Reverse Culture Shock

I fought over where to put the hyphen, or if it even needed one, so I left it out. There, I'm rebelling against the English Teacher I used to be. Now, I fink I'll talk all stupid, innit.

Which leads me to my first dislike of being back in England - the people. That's a bit harsh, and I won't go on about the appalling accents or grammatical disasters I've been exposed to (which if written down on a sign, would've made a good Image Of The Week - only how sad that the Japanese have an excuse). Nor will I mention the rapidly heaving size of people here. Instead, it's more my problem than theirs:

1. Sensory Overload.

In Japan, it was easy to blank other noise out. If I didn't understand what was being said, and even if I picked up a word or two, it lacked meaning in the contex. Therefore, I developed a 'blindness'*, if you will , to television programmes, announcements and conversations.

Here, I pick up on the smallest chatter, from the neighbours next door to people on their mobiles as they drive past. It's distracting and offputting, and not something I would have ever imagined a problem.

2. Convenience and Price

This one was obvious - where's all the public transport, the 24 hour opening times of shops? Heck, they don't even open until the middle of the day on Sundays. Food is double, public transport is outrageous (over £10 for a 30 minute train journey!?) and fruit isn't as cheap as I'd remembered (the saving grace I'd constantly support England with over Japan). I could moan (and believe me I will) but as I've been told, it's England and I'll have to deal with it. Or starve.**

3. Food

I've had good meals here, but I'm craving Japanese food so badly. There's a Korean store close by but it's sparse so I'll have to investigate elsewhere. Or butcher Keiko into sending emergency rations. On the flipside, it really is potatoes potatoes potatoes here, and as much as I don't want to, it's looking extremely easy to fall back into a chips routine. I wonder if there's a rice-cooker lying around somewhere...

*'Deafness' makes more sense but I like how the sentence flows.
**I won't starve, please don't worry.