When you’re an outsider, you have more choices to choose from. Since I was raised in NZ where we have a big celebration at Christmas, I can have Christmas here in Japan, and then celebrate New Year’s the way the Japanese do with a big celebration.

It also doesn’t matter much when you do stuff as they would be done in your home country. For example, in Japan reversing into a car park is basically the only way to do it. Sometimes this is actually bad, for examples vans that park backed against each other at Japanese Costco, because they can’t open the doors, but if you aren’t from there, you have selective choice making. It doesn’t really matter what you do.

No matter what you do, if you do as the Japanese or not, you’ll still be judged the same way, as a foreigner who does as the Japanese do, or one who doesn’t. Either way, you have more choices to choose from.