I've been off in my own world teaching lessons, goofing off with students, and building furniture from Ikea. My apartment is almost ready for a photo shoot, just need to wait a few more nights until I can clear out all of these cardboard boxes.
But in the meanwhile, I thought I'd write a little bit about how different the Japanese way of life is when compared to what we're used to in the USA.
Eating at Restaurants
Restaurants are always fun, right!? And there are so many local places where you can eat here that are absolutely fantastic!
One of my current favorites: Sushi-Ro, a $1-a-plate sushi restaurant. Conveyor-belt Sushi Restaurants are totally fun! And when you pay at the end, they total your amount based on how many plates you have, with a nifty little measuring card. If you go to Himeji, you have to eat there at least once!
Anyways, restaurants in Japan are a bit different from ones in America. The biggest difference: NO TIPS.
Seriously, don't try and leave a tip. That's like, taboo.
From what I understand, servers here are paid a full wage, so they don't need tips to supplement their income. This also means that food prices can be a bit more expensive at restaurants here, but in the end I think the costs even out.
Additionally, you can be helped by any server at a restaurant. Need something? Just wave the closest waiter/waitress down! A lot of restaurants even have a feature where each table has a button on it; press the button, and a server will appear pretty much instantly at your table to help you out. It's like magic.
I love the magic waiter-summoning button.
Some restaurants will have English Menus if you ask for them (Eigo no menyuu wa arimasuka? Do you have an English Menu?) but if they don't, most of the menus are full of very descriptive photos. And you get used to walking on the wild side here, and ordering mystery food. It's almost always fantastic! (So far I've only disliked raw sea snail and octopus suction cups.)
Shopping in Grocery Stores
Shopping in most stores is pretty much identical to what we have in the USA, so I don't feel too much of a need to write about them.
Some things all stores have in common in Japan:
--Employees almost constantly saying "Irrashaimase" at you. It means "Welcome." You might hear this upwards of 20 times inside of a single store. You get used to it pretty quick!
--Cash only. Credit and Debit Cards aren't a thing here. You will carry cash on you pretty much constantly. It's worth investing in a coin purse, because you will pretty much always be drowning in coins (which go up to a $5 increment).
--Price tags will always be in Western numbers (aka 1, 2, 3, 4). You'll always be able to read them, which makes life so much easier. You'll learn to recognize the kanji for "en" (Japanese for Yen) pretty quickly. An easy conversion rate to remember: 100en is about equal to $1.00. So whatever the price tag is in en, just remove the last two numbers, and you'll get a rough estimate to what that would equal in American dollars.
But grocery stores (and a few other larger-end supermarkets and stores) do a few things differently. The biggest difference from stores in America is that clerks won't bag your purchases for you. (And you usually have to pay for the plastic bags, too!) They'll move your purchases into a new basket, and then you're going to need to go to the bagging area and bag your own groceries.
Bagging areas are usually, conveniently, located right behind the registers. If you see counter space, with people bagging their groceries on them, you're in the right place!
Most other stores I've been to will bag your purchases for you. Grocery stores are one of the few exceptions.
Shopping in Japanese grocery stores is otherwise pretty similar to American ones, except that pretty much all of the product labels will be written in Japanese. If you're lucky, you might see some English words here and there. If you've ever gone shopping at LeeLee's, then you'll have an idea of what this is like. Something as routine as grocery shopping becomes something of an adventure when you can't read any of the labels.
Oh, and just a warning: fruits and vegetables cost a lot more here. Want an apple? That'll be 600en ($6.00). And if you want chicken, beef, or pork? You'll need to sell your soul for those. Fish can be cheaper, but make sure you get it fresh. I've been learning to visit grocery stores in the evenings, because a lot of food will go on clearance. They really like to keep their stock fresh, here. So if you don't mind flirting with danger and close expiration dates, grocery shopping in the evening can result in some big savings.
Taking the Bus
Learning how to take a bus in Japan is pretty essential. It's also surprisingly different from how we take buses in Arizona and the rest of the USA.
First major difference: you get on the bus from the side door, not at the front.
As soon as you get onto the bus, you have two options: you either slide your bus card on the scanner right next to the door, or you grab a ticket from the machine right under the scanner. The ticket will be a small slip of paper with a number written on it.
At the front of the bus, you'll notice a big electric signboard with a bunch of numbers on it. Those numbers will correspond to the number on your ticket. They indicate at what point you got on the bus. Next to your number, you'll see how much your bus fare is. The fares will increase the longer you ride the bus.
That's right: in Japan, you pay based on how long you ride the bus. In Arizona, you pay for the number of times you take the bus (or by days).
When you exit the bus, you will need to make sure you have the exact change for your fare, and your ticket, (or your bus card) to insert into the coin slot next to the driver at the front of the bus. (Yes, you exit at the front of the bus.) Don't have any change? No worries! Every bus in Japan comes equipped with a change machine. Any time the bus is stopped on your route, just walk up to the front, insert a yen bill, and the machine will convert it into coins! Pretty nifty, right?
Also, to ensure that the bus driver stops at the stop you want to get off at, make sure you push one of the "stop" buttons--you'll see them everywhere, usually by every seat. It'll give a little "beep" when you push it, and then you'll notice that every button on the bus will light up. They'll stay lit up until the next stop. (This way, you don't have everyone pushing on the buttons for the same stop!) This isn't too different from buses in Arizona, but it doesn't hurt to mention it, either.
Today I just hit on a few small aspects of life in Japan. I'll slowly try to go more in depth into other areas of life here!
Some topics I'm thinking of covering soon: bugs, garbage, and shoes. Hopefully that will be a nice cliffhanger!
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