Currently on spring break, which means I spend a lot of time surfing the 'net, and today a found an interesting article entitled "46 things visitors to Japan find surprising." This probably includes reactions by people from all over the world, not just from North America / Ohio, so I shouldn't feel angry that some things on the list don't apply to me. However, I find this sort of thing super annoying, because there are people who completely internalize this kind of stuff and think that all non-Japanese people in Japan feel the same way.
Seriously, I have had students who don't believe me when I tell them that I don't own a gun (never even touched one, thankyouverymuch), and my favorite food is not hamburgers.
I have here the list from the article for your perusal, with my personal reactions underneath each one.
1. The trains actually come on time
-I grew up on a farm in Ohio. We do not have trains in Ohio, therefore everything I know about trains I learned in Japan; thus, trains in Japan are perfectly normal.
2. The fruit is really delicious (There’s a lot of cross breeding)
- Farm! Ohio! Fruit in Japan is horribly expensive and the majority is imported
3. The bread at 7-11 is really good
-Sure, if you like sweet fluffy stuff that all tastes the same. I like wheat bread. Does 7-11 have wheat bread? No, I didn't think so.
4. Taxi doors open automatically
- Cool, but I'd only give it about 5 seconds worth of surprising. I'm more concerned about the fact that none of the taxi drivers know where my house is.
5. The high likelihood of lost items being returned to you
- On our farm in Ohio we don't lock our house unless we're going to be gone overnight.
6. Everyone eats KFC for Christmas dinner
- Really? I've been gone both Christmases that I've been living in Japan. Didn't realize it was that prevalent
7. There are vending machines absolutely everywhere
-Yeah, but since Japan is legendary for its vending machines, I wouldn't say I was surprised.
8. You can buy alcohol and tobacco from those ubiquitous vending machines
-Since there are smokers all over the place in Japan, the tobacco vending machines make sense. I didn't know there were alcohol vending machines until my dad came to visit and he wanted to see one. QUESTION OF THE DAY: How do you keep underage children from accessing said vending machines?
9. The Washlet bidets
- Two points here- 1. I learned about bidets by watching a South Korean TV show. 2. I never use them. (Bonus point - Japan is supposed to be the heaven of technological invention. Nothing that has to do with technology in Japan should be a surprise.) (FYI: a bidet sprays water on your rear after you finish to clean up. A refreshing change from toilet paper)
10. You can drink water from the tap
- I guess for people from less developed countries this is true. However, for me, the farm in Ohio has it's own well, so we got fresh water straight from the ground - not like the treated stuff that comes from the tap here.
11. The tea isn’t sweetened
- I only put sugar in my tea if you give me a sugar cube (because I like to watch it dissolve). Otherwise I have always had my tea straight.
12. You can smoke in restaurants
- You can smoke most other places as well...
13. There are free samples at the supermarket
- Are there places that don't have free samples? Some articles on Yahoo from the States suggest going to Costco and getting a free meal by eating all the samples
14. There are tolls on the highways
- I mostly don't go on the highways, so ok
15. You can find absolute masterpieces of pastry at cake shops
- ...with zero amount of taste
16. The confusing, complex layout of Tokyo
- never been there
17. The buttons to summon a waiter at family-style restaurants
- Dude, those things are super awesome!
18. Touch-screen menus at bars and restaurants
- Are these common? I've never seen one...
19. There are holes in the 5 and 50 yen coins
- In Ireland there were 2-tone coins
20. People hand out free packets of tissues on the street
- It's a form of advertizing and they come with directions to a store. I feel bad for taking these, 'cause chances are I will never ever use their product. On the plus side, you don't have to buy tissues in Japan
21. The quality and selection at 100 yen shops
- I read somewhere that 100 yen shops are basically stocked by the leftovers from Chinese sweatshops, so I make a point of not frequenting them
22. Japanese people really like Yahoo!
- They do?
23. GPS is automatically included in rental cars
- This is important in Japan, because you have almost no chance of finding your destination otherwise.
24. You can leave a bag to save your seat and no one will steal it
- See my answer to # 5
25. A small-size drink is actually quite small
- At restaurants they give you a glass for water, plus whatever else you order, as is common in the States as well. Unfortunately, the water cups are super tiny, so unless they leave the pitcher with me, I feel like a jerk, 'cause I keep asking the waitress to bring me more water. Especially in the summer.
26. There are power lines all over the place
- Yeah, this one's weird. I know it's a city and all, but I don't remember there being this many power lines when I lived in B-more
27. People politely line up to wait for the train
-See answer to #1. Also, this is not completely true. There are plenty of people who cut in line and try to get on the train before they're supposed to. (Interestingly, they're mostly of the more elderly generation)
28. Heated toilet seats
-See answer to #9. I don't mind them when they're really toasty in the winter, but sometimes it's just a little warm, which is weird because it feels like someone else was just sitting there.
29. The high price of movie tickets
- OH MY WORD, YES!!!!!!
30. There are pachinko parlors everywhere
-And they are noisy, smelly monstrosities
31. The skill used in wrapping gifts and other purchases
- ??? I guess I never get anything gift wrapped...
32. The multi-story parking garages
- What other kind of parking garage is there? What I find really interesting are the things where it's two racks of cars, with a little elevator system to get cars onto the top.
33. The ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) system on the highways
-Yeah, that's pretty cool. It's basically like my train pass, where I add money and then it comes out as I cruise through the stations without having to buy a ticket. Except this is for cars and it means that you don't have to stop for tolls, just slow down to about 30-40mph.
34. There are hot springs just for your feet
- I love foot baths. They are usually free, if you don't want to spend money on the full onsen experience.
35. There are women-only cars on the trains
- Which makes perfect sense, considering all the perverts you have to worry about otherwise. I guess if you want to call it "surprising," the surprising part is that safe-and-law-abiding Japan has just a problem with pervs that they have to designate special cars for women
36. The love hotels
- See answer to #7
37. Cigarettes are really cheap
- Never bought them, don't know
38. It’s so safe you can go walking around in the middle of the night with no problem
- I do, however, take the subway anytime after midnight, since it's closer to my house and I (a young-ish female by myself) won't have to walk as far.
39. Japanese squat-style toilets
- See answer to #7. Also, pretty sure there are many places that still have these. Most of these places can't afford the porcelain variety, of course, but still...
40. The incredible variety of KitKat flavors
- See #7. Also, I have never seen these famous KitKats, other than the green tea one.
41. There are still elevator girls who operate the elevator for you
- Who are super helpful if you are lost. No elevator boys, I noticed...
42. The packets of condiments that you can easily open with one hand
- ?????
43. Capsule hotels
- See #7. My goal is to sleep in one of these while I'm here. Interestingly, there aren't as many of these as you would think. I think there's one in Osaka.
44. The lucky bags sold at New Years
- ?????
45. The rooms at business hotels are tiny.
- Have never stayed at a business hotel, couldn't tell you
46. The foreign guys dating beautiful Japanese girls are often ugly
- the "beautiful Japanese girls" are often not the prettiest ones around
A couple things that I feel should be on the list, but weren't for whatever reason:
47. love hotels
- see #7
48. street gardens
- People in the city have no space, so they plant everything in planters and set them out on the road in front of their house
One thing I saw on another list from the same website:
49. women dress well
- not just women. Everyone dresses up all the time. However, this should only be surprising if you're from, say, North America. When I was in Ireland and the UK, I noticed that people generally dressed much more nicely than peeps at home did.
Another reason this (particular) list annoys me is because if feels like A. someone wrote their personal list of things they were surprised at and / or B. someone wrote all the things that foreigners are SUPPOSED to be surprised at.
source:
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2012/06/22/46-things-that-surprise-foreigners-in-japan/
No comments:
Post a Comment