When I started to learn the Japanese language in Italy it became pretty clear to me that, without daily exposure to kanji and spoken Japanese, it would have been really difficult to master this language. So, when I made up my mind to move to Japan and decided that I wanted to work and live in this country, I searched for a living environment that would allow me to be exposed enough to the Japanese language. That’s one of the reasons I chose to live in a Sharehouse.
By living in a sharehouse I was able to talk daily with my Japanese housemates and practice or double-check all the things I was learning at the Japanese language class. Not only was I able to improve my language skills but I was also able to grasp a little bit more the Japanese mentality and customs. Living in a sharehouse made it easier to adapt to this amazing and completely different culture.
The sharehouse experience doesn’t limit to Japanese people and the Japanese mentality only. I met new friends coming from all over the world: South Korea, Canada, France, Cambodia, UK, Denmark, etc. Understanding new cultures and making new friends from all over the world has been a real blessing.
During this coronavirus pandemic, the sharehouse life allowed me to speak with natives daily even during the lockdowns. Also, unlike a lot of my friends who were living in apartments, I was never alone even when everyone was asked to not leave their residence. While living in a new country, with different culture and language, it is really important to have someone around who could help you if needed. It is so easy to fall into loneliness and give up on a new adventure because you couldn’t find anyone to talk with.
It goes without saying that sometimes the sharehouse life has some bad aspects too. To peacefully live together with other people I had to compromise on some aspect of my life. I ended up living with someone I didn’t really like, or being asked to be more mindful about the other housemates, or having to ask another housemate to be more mindful about me. But overall I believe it is worth the experience.
No matter where do you go, you’ll always meet people that you like and people that you don’t like. Compromising is an important part of living in a community and, in this case, a sharehouse is a tiny community. Learning from others, teaching something to others, helping others, being helped by others, are all experiences that make us grow as humans. And life in a sharehouse makes it easier to have a lot of these experiences while living in a house.
That’s why I would suggest to everyone coming to Japan to try the Sharehouse LIFE.