Three left

It’s amazing how easy it is to get to know people within 3 months, especially if you don’t have too many friends. Even if you manage to get to know people, you never really know someone. Yesterday, one of them left. He knows that he will be missed by all of us.


When you live in a foreign country, I’ve always thought that it’s important tog get to know the people who live in the country in order to integrate. As a former Lebanese in Sweden, I often get the feeling that integration can not occur properly because foreigners and Swedes don’t integrate with each other.
The integration politic in Europe doesn’t only depend on the politicians but also on the foreigners themselves. I have seen it everywhere; people seem to want to hang out with people from their own countries or continent at least. I saw it when I was in France in 2002, In the states 2005, in Sweden and in Japan.
I know that I won’t live in Japan for the rest of my life so I’ve been hanging out with two Germans and a Canadian. The problem is not that I don’t want to get to know the Japanese but the fact that they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Japanese. And so far, they never asked; Diana, what do you do Saturday night? And If I suggest something, it’s always; I am going to a party at my friends place.
The professor’s wife seemed kind of surprised when I said that I had a plan last Saturday night. I don’t get it, they don’t want me to get friends outside the lab but still, no one at the lab would like to do something with me outside the lab?

This article in Financial Times is really tragic and confirms what I want to say, though it's about pressure from parents/school on children. Poor Japanese kids.