I've been looking over my posts on here, some good, some bad, but overall it seems like I've grown. Most of the posts of mine seem like they're mainly out of frustration which either could be because of my bad hearing, lack of confidence, and new to the culture. I also think some of it stems from of my childhood trauma of always being told that I can't do something because it's too difficult, and so I did it anyway to spite people.
Now I can take my experiences from being in Japan, take a step back and see what can I do differently. First would be to tell people to speak up and speak clearly and give the reason why. If they switch to English, I'll still tell them to speak up, speak clearly, and give the reason why.
Have more confidence in speaking because I've already been to Japan and lived there for four years. If I go back to work, it won't be in Tokyo/Yokohama as it's a been there, done that sort of thing. I'm thinking Nagoya since I went there with my ex-boyfriend and he showed me his hometown. The people were nicer and had that country feel to it. Osaka might be a good choice too.
Accept the fact that people will be saying 「難しいですね。」 or 「日本語が上手ですね。」 and just take them at face value since they're part of Japanese culture. I personally don't see any meaning behind them except as conversation filler.
My so-matome books now have more value to them as I've experienced what they present. It's good to reinforce what you already know.
