Fun Facts about Japan

I thought after bing here for a week it would be a good time to explain some strange cultural things you may not know and also list off some of my impressions.

-Gaijin in Japanese means “outsider”- this is what they refer to anyone one non-Japanese

-Being a Gaijin at times is very beneficial and other times its makes you feel a little outcast but not all Japanese judge you on this as I have witnessed.

-Night time – Here it gets dark at 4pm every day but that in no way stops anyone from being outside

-The night life here is almost every night there is no pause for holidays. Weekends are a little more busy but really its just as crazy as going out any other night.

-Christmas – Christmas in Japan is NOT a family holiday... in fact my room is by an Elementary school here and the kids are at school on Christmas day. Christmas is more of a Romantic holiday for couples. As you can imagine all the restaurant are packed with couples and all the bars and clubs are packed with singles trying to escape the reality of their single status.

-PDA personal displays of affection... NON EXISTANT the Japanese rarely hold hands in public (with the exception of Christmas) anything more then that is unfathomable to them...

-Sickness, there is no means of self medication here... no aspirin, nothing like that. If people have a cold... they go to the hospital and if that strikes you as odd I might also add that they also wear masks (like doctor masks) as a courtesy to other people as well as filtering their own in take... so its not uncommon especially this time of year to see large groups of people wearing surgical masks around town while carrying out their day to day tasks or simply hanging out with a group of friends.

-Trains... the JR Yamanote line is the most packed train in the city because it operates in a circle and you connect to trains from there... if your claustrophobic... avoid it... you will sometimes get a little toooo intimate with the person next to you...

I still have a million other strange things to share... but I really don't wanna be stuck in this room typing them... id rather be out enjoying them... so when I get some time... I'll write some more.