japan

so i just returned from a week in japan.

first time in asia . . first time really out of the country unless you count popular vacation destinations as mexico, puerto rico, the carribean or canada.

life in japan is very different . . . i'm not sure what i expected, i just did not expect what i saw (and smelled). it was a good time, don't get me wrong, i just found it so bizarre in so many ways.

the language amazes me . . . like how do they really understand each other? do they think that about english? it doesn't sound as 'long duck dong' as chinese, but some words are so long to say something so short in english. like thank you or thanks in english is pretty short. in japanese its 'arrigato gozaimasu' and they say it about 13 times a minute.

japanese are very proper and very courteous. they bow often and thank you even when they are helping you. i also noticed they take age very seriously. the elderly always move in with the grown children. its never a question, there are no such things as nursing homes that i could see. parents just move in with their kids when they are too old to handle life themselves.

they are proper in their dress, their speaking and their business transactions. at stores or restaurants, even seven 11 that are plentiful like kfc and mcdonalds, they have a little tray that you put your money in and the cashier takes it from the tray then gives you your change back in the tray, even if they are only two feet away on the other side of the counter.

combo meals at macdonalds are called 'sets', portions are very small, and the only overweight japanese i saw, ever, were those eating in an american restaurant . . . does that tell you anything?

they eat fish for every meal, rice for most, and top about everything off with a fried egg. we went to an italian restaurant in tokyo and on top of a plate of spaghetti, they serve a fried egg. macdonalds hamburgers have a bun, meat, lettuce, cheese and a fried egg. a bowl of noodles, fried egg.

the little noodle houses are everywhere and they always have plastic models of the food they serve in the windows outside their shop. the plastic does not do them any favors in terms of looking appealing to americans. in general, all japanese food to me at least looks like a dare.

i was a little intimidated before going not knowing a word of their language. i found for the most part, especially in the bigger cities, that most spoke enough english that with pointing, acting it out or using one word explanations in english for what you want, they'll figure it out and are happy to help.

most signs in bigger cities are in japanese and english. the airport is a breeze, the trains have electronic signs that alternate between english and japanese, and even announcements on the trains on the overhead speakers have both versions: japanese and english.

speaking of trains (were we?) the bullet trains, the high speed trains called the shinkansen (shin kaan sen) are the coolest ever. they range in speed from 130 to 275 miles per hour depending on the line you are on. they are expensive, but non-japanese can get an 'all you can eat' pass before entering japan for about $300 . . . the amazing thing is that they are always on time, always, they run at 200 miles per hour and are super smooth, quiet, clean and have food carts that are pushed by a japanese girl in a colorful uniform that come up and down the aisles to offer snacks, coke, tea and beer. people never talk on their cell phone
on the train because that would be disrespectful to others. i'd take those things here if they had them all day long.

you can get about anywhere you need to go by train there. the shinkansen is for longer trips -- city to city (or prefecture to prefecture, the equivalent of our states). local trains get you from place to place, street cars/trolleys and even train stations inside the airport so you get off your flight, go down a few flights of stairs and get on the express leaving the airport for various destinations.

so much history in cities like kyoto where i saw temples built by buddhist monks that were from the year 800 or 900. amazing feats of craftsmanship, even by today's standards, but how did they do that so long ago? i saw the longest wooden building in japan and went up the highest building in japan (the tokyo tower -- built after the eiffel tower, but taller than it).

tokyo is amazing. so big. so huge . . i was not prepared for that. i've been to new york a few times and marvelled at the size of manhattan. the concrete jungle they call with just miles of buildings and skyscrapers everywhere. the size of tokyo just dwarfs new york. it makes new york look like vernal by comparison, its just that huge.

you can go from one local train station to the next in tokyo and see a completely different world. shinjuku is huge with skyscrapers and business districts. harajuku is the teenage wonderland with american stores, latest fashions and a street called takeshita (i know it looks like take shit a but is pronounced like talk a sheeta) that is so crowded with teenagers who desperately want to look like an american. blond died hair, decked out in american designer fashions, and american music playing from every store. they have gap, h&m and forever 21 that are so full of teenagers, you'd think a jonus brothers concert just got out.

i really expected to see technology that far surpassed what we have in america. maybe that is the way it used to be, and maybe i was just looking in the wrong places, but i was disappointed. you did see people on the train turn their cell phones sideways, pull out a small antennae from their phone and watch tv but beyond that the electronics seemed to be what we have here.

the toilets were pretty high tech though . . . they all have electronic toilets. my favorite was the one where you opened the bathroom door, and the motion sensor turned on the light and lifted the toilet lid for you. when you were done you choose which button to push on a console on the wall -- one labeled 'weak flush' and one labeled 'strong flush' . . . i guess you can tell that you choose based on whether you just performed number 1 or number 2. all toilet seats are heated which really disturbed me.

watching japanese tv made me realize why we make fun of the japanese . . they are all just really weird. odd graphics, adults acting like kids, and japanese game shows?? who thinks of this stuff, the criminally insane?

in all, i had a great time, learned to appreciate a different culture, people, language and food. glad to be back, glad to be an american but i can certainly appreciate the respect that exists there. respect for others, for property, pride in the city, the clean environment (always see people cleaning streets, tombstones etc. no graffiti) and a sense that those people knew from tradition what the right thing was and they just did it, no matter if it was hard or unpleasant. made me feel lazy and spoiled.

but for now, i'll hang out in my air conditioned home, eat 'normal' food, watch american tv, drive my car with the steering wheel on the left side of the car and think back on the cool (not literally, it was bloody hot) experience i had in japan.