Adapting to your environment
Adaption to the new environment is crucial. It is important for mental health and maintaining a positive mindset. However, when I say adaption I do not mean "substitution". So let's use food and language as examples to illustrate this point - they have played a huge part in my adult life.
Just because I am in Japan doesn't mean that I need to give up all of my favourites from Australia and adopt a strict Japanese diet. Think about it. How long do you think you would last before you needed a slice of good old Vegemite toast or a classic sausage sizzle (onions. tomato sauce, BBQ-ed sausage and a slice of bread)? I mean, the average young Japanese person doesn't stick to a "Japanese diet" anyway. For that matter, what constitutes a Japanese diet these days anyway? It is something that evolves over time and of course is never the same with each generation. Furthermore, I guarantee you that the perception of a "Japanese diet" from someone in Australia would be completely different to what a teenage Japanese student would say (potential blog post idea).
However, if you at least try some dishes it would do a lot for your cultural understanding and earn you a valuable amount of respect from your hosts. Some dishes have arisen from historical events that we may not even be aware of (e.g. tempura, castella, ramen) or the ingredients may be the pride of the area or region. To dismiss without trying would be a shame for them and in some cases an insult, not that they would let you know. My advice to you (speaking from experience), is to try as much as you can, but if you prefer something else then politely decline and carry on. Make the situation lighter with humour and everything will be fine. Additionally, do not expect every supermarket to stock the same food you grew up with back home. If it is not a common food in the country you are in, then it will be harder to find and probably more expensive. Case in point in Japan - cereal. It is crazy expensive in supermarkets and in very small boxes. I have to say that the prices have come down over the years, but... thank you for proliferating in Japan Costco. Adaption.
As a language educator, one of the most frustrating things for me to see is a native speaker of English teaching unnatural language. Strangely (probably for you the reader), I completely understand how it came to be though. Around Japan, there are a plethora of advertisements using English in an unnatural way. You only need to do a simple Google search to see the funny stuff out there (e.g. https://www.pinterest.com/jparbon/funny-japanese-signs/). It is not limited to that. Music lyrics, language used by TV presenters, catch phrases that have caught on from comedians, and the list goes on. Perhaps the biggest hindrance to their ability to improve their English though comes from the modified pronunciations via katakana (see my website). Some examples would be: pataan (pattern), sutajio (studio), sutajium (stadium)... oh, there are heaps. There are many other reasons as well, mainly to do with the pedagogy of English teachers and the lack of meaningful interaction with native speakers. This website has an interesting take on it - http://www.ef.no/epi-v3/spotlight/japan/.
However, in terms of adaption, this is a case where adaption is not beneficial. In my opinion, there are many points that need to be addressed with English language education in Japan. It would take a lot of time to outline all of my thoughts now, but I will most certainly be addressing many of them in due course. Conforming to the status quo right now would, in my opinion, not improve the linguistic ability of many of the school students. English education needs to be treated more seriously and, above all, more meaningfully with global contacts and purposeful interactions. It will not change overnight. It will take a lot of convincing of a lot of key stakeholders. But, this is one of the challenges I am looking forward to.
