5-18-035-18-03Hi you guys.
I finally made some time to write again. I've had a lot more time to see and do stuff, so I wrote some of it down. I know that you're all pretty busy, and some of you are totally anti mass mail, so just let me know if you're not interested in being on my little distribution list (Steve, I'm already expecting a response from you here).
OK, so I’ve been in Japan for fours days now…long enough to make a few initial observations. First off, I have to say that Japan is the weirdest mix of the genius and the retarded. I mean these people have designed streets/sidewalks that efficiently and safely accommodate cars, bikes, and pedestrians of every kind. Yet they eat their food with little wooden sticks. I mean do they not realize that with a fork, you get to scoop, twirl or stab. Chopsticks are just primitive tongs.
Japanese women are tiny. I mean teeny-weeny tiny. I absolutely feel like an enormous plodding cow next to these females. When I was in a women’s clothing store, the pants looked so much like what you’d see in a US children’s section that I seriously thought we were in the wrong department. And Japanese women like to *dress-up*. Hair, make-up, trendy pointy fashion shoes…the works…and that’s just to go to the grocery store. Japanese women are also the masters of multi-tasking. Yesterday, I saw a Japanese woman on a bike with a baby in a kiddie seat on the back and a basket on the front full of groceries. She was also holding an umbrella, talking on a cell phone and smoking a cigarette…. all while wearing a skirt, pantyhose and heels. I couldn't have made that up if I'd wanted to.
For all that the Japanese are a closed society and do not welcome foreigners, they love themselves some American culture. You should see the crap of ours that they prance around as trendy or popular. "Adults" wear those crazy Brittany Spears pigtails. The hottest thing going in a men’s store I passed were shirts designed to look like a Mountain Dew delivery guy’s shirt. They’ve got cowboy boots and SpongeBob Squarepants and everything Disney you can imagine. A bag from The Gap is a preferred way to carry things around. There’s a McDonald’s on just about every corner (though at theirs you can get a tofu burger with chicken added). It’s just funny to see such an odd assortment of the exotic and the familiar all rolled into one. I’ve gotten to explore a bit Urayasu, the area we live in.
There are number of stores easily within walking distance from the apartment. Walking distance in Japan has a slightly different meaning than in does in the states. People here are willing to walk farther. The train station is a mile and a half from the apartment and that’s not a big deal at all. But less than a block from the apartment is D2…sort of a Japanese version of K-Mart. Some clothing, lots of house wares, soap, shampoo, that sort of thing. It’s very much like any American discount store. A full block away is the Ito Yokado (Ito for short). The Ito is complete insanity, and I know I won’t do it justice. It’s five floors of shopping. But it’s not like one store to a floor…oh no, that would be too easy. Each floor has bunches of stores, but they aren’t separated by walls like in a mall. You basically have to pay close attention to make sure that you’re not accidentally crossing store lines without paying. For example, on the first floor, there’s a grocery store, a bakery, a drug store, a 100 yen store (basically a dollar store), a candy shop, an eye care place, a film/photo stand, a water store, and a meat/seafood counter. All of these have their own places to pay and you better be paying attention or you just shoplifted.
When you shop for food or household stuff (but not for clothes) you *have* to have a basket (those hand-held jobbies like at the front of Publix – they give you a cart on wheels specially designed to hold two of those if you need it). Why I do not know, but having the basket is part of their “system.” When you check out, you do NOT unload you basket. The cashier unloads stuff as she rings it up and puts it into another basket. You then pay for your groceries but you do NOT hand the cashier money. There’s a little tray you have to put the cash on, and THEN the cashier will take it. The cashier counts your change out at the register and then counts it back to you out loud, flipping the bills in the coolest way that you have to see to understand. I learned today that a great way to offend the crap out of the cashier is to count the change yourself after they’ve handed it to you. Basically it’s saying that you think they’re a big fat liar.
Well that’s enough babbling about Japan for now. Tomorrow, maybe I’ll tell you about the food.
Hey mom, if you could send me e-mail addresses for the boys that would be great. And if someone who knows could tell me how Madeline is doing, I'd love you forever.
Take care ya'll.
Love,
MG