Astro Boy says: 'Let's work together to stop the threat of influenza!'

Haven't really done all that much today, 'cept study for tomorrow's placement test...

...

Anyway, thought I'd do something I've been meaning to do for a little while now: a list of expectations met and new surprises discovered in the 4 days I've spent here so far. No doubt I'll be adding to this list in the future, but this is what I've come up with so far.


EXPECTATIONS FULFILLED

• Japanese game shops are awesome.
• You can't travel more than a couple of miles without seeing a high school that looks identical to the last one you saw.
• Nobody uses jou-sei-go anymore.*
• Cashiers are exceptionally friendly.
• Gaijin get stared at sometimes.
• Bread and milk are scarce.
  A couple of fun observations on this topic for you. I don't believe the Japanese see bread in the same light as Europeans do; a staple, unremovable part of the everyday diet. It's difficult to find in the sort of quantities I'm used to, and is so much thicker than Euro-bread. In fact, in my wanderings around Imadegawa I came across a convenience mart sign that boasted that it sold "Bread and Food". The seperation between those two made me laugh, but then again, so did the picture of a tubby baby with an ice cream posted outside the cinema.
  Also, Japanese milk tastes odd. Not necessarily bad-odd, but odd none the less.
  And here's the interesting bit: the Japanese government doesn't have a 5-a-day fruit and veg scheme, but it does have a 3-a-day dairy products scheme. I can see why, with all the milk I've not been drinking and the cheese I can't find at a reasonable price.
  
• Trains are always, always on time. Even subway trains.
• Japanese kids are sickeningly talented sometimes.
• Japanese kids are sickeningly cute always.
• Convenience marts are convenient.
• Roads are confusing.
• Cicadas make that creepy crying noise you get in creepy horror anime. You know, the noise you hear in Higurashi no Naku koro ni (aptly enough**) just before somebody goes mental and kills somebody else.
• Japanese dogs are more common in Japan that most other dogs.
• Coins are USEless. I can't get rid of the things fast enough.
• If an inanimate object is going to have a voice, it will be that of a young woman. I can't tell you how creepy it was the first time a HGV enthusiastically told me that it was turning left, so watch out na no desu!***

*a form of language used by women as far back as the Edo period as a way of distinguishing themselves from the lower classes. These days it is used, if ever, to make a voice sound more feminine. Anime uses it a lot, but that's about it. I hear most Japanese people see jou-sei-go as being a bit unnecessarily eccentric.
**'higurashi' being a breed of cicada that makes that noice.
***this is an exaggeration. Larger vehicles use a woman's voice for their indicators, but the day I hear a truck use the voice of a 7 year old girl is the day I pack up and leave.


NEW SURPRISES

• High school uniforms look positively normal compared to what anime would have you believe.
• Insects make the most horrendous ruccous when you don't want them to.
• There is a wealth of wildlife here I didn't know existed, such as storks, small birds of prey and large bugs.
• Being a pedestrian is difficult.
  All the roads I've seen so far follow this same pattern. Pavements are just as wide as those sported by the rest of the world, but there is usually a cycle lane, usually on the side closest to the road. You see, bicycles count as pedestrians too, unless specified by a sign, so you often find yourself being overtaken by about 5 whilst another two come hurtling towards you. As far as I see it, you don't have to move out of the way, that's the cyclist's job. I think if you move out the way it's a bit of an insult to the cyclist's skills.
  In the suburban areas it gets even more complicated. It's like you have a big network of pavements, all with car lanes, so you have to give them space to squeeze past if they need it. Scary stuff.
• Japanese orange juice is great!
• You really can buy anything here. Positively anything. So long as you can sift your way through the myriad of shops to find the one you're looking for.
• Games are cheap, but I don't think technology is that much cheaper. I mean, Pokemon came out at £22-ish, and that's game plus pedometer device. Without the 'Walker it comes to about £17, and that's a normal price. But the new PS2, that wonderous gem I hope to one day own, is still £75. And no, that's nothing compared to the PS3, but it's still not the £30 I was hoping for.

That's all I've got so far.

As you may have seen I'm lacking a bit in terms of Japanese translations. I know, I know, I said I'd do all of them, but I seem to get a bit carried away with myself and then translating it all will take me the best part of the night. I may come back to these bigger posts, but right now I really can't be bothered.

Oh, and in other news, I deftly dodged Embarrassing Moment #3 today at the supermarket with an apologetic remark that got a smile from the cashier. Let's hope that was the last of them.

Thanks for reading.