(taken from an ad we saw in Tokyo-no idea what he was selling)
Japan is fairly clean (no trash on the streets, metro etc) despite the fact that it is a treasure hunt to find a trash can. And sometimes all you can find is a recycle bin.
The Japanese are not all short (I had several people tell me that I would "tower" over them-I'm 5'6" not 6'5"). Most seemed to be of average height.
The Japanese love cell phone bangles. Lots of them. Even adults in their 50's.
They do not favor a specific hair color. We did a scientific study with a blonde, brunette and a redhead. All were treated fairly.
While restaurants give you hot towels or wet wipes before meals, napkins are hard to come by during the meals. Unless you count the small square of waxy paper at the table.
Cashiers, waiters, clerks etc will continue to speak to you in Japanese even after your gesturing, clueless expression and the fact that you're Caucasian.
If you stand there looking clueless at a map long enough, someone will help you. They might insult your group by calling one of you the mother of everyone else (thankfully not me), but they mean well.
The Japanese Rail pass is the best thing to happen to tourists and the worst thing to happen to natives.
Japan is not that expensive to travel in.
The Japanese love dogs and love to dress them up. Sometimes they even push them around in strollers.
Beware of food that you don't know the filling. It may smell good, but it could be filled with squid parts.
A few weeks ago, I bought an iTouch (it's amazing). I was talking to my mom and told her about my recent purchase. She asked me what it was and I described it to her:
Mom: "I want one." Me: "No, you don't need one." Mom: "Yes I do. Then I can always be on YouFace." Me (after I burst out laughing): "YouFace?" Mom: "Fine, FaceYou. Whatever it's called these days." Me: "Yeah, you're not ready for an iTouch."
I love my mom, but her desire to be hip and technologically savy is hilarious.
When I was 8 years old (in the 2nd grade), my dad took me to see Arachnophobia. I'm convinced he thought it was a nature show (why else would he take an 8 year old). It wasn't. It was a horrible, terrifying movie. I've been scared of spiders ever since. That phobia has blossomed into a fear of all crawling insects. Last month this spider took up residence on my back porch: I made a pact a few months prior (following Kristin's lead) that I wouldn't kill bugs in their natural environment (their home), but as soon as they entered my home all bets were off. So I let the spider stay. I kept hoping he'd get sick of the place and leave. But he didn't. And he only came out at night. One time his web got destroyed in the wind. I hoped he would relocate. Nope. Two hours later he had a huge new web. And I swear he kept getting bigger. By this time Candace has moved in and she's a little freaked out by him too. We named him Volemort. It seemed appropriate for such a horrid creature. We stopped using the back door. Sarah moved in and was also freaked out. After consulting with Kristin it was determined that Voldy had 'intent to enter' and 'intent to harm,' and could be killed. So Candace bought the bug spray. The bottle said "kills on contact," but Candace went a little trigger happy.
That night Candace said she would pack all our lunches for the next day as she was packing food for her drive to NC. I thought it was a nice gesture. The next day at work I opened up the tupperware with my sandwich and noticed something sticking out underneath. I turned it over and saw this on the underside of the sandwich:
A huge, fake spider that made me jump in my seat. Thanks, Candace. Just wait till you return in December...
(taken from an ad we saw in Tokyo-no idea what he was selling)
