Just when I finally thought I could deal without Japan for a while, I decided to tease myself by going back for a week...damn did I miss Japan. I would encourage you all again to visit but the yen is kicking so much ass right now that its probably not the best idea...If you are in Japan for longer than 30 seconds, here are some things you will notice.
-When your plane leaves the terminal, the persons working on the tarmac (actually a term for the material used, not the large paved surface itself - fun fact!) bow to you and wave goodbye. But as cool as this is for foreigners to see, it actually has roots in WWII - the pilots got a nice farewell because they were not coming back....so that's kinda depressing
-when people talk about themselves, they point to their face instead of their chest/heart. Not really sure why this is the way it is, but its kinda cool and I noticed myself doing it unconsciously after only a couple days.
-no matter how hot it is in a mall or train station, nobody takes off their coat. This blows my mind. I think I will take the inconvenience of holding my coat over sweating my 金玉s off. But then again, the Japanese probably evolved beyond sweating and discomfort...
Its also getting close to Valentines Day, so there is a plethora of chocolate goodies being sold in Japan right now. But its a little different than the chocolates you see in America. Department stores selling Hershey kiss sized chocolates for about 300 yen each is typical. Chocolate potato chips, liquor and chocolate beer (yes, beer) are sold in conbinis as well. I have seen enough chocolate in the past few days to last me a lifetime.
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