What does "feeling of being in Japan" mean?
Aug 24, 2007, 5:41 am
#91
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Japan
Posts: 1,056
Seeing the price of those backpacks in a department store
Apparantly each school has its own particular back pack and the price of these can vary considerably. There are plenty of people paying ¥50,000 and upwards for those cute little backpack cases. I bet that's a real "feeling of being a parent in Japan" when someone is first confronted with cost of buying one.
Apparantly each school has its own particular back pack and the price of these can vary considerably. There are plenty of people paying ¥50,000 and upwards for those cute little backpack cases. I bet that's a real "feeling of being a parent in Japan" when someone is first confronted with cost of buying one.
Aug 24, 2007, 10:16 am
#94
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Tokyo Japan
Posts: 454
Explaining to Japanese that "we really do not waite in two hour lines for KFC in America at Christmas for our Christmas chicken" and in fact KFC in America is closed on Christmas.....because it is er, Christmas.
Newspaper holidays?
Reduced ATM hours at banks so that they can save money.
Being told at a Japanese bank that some of my Romaji are not writen correctly and that I need to cross off, rewrite, and put my hanko above four of the letters in my own name.
Having a loudspeaker truck outside my apartment at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday blairing "VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME".
Working as an extra on a Japanese T.V. show and realising that you just confused the star with a crew member when you asked where the toilets were.
Realizing that Japan is the only country in the world with four seasons.
While riding the Shincansen, noticing a young lady pushing a cart and yelling "ICE CREAM ICE CREAM" and wondering who in their right mind would buy an ice cream at 6:30 a.m. in the middle of winter.
Realizing that the same street has been repaved every night for the past twelve years and that you could take the same material and build a road to the moon and back six times.
Talking to a Doctor about life and death decisions and realizing that he/she has a Mickey Mouse pen in his/her pocket.
Newspaper holidays?
Reduced ATM hours at banks so that they can save money.
Being told at a Japanese bank that some of my Romaji are not writen correctly and that I need to cross off, rewrite, and put my hanko above four of the letters in my own name.
Having a loudspeaker truck outside my apartment at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday blairing "VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME".
Working as an extra on a Japanese T.V. show and realising that you just confused the star with a crew member when you asked where the toilets were.
Realizing that Japan is the only country in the world with four seasons.
While riding the Shincansen, noticing a young lady pushing a cart and yelling "ICE CREAM ICE CREAM" and wondering who in their right mind would buy an ice cream at 6:30 a.m. in the middle of winter.
Realizing that the same street has been repaved every night for the past twelve years and that you could take the same material and build a road to the moon and back six times.
Talking to a Doctor about life and death decisions and realizing that he/she has a Mickey Mouse pen in his/her pocket.
Last edited by Tokyorich; Aug 26, 2007 at 9:02 am
Aug 24, 2007, 10:57 am
#95
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Ani Ichibanya
Programs: WWMFD
Posts: 6,292
Explaining to Japanese that "we really do not waite in two hour lines for KFC in America at Christmas for our Christmas chicken" and in fact KFC in America is closed on Christmas.....because it is er, Christmas.
Newspaper holidays?
Reduced ATM hours at banks so that they can save money.
Being told at a Japanese bank that some of my Romaji is not writen clearly enough and that I need to cross off, rewrite, and put my hanko above four of the letters in my own name.
Having a loudspeaker truck outside my apartment at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday blairing "VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME".
Realizing the the same street has been repaved every night for the past twelve years and that you could take the same material and build a road to the moon and back six times.
Talking to a Doctor about life and death decisions and realizing that he/she has a Mickey Mouse pen in her pocket.
Newspaper holidays?
Reduced ATM hours at banks so that they can save money.
Being told at a Japanese bank that some of my Romaji is not writen clearly enough and that I need to cross off, rewrite, and put my hanko above four of the letters in my own name.
Having a loudspeaker truck outside my apartment at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday blairing "VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME VOTE FOR ME".
Realizing the the same street has been repaved every night for the past twelve years and that you could take the same material and build a road to the moon and back six times.
Talking to a Doctor about life and death decisions and realizing that he/she has a Mickey Mouse pen in her pocket.
I'd cry if it weren't so true (except I'm never allowed any cross-outs, I have to rewrite the entire form & get back in line...).
Aug 26, 2007, 6:07 am
#96
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,163
Let's not forget the Super Yosakoi.
Aug 26, 2007, 6:38 am
#97
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Asia based now
Programs: AA 1MM, Hyatt Gold, SPG lifetime
Posts: 487
On one occasion I saw someone reserve a seat at the food court by leaving her wallet there and proceeding to the food establishment. Every time I get frustrated with things (like having to wait four days for a form to arrive so that you can sign on it for the ISP to reset your password since you forgot it or waiting over two hours to do a wire transfer from shinsei banks supposedly foreigner friendly omotesando hils) I realize there are things in Japan that you will never get anywhere else - like safety for instance.
Aug 26, 2007, 6:44 am
#98
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,163
Aug 26, 2007, 7:56 am
#99
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: UA MP
Posts: 1,659
Being able to lose a wallet with tens of thousands of yen, credit cards, an NHI card and various other cards in it and get it all back promptly. But, if you leave your keys in your bike, knowing your bike will promptly be stolen.
Aug 26, 2007, 8:57 am
#100
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,406
Let's not forget the Super Yosakoi.
(A modern take on the scene from Typical Spanish at 1:08)
Aug 29, 2007, 11:04 am
#101
Join Date: Oct 2006
Programs: Flying Blue, bmi, Alaska Air
Posts: 48
Maisen's crustless sandwiches
Aug 29, 2007, 4:25 pm
#102
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
>People having curry rice for breakfast in a train station "stand bar"
> Finding unusual flavors of soda in the vending machine (cardamom, plum) and 10 varieties of canned coffee drinks and 1-liter bottles of tea with milk
> Niboshi--little dried salted fish eaten whole as snacks
> The Minnie Mouse voice that female bank tellers and sales clerks often use
> The smell of barbecued eel
> The smell of roasted chestnuts
> Advertisements for businesses that feature little inset maps giving directions from the nearest transit stop
> Side streets where all the hotels have only fake windows
> Half the people in the subway car (and all the people under 30) are texting
> The distinctive style of clothes worn by stay-at-home married women, which one of my friends dubbed "the okusan look."
> Teenagers in school uniforms wearing white tennis shoes with the backs squashed down
> Shops that start selling umbrellas on the sidewalk whenever it rains
> Drink vending machines everywhere--including on hiking trails
> Being served iced coffee in a tall glass with a tiny pitcher of cream and a matching tiny pitcher of sugar water
> Farm women wearing sunbonnets and mompei
> Buses with light-up automatic fare indicators over the driver's seat
> Kimono stores that display unbelievably gorgeous ¥500,000 kimonos
> The ubiquity of mikans in the winter
> Finding unusual flavors of soda in the vending machine (cardamom, plum) and 10 varieties of canned coffee drinks and 1-liter bottles of tea with milk
> Niboshi--little dried salted fish eaten whole as snacks
> The Minnie Mouse voice that female bank tellers and sales clerks often use
> The smell of barbecued eel
> The smell of roasted chestnuts
> Advertisements for businesses that feature little inset maps giving directions from the nearest transit stop
> Side streets where all the hotels have only fake windows
> Half the people in the subway car (and all the people under 30) are texting
> The distinctive style of clothes worn by stay-at-home married women, which one of my friends dubbed "the okusan look."
> Teenagers in school uniforms wearing white tennis shoes with the backs squashed down
> Shops that start selling umbrellas on the sidewalk whenever it rains
> Drink vending machines everywhere--including on hiking trails
> Being served iced coffee in a tall glass with a tiny pitcher of cream and a matching tiny pitcher of sugar water
> Farm women wearing sunbonnets and mompei
> Buses with light-up automatic fare indicators over the driver's seat
> Kimono stores that display unbelievably gorgeous ¥500,000 kimonos
> The ubiquity of mikans in the winter
Aug 29, 2007, 6:39 pm
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,163
Maisen's crustless sandwiches
The katsu sando stands out because it is the definition of vileness in an otherwise excellent universe of edibles. And the feeling of Japan part comes of course, from the fact that the Japanese love it and is extremely popular. That's when I know that the Japanese are different.
Aug 29, 2007, 8:04 pm
#105
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: AA Platinum Hilton Gold
Posts: 50
--Taxi drivers wearing little white gloves. Taxis with lace curtains.
--Trucks with little vases on the dash--with a single flower.
--flower arrangements with only a few flowers.
--people dozing as they ride the subway
--Takarazuka all-female theater company
--bath salts in different colors and smells, but no bubbles
--department stores displaying bolts of cloth (for kimonos) expensive rocks
(for collectors)
--cricket cages
--obligatory maps to find restaurants, hotels, homes
--Hello Kitty and the prevalence of "kawai"
--the feel of tatami underfoot
--laundry hanging out on balconies
--Trucks with little vases on the dash--with a single flower.
--flower arrangements with only a few flowers.
--people dozing as they ride the subway
--Takarazuka all-female theater company
--bath salts in different colors and smells, but no bubbles
--department stores displaying bolts of cloth (for kimonos) expensive rocks
(for collectors)
--cricket cages
--obligatory maps to find restaurants, hotels, homes
--Hello Kitty and the prevalence of "kawai"
--the feel of tatami underfoot
--laundry hanging out on balconies