More Random Observations in Japan
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Gargling apparently is the cure all for everything here…and it is not considered a rude thing to do. Teachers gargle and spit in the teacher workroom, students in the bathroom, wherever.
Men wear capris. A lot. I’ll reserve judgement.
The roads are so narrow in some places that on the telephone poles they have mirrors so you can look and see if someone is coming from the other street.
Instead of saying “umm” like we do when we are pausing or looking for a word, they say, “eto” pronounced ehto.
Fashion is very different. I can’t describe it other to say that as a male, it seems like you can wear anything you want. Full suits with gym shoes, pink pants, swear words all over shirts. As a female, it seems the main requirement is to wear lace leggings and a short skirt.
Bug bites, paper cuts, and colds are treated like national emergencies. On any given day eight or so kids (PER CLASS) in my school are wearing surgical masks. The schools have a constant supply of ointment to put on mosquito bites that is used up very quickly. (more…)
Konnyaku: Weirdest Health Food in Japan
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For my school lunches, I don’t know what I’m eating about thirty percent of the time. That is not an exaggeration; most of it is good even though I don’t know what it is, some of it is pretty terrible. It took me a long time to realize a particular garnish was in fact tiny baby fish. For about a month I had been eating a grayish chewy food and I finally had to ask what it was. Konnyaku.
from justhungry.com:
Japanese DUI?
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So I was waiting at an intersection to meet some people two weekends ago at about 10:30 PM when a police car pulls a car over only a few hundred feet away from me. By the way police cars in no way try to be sneaky here like cars in the US with the low profile lights on the top. The Japanese police cars have huge lights that stick way up on the car. (more…)
Random In Japan
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Ninety-nine percent of all the straws I’ve been given here have been the bendy kind. Awesome.
There are no laws regarding child safety in cars. I’ve seen some kids hanging out of windows like dogs.
Brands that are big here that have fallen off for some time now in America: Umbro, Lotto, Kappa. Purchased a track jacket in Japan? Check.
The “fu” in Fuji or other words isn’t pronounced like foo but more who. Whoji San is Mt. Fuji.
The most popular dogs I have seen here are weiner dogs or Akita mixes.
Apple has done well here, there are white earbuds and iPhones everywhere on the trains.
Rice is the most common breakfast here. The students were surprised when I told them Americans don’t usually eat rice for breakfast. (more…)
My First Japanese Enkai (Staff Party)
0This past Sunday was the last day of my schools festival, so I was looking forward to a fun, but very long day. The students participated in various relay events, did their sweet cheering, put on some plays…all was well. The real fun did not rear it’s head until one of the teachers invited me to go to the staff party afterwards, in very broken english.
At about 6:30, after 11 hours of working, the VP conveyed to me that I should go home and rest for a little bit; the teachers had a meeting I didn’t need to be at. Kobayashi sensei, who wasn’t eating hot dogs, drew me a map of a place and said I should be there at 7:30.
No one made it clear to me if I should eat or not before heading over, so to play it safe I had some ramen at home. On my way over to the restaurant, I took out about $40 dollars in cash, more than enough because if I drank $40 dollars worth I’d have a problem. (more…)