When you live in another country, you start to understand different ways of life and different ways of thinking, and as a result, you can learn to understand the same issue from multiple perspectives. It’s quite interesting.

It makes it easier to argue both sides of an argument if necessary, and it also makes your argument stronger because you understand the pitfalls, and also the upsides of the other argument much better.

I’ve found over time that a lot of the time my argument depends on the people I am talking to. I think in some ways I may have become a bit of a weakling in this regard, so I am trying to stay true to my feelings, and speaking up when I feel it necessary.

I think this is a product of living in Japan where on the whole people are taught to be submissive. All this means is that those who are articulate gather a lot of followers and tend to get their way, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be used for good or bad.

So, I try to use my arguments in a way that is good for me, while also understanding where the other parties are coming from, and I try to present arguments in a convincing way that is good for me, but let them decide for themselves what they think is the better choice.