All is good on this side of the world apart a typhoon hitting Japan this weekend. Oh well I am not too worried, they say Kyoto should be fine and I am NOT moving from here. Plus I never experienced a real typhoon before so it should be fun...I guess :-/ To me Japan is a very peculiar country, where spontaneity seems forgotten. I feel there are rules for every single move you make and nothing is left to the case. Everything has a logic, but things are not always logic to me. Still I am enjoying myself very much and the fact that everything works so well makes it very easy to travel around.
Below some of the things I could not imagine nor did I know about Japan (and myself :o)
1. I love having sushi for breakfast. If 10 days ago someone would have told me that I would eat raw fish for breakfast I would have laughed, really hard. Here sushi is just delicious and I can't have enough.
2. You are not allowed to smoke on the street. There are big signs on the floor telling you smoking is forbidden and specific designated areas where you can have your cigarette. Problem is you can't find these areas very easily. The strange thing though is that in some restaurants, bars, hotels and even trains (yes, I saw people smoking on the train) you can still smoke, in specific areas of course. I find this bizarre.
3. I love sleeping on the tatami. I was a bit concerned the first time I saw this thin little mattress laying on the floor in front of me but once I tried it I had the best sleep ever! If you go to Japan, rent a tatami style room at least for some nights.
4. The transportation network is just AMAZING. I cannot imagine it getting any better. I saw the fastest, cleanest, the most well connected and on time trains and buses ever. You can't go wrong and you can plan your trip around the country really easily. The seats in the JR line are the most comfortable ever!
5. You will hear Japaneses saying "arigatou gozaimasu" more times than you would ever wish for, and you'll find yourself saying it all the time too. The thing goes both ways, even when it's not necessary. Really.
6. In Japan they barely speak English and the majority of people can't understand it either. This can be very frustrating, especially when all you need is a simple information. Everything is written in Japanese only, even in museums, temples, touristic places, restaurants, hotels etc...I think they should make a bigger effort with English, especially because more and more tourists come here and it would be nice for them to get to know some locals a little better. I feel this is what I am missing: chatting with locals.
7. If you ask someone for directions, they will come along with you all the way even if they are going in the opposite direction. Reading point number 6 you may think that they do this just because they can't communicate well enough. I believe the majority of people is genuinely nice over here and in any cases is very kind of them to go the extra-mile to help you out - literally.
8. There are no garbage bins in the streets, really none. I bought sushi at the supermarket, ate it there and then carried the box with me aaaaall the way to the hostel. I still can't figure out how they can keep their streets so spotless if there are no garbage bins. Go figure..
9. Many things seem to work the opposite way. If you take a bus, you get in from the back door, you pay and you get out from the front door. If you open the water tap, you need to push down. If you pull up it's closed.
10. When you eat out, wherever you go, they will give you fluffy warm towels to clean your hands. I love it.
11. In Tokyo I saw entire buildings full of video games, like 5/6 floors buildings. Lots of kids go there to play, the music is super loud and it's almost impossible to socialize. I didn't like that very much. On the other side, I love young Japaneses dressed up Manga like. You meet them all the time in Tokyo.
12. Temples look all the same to me. The ones I really enjoyed because of their extreme beauty are all in Kyoto: the Kodai-ji, the Kinkakuji and the Inari. The gardens of the first two and the wood surrounding the third one are just lovely. Nature in Japan is stunning by the way.
13. Japanese "onsen" is great. I went to the Hirayu no Mori onsen and it was absolutely what I needed.
14. Geisha don't like people taking pictures of them. I managed to get some nice shots though.
15. Girl friends often dress exactly the same. Today I saw two girls wearing even the same colored lenses, a part all the rest being the same, including the color and the cut of their hair.
16. To get on the train or bus, you need to patiently line up one behind the other. As Italian, where the concept of queue does not really exist, I found this to be the real cultural shock!
17. Walking on the street, you will find yourself watching so many and so extremely good street artists and performances, from magic to music. I find this great.
18. Japaneses take the longest naps in buses and trains.
19. You will have to take off your shoes so many times. So so many. I am getting a bit tired of it, actually.
Japan is almost nothing like I expected it to be, and for this reason I find this country even more interesting. I just know I could never ever live here. Too much organization and too little spontaneity.
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