Catching Up-- Later.

I have craptons of catching up to do, since I have been hand-writing journal entries and I haven't gotten around to typing them up because, frankly, I haven't had the energy to do so. I'll post my regular daily logs later, but today I just want to share some oddity observations.

1. Putting a Japanese on a train is like putting a blanket over a budgie cage.
If riders don't have a friend, book, or cell phone to keep them distracted, then they totally pass out as soon as their butts hit the seat. On crowded trains, some people even nod off while standing up. It's really weird.

2. There are more vending machines per capita in Japan than anywhere else in the world.
This is not a joke-- this is a fact. And it's quite an apparent fact, as every block has at least one vending machine. Also, every beverage company stocks the machines with at least 15-20 unique choices, a third of them being some sort of coffee or tea. They also like convenience stores, and a konbini, as they are called, can be found every couple blocks or so.

3. Shoelaces are not en vogue.
Almost every single female I have seen wears some form of dress shoe or boot. Young men seem to like slip-on sneakers or dress shoes. Rarely have I seen shoelaces, and if I do see them, 1. the laces are fake and there may be a sneaky zipper on the side, or 2. the shoes are at least a size or two too large for the wearer. The important thing is that the show must be easily slipped on or off with little more than a tug. They take their slip-on shoe convenience seriously.

4. Neither, apparently, are sunglasses.
Mom explained that since their eyes are so dark, they aren't bothered by the light. The only people I have seen wearing sunglasses are advertisements with some serious-looking guy selling Boss Coffee, or kogal-looking girls with obnoxiously large and glittery sunglasses.

5. The more polite the woman is supposed to be, the higher pitched her voice gets.
Shop girls are especially annoying, as their voices reach frequencies only audible by dogs. It wouldn't be as irritating if it were just one at a time, but standing near the check-out counters of a grocery store subjects one to an entire chorus of squeaky ladies. It's like Office Space, just multiplied times 6 or 7.

6. Japanese television is freaking weird.
I watched a celebrity quiz show last night where the contestants would have to answer a variety of difficult history questions or solve logic puzzles. If they answered correctly, they'd be able to partake in some delicious-looking food. If they could not answer correctly, they'd have to sit and watch the others eat. And the commercials? Yeah.

7. Driving around Japan is freaking scary.
Everyone has these tiny, cute cars and they're sort of funny and adorable. But they're an absolute necessity-- Japanese roads are incredibly narrow and often have walls on either side. Unlike America, where there are specific lanes for turning onto intersecting streets and the norm is to wait for the car in front of you to turn, if there is no turn lane, in Japan if there is someone stopped in the road for whatever reason, everyone just veers around them if they have the room. Often they will swing into the opposing lane to get around the stopped car. This gets pretty scary if there is oncoming traffic, but people seem to be used to this as they're all ready to stop at a moment's notice. Then there are the added dimensions of pedestrians and bicycles that make this whole Japanese road thing insanely scary for me.

8. Wal-Mart has infiltrated Japan.
When shopping at the local Seiyu, a chain of department stores, I noticed that there were Mainstays brand housewares and Great Value brand food items. I also saw signs exclaiming the price rollbacks, and I thought "Huh. I wonder if Wal-Mart has stakes in this company." And it turns out that they totally do. It's pretty weird because you just don't expect that sort of thing outside America. It's kind of cool because they have good prices, but you have to really read the labels when you shop there because many of the products are made in China (as Mom found out when she bought some delicious-looking pickles that turned out to be totally gross).

9. People *really* like their dogs.
I've seen quite a few people walking their tiny dogs around town, but I was surprised to see that pet salons and pet sitters (amusingly, petto shitaa) are sort of a big thing here. It's hard to drive through a town and not see at least two or three cosmetic pet-related shops. I see mostly Dachshunds, Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Toy Poodles, Chihuahuas and Pugs here. Occasionally someone will be out walking their larger dog, like a Yellow Lab or something, but most people opt for the apartment-friendly tiny dogs.

10. They like to keep their streets free of litter-- except cigarette butts.
The streets are so incredibly clean here-- rare if ever will you find a can or wrapper sitting in a gutter. It's quite surprising, too, because there is a noticeable lack of trash cans. Mom said something about terrorists, but I think Japan has always been like that. The only thing I have noticed in abundance, though, are cigarette butts. The Japanese love to smoke, and it seems that their butts are the exception to the trash rule. While many people will politely carry their used butts with them until they get to a trash can, it seems that many more prefer to crunch them under their heel and walk away. It's pretty sad.