Only in Japan...

(well maybe not only in Japan)

Vending machine

• am I a morning person. No doubt the complete reversal of day and night helped, but now I find myself waking up at 8am on Saturdays. Who would have thought?
• are there vending machines in the middle of nowhere. 
• do the neighborhood roads have no names. In order to get somewhere new, you have to already know how to get there or have a smart phone.
• is there one plug per room. And it happens to be on a different wall than the internet outlet making it necessary to buy an extension cord and tape the wire all the way around the room.
• do you apologize for calling someone no matter the reason. Something like I'm so sorry for being rude by calling you. Actually you say something similar even when you were the person called. 
• is the trash so insanely complicated to figure out. Not only is there a different bag for burnable, non-burnable, plastic, plastic bottle, cans, recyclables, and glass, but you need to look at the chart to figure out where everything goes. For example, to throw out a plastic bottle the cap goes into plastic, the label goes into burnable, and the plastic bottle goes with plastic bottles. Once you've got that sorted you have to follow the trash schedule. Now if you're thinking that it's a simple matter of putting the bags out once a week you'd be wrong. It's four times a week, the schedule changes, you need to put it out before 8:30 and it's frowned upon to put it out the night before. If you're thinking 'oh, that's not so bad. You can just take it out to the curb in front of your house'. Well, you'd be wrong. The trash site is a good 10 minute walk from our house. Fortunately, it's only 5 minutes out of the way to take it before work. 

• do I find out about an early dismissal day and say, 'Oh, man. That's going to mess up my lesson plans.'  But just to clarify, it will be an early dismissal for the students only. They go home at 11:30, but I stay until 5:30.
• does the dust collect so fast that a minute after I finish cleaning the surface has a nice new coating. 
• does it take 6 weeks to get internet set up.
• is there such a ridiculous amount of gift giving. You give gifts to everyone at work if you go on a trip, are out sick from work, if a co-worker is out sick from work, as a thank you, as a welcome...the list goes on. It is a seemingly endless cycle. 
• is the typical lunch consist of  several different bite-sized things and rice. For example, a bento, as they're called, could consist of two small pieces of carrots, a small tomato, an egg, a bite-sized piece of meat and a small container of rice.
• are the toilet and the shower in separate rooms. This is a set up that I love. Though it would be nice if the sink was in the toilet room.
• is the bathtub deep, but short. I only fit if my knees are touching my chest. 
• do you take your groceries to a bagging table after you pay. This is a brilliant system that keeps the lines moving. As you shop, you put everything in a basket. At the check-out, the cashier will ring you up, put everything back in the basket, take your money, and give you bags.Then you go to the bagging table and pack everything up. 
• is almost everything at the grocery store sold in one-serving packages. For example, if you buy asparagus it will come in a bundle with maybe 5 stalks. 
• after you graduate from college, do your parents have to go with you to accept a job offer.
• are proposals really uncommon. Most of the time the couple just decides to get married. 
  
• do people typically get married (as in sign the papers) and have their weddings months or even years later. This sometimes happens after the couple has children.
• are iced pickled cucumbers a street snack.
• do you have to go to the dentist at least twice for a standard cleaning.
• do you bike on the left, drive on the left, but swim on the right.
• would this hair bow be considered cool and cute. It's a lot of effort for me to respond positively when my student asks what I think of the hair bows her mother makes her. 
• do you book bus tickets online, but have to go to a convenience store to make the payment at a machine so complicated my Japanese co-worker had difficulty figuring it out.