and make the same switch from UK -> Japan one day 🥳
As a Half Swedish & Japanese guy I can confirm that there's a lot of similarity between the two countries. If you like camping I've found this super beautiful Bamboo forest camping spot really close to Tokyo! You should definitely check that out! (Also go to the West Tokyo doggo temple)
Sometimes i really wish i was born in a country with a more reserved culture like Japan and Sweden. Mine's so intense and extroverted that it's just overwhelming.
that's for sure. Find (one of the) least subscribers in a country. Move there. Struck a Gold Mine for maintaining your private/personal life w/o interfering w/ your RU-vidr life.
Very happy to see that you and your wife made the choice to come live out here! Being a fellow RU-vidr and resident of Japan...(26 years now...Geeze time flies by fast!) I see the passion you have for this culture that I myself had at the beginning and it brings back many fond memories. Now that my children are just about grown up (Son is in Tokyo as a University student and Daughter is in High School) I have more time to pursue my content creation goals (Gaming News Podcast, ect.) Anyway hope you and your wife continue to enjoy living out here! Best Regards, Expat
I’ve been waiting since 2020 to move to Japan too and I finally made it here at the end of March! So good to finally be here! Glad you guys finally made it too. Good luck with your new lives in Japan!
Welcome to Japan. I hope Japan is treating you good. Japanese economy hasn't been very good for the past 10 years and you moving to Japan is actually a very positive thing for us. We really appreciate you. Thank you very much.
A very heartwarming and encouraging journey. Loads of unknowns awaiting, together with frequent anxiety and frustration, yet you just go for it step by step. That really soothes everything. It reminds me of how I can go on with my life. Especially viewing the changes you've made all these years. A real companion.
I hope your stay in Japan continues to stay amazing! I've been living in Tokyo for the past 5 years and have never had any bad experiences but I know some of my friends complain about Japan because of its reserved, conserved and traditional way of doing things. So, as long as you can find the fun parts and understand the differences of the culture/people, it's very enjoyable!
Loved watching this as a 55 year old woman. I'm so glad you are finding happiness. May you and your wife have peace, love, good health and good fortune the rest of your life. Brofist!!!
As someone who lives in Asia, speaking English to a foreigner is actually not racist, it’s quite the opposite. We are trying to be accommodating since most foreigners we encounter just don’t speak our first language. We go the extra mile to learn and speak English just to interact with the other party and make them feel comfortable. It’s quite a cultural shock how foreigners would think that’s offensive
While some foreigners are grateful for the accomodation, many are not because most foreigners want to be treated like a mature adult. Foreigners don't like the feeling of being spoken to like a five year old child, even if it is with the intention to help. It also feels very exclusionary, like people who look foreign can never be treated like a local person.
Hope you're doing fine Jera, just wanted to say that we are here to support you even in your darkest times. Hopefully everything will get resolved ASAP.
Congratz, y'all! I'm loving the Japan 2022 vlog series so far. The music in itself is awesome. Side note, I saw another RU-vidr (iirc, it was Martina "KingKogi") mention this in one of their more recent videos. Not to scare you, but don't forgot to earthquake proof your shelves when possible! I think it's like simple bars (protection bar holds) that you place between the ceiling and the shelf to keep it from toppling over.
Talking about the similarities between Scandinavian and Japanese interior design: there's a style called "Japandi" and it's literally a mix between Scandinavian and Japanese elements and aesthetics. It includes a lot of wood for a peaceful and minimalistic atmosphere
Yes, it's one of my favourite home decor styles along with coastal and industrial. I decorated my room in this style. I must say it looks very easy on the eyes and calming.
The thing that makes me the happiest when watching your recent videos, and particularly your vlogs and the ones where you talk about your new life there, is how happy you seem. As a long-time subscriber, I've been watching you since I can remember myself watching RU-vid, so I've seen you go through various life stages, but this time you really seem to be glowing. Wish both you and Marzia the best
Thank you for doing vlogs in Japan. It was in my plans to be living in Japan starting last year, but I've been bedbound for three years now, permanently disabled. My health should improve, but I don't know if I'll ever get to live on my own, finish my Japanese degree, or go to the country. It's so nice to see you enjoy it!! It's a bit scary to think my dreams might have to change or how difficult and long the process might be, but for the first time in three years, I'm not avoiding images or videos of Japan. I'm starting to smile about it again, and I hope it can turn into extra motivation to get back my life I lost. I don't know if I can thank you for all that lol, but thank you for giving me these videos.
I'm from Indonesia. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Reality can be harsh & cruel sometimes, or at least for some (or a lot) of us. As a 40 yrs old who feels like a total failure, & now with some financial difficulties unlike before, I'm also crushed, tbh, when I've realized that my Japan dreams is probably slipping away now from my reach.. but reading your comment specifically, somehow I can't help but smile a bit.. thank you for that..
Wish you a speedy recovery! I went to Japan at the end of October for 16 days. Had the best time of my life. It was a guided group trip. I definitely want to go back someday. As soon as your health allows it, go for it. Japan will do wonders for you!
I love how transparent and honest Felix is. We all know living as a successful RU-vidr in Japan would be different than a normal foreigner working there. No need to sugarcoat the experience and create realistic expectations. I’m not from Japan but I visited Okinawa once and would love to visit more cities in mainland Japan or other islands!
Concerning your children's language learning, I was in a similar situation, with a French mother and English father but living in Portugal. The way they handled it for us was: - we would speak with our parents in their respective language (French/English) - we would speak with each other (siblings) in whatever the main language of the school we were going to was - we would learn Portuguese at school and use it when talking to native Portuguese friends - (our dad also made us write short fantasy stories in English to train the language when it wasn't yet being taught at a decent level in school, and as a reward for doing it we'd be allowed to play on the PS2)
@@nothingnothing9784 it worked pretty well, actually! All of us siblings are now bilingual English-French, and very proficient in Portuguese (I didn't really like the language as a kid so I'm slightly worse at it than my siblings, I still passed my driving license in Portuguese just fine though)
You know what plan do we have? My gf is Slavic and they speak Russian and me and my parents speak hindi mostly and some other local languages so what we gonna do is if we get married then we gonna talk to our kids 2 days a week hindi and Russian each. And we'll send them native English elementary school(UK most likely) where they can have English native friends but they have to talk to us in our individual native language 4 days a week.
lol same here... its actually mad how we all have seen him grow through the years, excited to see his next chapters and whether they get pregnant have kids and shit. It sounds wild lol but hes 32 already crazy how time flies.
Best case scenario for their Child / Children would be to talk Italian when they’re alone with Marzia, Swedish when alone with Felix and English when talking to both of them. Japanese then could be easily learned due to them using it in school I guess
3 languages is doable, Iv seen it in a few kids but it is quite a lot, 4 is really pushing it unless you teach them 2 languages to speak fluently/well and the other 2 just enough to get by
My aunt is from Japan and her and I get along really well. I love her different outlook on things. It’s extremely interesting to hear her talk about the way she was raised and the overall culture compared to life here in America.
For me, the funniest part about Japan (at least, Tokyo), was how much sticklers they are for the rules, but at the same time, they can be pretty pedantic about it when needed. When a friend of mine was renewing his visa, there was some sort of issue that required him staying at the gov bldg for the entire day while the staff tried to figure out a solution. Finally, at the end of the day, a member of the staff approached him with a judge by his side and two sets of paper in his hands and carefully stated "Your visa has been rejected." My friend was both surprised and worried about what was about to happen, but he could tell something was up. The Japanese staff member repeated "Your visa has been rejected. Would you like to appeal?" The last part said with a miniscule lilt in his voice and a very tiny tilt of his head toward the judge. My friend, utterly bemused, nodded. The judge spoke a single word "Approved" and left. The staff member withdrew the rejected visa and handed my friend the other set of papers, including his newly approved visa, smiled politely, and left as well.
Was so surprised to hear that you and the missus were moving to Japan! What an adventure! I think it's cool how there are many similarities between Sweden and Japan, and how that may have contributed to your comfort level in moving. Everyone sounds very helpful and down to earth. Best of luck in your new home!
Hi I'm Japanese living in the UK currently. Me and my husband have decided to move to Japan, my hometown Osaka in a few years after the house contract finishes here. I am so happy that you are in there, also my husband is a big fan of you. Hope you are enjoying :)
Those Vlogs you uploaded over the past few weeks really make me wanna go to Japan even more! Those are perfect for filling the gap while waiting to finally get there. Keep it up pewds!
Japan has been an amazing experience thus fare. We know you will have many amazing experiences. Get out and explore. We look forward to seeing what you do.
I love these videos man!!! Please keep uploading more Japan videos! Living my dream and I just want to see what you’re doing in Japan! Thank you so much for these amazing Japan vlogs ❤️❤️❤️
Will we reach 100K subscriptions by throwing 15 identical short videos and 1 long video? Let's check. We opened the channel yesterday and there is already progress.
I’m Japanese person and I feel so happy that you like Natures and Spiritual side of Japan! I hope I can see you somewhere in Japan and talk with you someday😄
One of the things I like about Japan was their aesthetic in the cities. The cities themselves are kept quite clean and they always find ways to add nature to their cities. Small detailed gardens, rocky walls, trees, small shrines, etc. Hard to explain but it's feels like a lot of compact detail while being natural and minimalistic. It's quite nice.
well, not many nature stuff in the like, the proper cities, mostly a local park or a shrine that was already there or smth. and the shop aesthetics rly depend on how long the building lasted and if its been in a family for generations. its never central planning, save for some highways. sometimes the smaller local city halls take care of those things
Great Q&A! I learned so much about why you like Japan! Yes I think many people want to know the one reason why you like it, but you usually like somewhere for many reasons, not just one! 👍
That’s awesome!!! Glad to hear about a spiritual side of Japanese culture from you. I hope you two enjoy living in Japan. 🍣 Watching your vlogs make me wanna go back to Japan 🥰
Its exciting when your favourite youtuber moves to your favourite country! Can't wait to see you explore Japan and its culture and hopefully share your experience with us! :)
Both my parents are from different countries so I grew up learning both of them, add two more languages in school plus another one of pure interest and you got a kid who speaks a lot of languages! It’s not as hard as you think and if you’re a child you pick up languages like it’s the easiest thing in the world
If you like learning about the history of Japan I would really recommend 'The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa'. It's really exciting/intense and you get to really understand how Japan became modernized after the feudal period.
It’s also good to learn about the dark side of Japan and the creation of the “kawaii culture” as a way to derail from war crimes. It’s amazing and shows you that not everything that shines is diamond
For all the people watching Felix like a hawk for his “Omg this actually really sucks, Japan isint what I thought it was” sort of comments- My consensus is that Felix will have a really awesome time in Japan, seeing that he dosent really have to WORK in Japan. A lot of complaints I hear from foreigners who move to Japan are about how grating and stressful the work life is. It’s much different moving to a country like Japan with money, than to move there and have to work a regular (usually) minimum wage job, pay rent, and juggle social life, personal life and work life. Felix already has a wife, he has a work at home job, he’s rich, and he has friends. So compared to other people, his personal struggles will most likely be waaaaay different than most peoples. Idk 🤷🏻♀️
@@everyone1liesd459 Yup. Long work hours to try to earn more money thorugh overtime that makes you think you are married to your job rather than to an actual wife. Source? I work in Japan.
@@stickmanspiff3409 damn I always heard about the long work hours Then a vice thing came out making run of herbivore men and I decided to see what really caused a large section of men to just shut off from dating and I found that if due to the crazy work hours in Japan Japan needs to chill, isn't it something like 14 hour school days. Japan is basically like being worked like a sweat shop worker but with Anime UwU
As you said, Japan and Scandinavian share similar mind and aesthetics. Nature love based lifestyle, simplistic, quiet and peace. There is even a word "Japandi" that means Japan x Scandinavian in interior field.
I totally agree with a bunch o stuff. Especially, loving Japan for the culture...other than anime XD - also can we get updates on Mariza's garden project?
"you think it's your own choice but in reality you make it for someone else" - That's really deep Felix. Two things happened to me: My mom really want me to become an architect and I become one. The second one is my friends getting married after graduation and I want to get married too in fear of missing out. Although I have changed my mindset on marriage because my spouse and my son really brings me happiness, but being an architect always bring me into depression and sleepless nights. The pay is decent and helps me to pay my bill but I'm not happy working as an architect. I'm in my early 30's now and I'm planning to find jobs or careers that I'm happy of. I've always wanted to be a public speaker or involve in performance on stage because I feel I can be myself on stage despite I have fear of speaking in front of public. Wish I can make this a reality one day, and hope you have a great time in Japan.
Can you make a lateral move to a similar profession that would use the knowledge you have but be more fulfilling for you? And you could start practicing public speaking by making RU-vid videos on topics that interest you.
yo best of luck my man, im sure youll achieve it! having somewhat the same situation apart from family and marriage part, more on the career of my own choice. thank u for your incite!
As someone who dreams of even just visiting japan I love the vlogging content. It's nice to see other foreigners opinions on the country as a resident itself. Also as someone who has followed and watched you since the Amnesia days it honestly makes me so happy to see that you're happy and how far you've come while doing the things that you want. This is what I aspire to in my own life.
I feel the same way about people asking if you're fluent when you're learning a language. I study Japanese and Spanish and I get asked that all the time by friends, and I never really know how to answer. No matter how much you study, it's hard to be quite fluent until you're in an environment where you're surrounded by that language all the time. With that said, you should catch on to the Japanese very quickly now! :) がんばってください！
Hi Felix san ! I'm so Ureshii to see you having fun in Japan. Things can get tough because of the high expectation that the Japanese ppl have in common and weird rules that doesn't seem logical, but I hope you enjoy the positive side of living in Japan more !
It’s weird, the uk produces a lot of amazing seafood but we sell it all in Europe and barely eat any ourselves. We seem to be very unadventurous when it comes to seafood, just same old fish and chips over and over.
I've eaten seafood in Japan and the UK and there honestly isn't that much in it when it comes to quality. I do prefer the style of Japanese seafood, but the quality and taste of the fish itself (before sauces/seasoning - which, for me, is what makes the difference (maybe Felix too)) is really no different. I wonder if Felix just stuck with cheap supermarket fish and never sourced from a fishmonger or market?
I really love felix's constant smiling. I'm so happy for him that they got to japan. Ever since he arrived, he always gives off so much positive energy.
My son and I are currently learning Japanese. It’s been hard. What we’ve been doing is learning phrases that we normally say to each other and just slowly expanding from there. And it is a very fast spoken language.
A method of learning Japanese you could try (assuming you haven't) is watching livestreams since you said that you were surprised at how fast Japanese people speak in Japan. I've found it a lot easier to recognize words and phrases how they naturally are said from opposed to watching anime where it is a lot slower and more exaggerated. I've found myself passively translating what they say during live streams in my mind even if I'm watching it in the background.
That's good if you already know a bunch of words, if you're just starting out you wont have any ideas what they're talking about, but at later stages it's the best method imo, honing your language to perfection.
Not really useful, you need to study the basics grammar and vocabulary first, watching livestream will do nothing unless you are at least intermediate level
Haha, I 100% agree with the language part; I've been learning Korean and I can confirm that it is NOTHING like learning another European language. There are no similarities, not grammaticaly or vocabulary wise, so you literally start from zero which is learning the alphabet and it's a slow, uphill struggle after that but like you said: it is fun! Keep going and good luck!
How do you even start? I grew up learning Spanish at home and English at school, I would imagine that wouldn’t help me with Japanese or Korean how did you start?
@@astroenvious6681 As well as watching shows/playing games in that language (but having the subtitles be your native language) you can start how we all started language, order some kids books and teaching books for that language, get a dictionary, and practice writing the characters on paper as much as you can!
@@astroenvious6681 i would recommend listen to music in that language while you learn the alphabet and look at the lyrics. The music will help you learn how to pronounce words in a way that is pretty conversational to the language. Its how I got confortable with Spanish. Following along with the lyrics will teach you how to read each symbol and the pacing of the language. It will teach you complexities and how certain characters interact when put againts others.
Same. I'm from the US and been studying for almost 6 months. You're exactly right, there's are no similarities at all. My tutor said first day, best thing to do is completely forget English when learning Japanese.
I am Japanese. I’m so happy to hear that you live in Japan!! well, almost Japanese people don’t try to speak to other countries’ people.. That’s why I want you to create a world where everyone will be happy and share regardless of the country💫 I know you can do it!!
Watching since the begin and i can say the vlogs from japan is the greatest ever, if you and marzia dont mind about it, please continue sharing your perspective there and how it's to live in what it seems to be the greatest country ever! One day i will move to there too, Hugs from portugal!!
As a fellow Swede who has lived in Japan as well I want to add my two cents on two topics. 1. Eating at a friends house: As Felix said, it is weird to me as well that the person didn’t even get asked. From my own experience and my friends experience we always got asked if we were going to eat at our friends place and if it was panned beforehand it was a given that we would eat there. 2. Learning Japanese: I learned to speak quite good Japanese in about a year. I could have conversations and even do more administrative stuff all in Japanese. If the goal is speaking Japanese the best tip I would give is to just force yourself to speak Japanese and to not care if your sentence is right or wrong. More often than not they will understand and you’re also, in my experience, usually close to, if not, correct in your sentence as well. This will also help you remember and learn how to use the words you’ve studied or heard.
My favourite part about Japan when I went was being out in the forests and temples. It is extremely peaceful and calm feeling, I understand why Felix would move there just for that
I lived in Japan for 4 years and absolutely loved it. I hope to live there again for another 3-4 years before retirement at which point I'll settle back down in the U.S. I know you'll probably never see my message, but I would highly recommend visiting Okinawa. Very nice, slow paced, southern island. It was explained to me as Japan's Hawaii.
Why NOT Japan? I agree that when people ask, “what do you love about Japan?”, it’s hard to describe unless you experience it. I lived in Japan for three years and that’s how I fell in love with the country, people and food. Keep doing your Japan vlogs cause we want to see more! Ganbatte! 😊
You know there’s such a thing as international schools. I think it would be a lot for you guys to have a small child go to pre-/regular school in Japan because it’s expected for parents to do quite a lot. Including writing diary-entries to your pre-school teacher about your child :-) every day. Even my (working) Japanese mom thought it was a lot.
When I went to the University in the states as exchange student, my American roommate loved this channel and this was the first time that I recognize you. Definitely this channel made our friendship stronger. We watched together and chatted a lot. And about 10 years later, you finally moved to Japan officially! How amazing! Hope I could meet you here in Japan and enjoy the life in Japan
