Ask me how long a foot is, and I'd have to look at my shoe before I gave you an answer. I have no idea how heavy a pound is, and when people tell me that they live two miles away, I can't estimate how long it would take me to walk there.
For my first few years in Japan, I had the opposite problem. I simply could not visualize one meter.
The imperial system of measurement is so ingrained in the United States that I doubt that the metric system will ever be successfully adopted. After using both, however, I must say that the metric system is much easier for me to use. I can understand why the scientific community is so fond of it: it is logical and concise. No 12-inch feet or 16-ounce pounds, just good old base ten. Imagining how different types of units relate to one another is easy, too. What is one kilogram? It's the mass of one liter of water, that's what. I've gotten so used to giving lengths in meters and weights in kilograms that pounds and feet have completely dropped off of my radar. I can't even give my own weight or height without calculating them from the metric system (thus the parenthetical in my last post).
Even Centrigrade has become second nature to me. Tell me that it's 26°C outside, and I'll break out my T-shirt. Centigrade, also known as Celsius, took me a while to get the hang of, however. For a long time, I was doing the old C = (F-32) * 5/9 equation in my head after seeing the weather report each morning. Good mental exercise, by the way.
Fahrenheit, however, has been easier to reaccustom to than some of the other Imperial measurements. Perhaps it's simply because I pay so much attention to the weather.
Japan hasn't entirely gone over to the metric system, however: the floorspace in rooms is measured in using Japan's own system, 畳 (tatami, pronounced jou when used as a counting suffix). Almost every home in Japan has at least one room that is floored with bamboo mats: tatami. (The bamboo floors are, incidentally, a significant factor in Japanese people's distaste for wearing outdoor shoes in the house—even wearing indoor slippers on the bamboo mats is extremely rude.) The size of tatami vary slightly by region, but they are generally slightly less than 1m x 2m, or just about 3'x6'. When I was shopping for apartments in Japan, the realtors all gave me room sizes in tatami: (the standard size of a room is ６畳, six tatami mats). And, yes, that measurement is used for rooms whether they are floored with bamboo or not. After having lived in Japan for several years, however, I became able to visualize a ６畳 room without any problem, and so shopping for apartments in Japan was a breeze. Even square meters became easy for me to understand. Tell me that a room in a house has 35 square feet, however, and I'll have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
The only measurement that remains easier for me in the imperial system than in the metric system is speed. MPH still comes to mind much more readily than km/h. Perhaps it's a side-effect of driving in the U.S., but not in Japan.
Oh, yes, driving. Now THERE'S culture shock for you... but perhaps I'll save that for another time.
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