arigato

Earlier this evening, I was talking to Betty about how I might attempt to chronicle my past month of travels for the blog. With her straightforward wisdom, she mentioned Start at the beginning. :)

Not a bad idea. It's what most normal people do. But the logical side of my brain likes to analyze, summarize, make lists, put things together. So naturally, as I was sitting on the plane today, I came up with this mental list of the one aspect of Japan that is instantly obvious to any traveler ~ impeccable manners and unique mannerisms.

This post might be more for me than you, but I wanted to share it anyway. It just means you'll have to wait a few days for the more exciting, eye-pleasing photos that I know you're waiting for =)

I won't leave ya hanging.

Some things I like about Japan:
~ Employees actually bow to you as they look you in the eye when they say "Thanks for coming to *** Department Store..."
~ ...all of which have a food/grocery/bakery section on the basement floor where one can revel in free samples of chocolate, cakes, muffins, bread, fruit, pickled vegetables, matcha this and matcha that, and Japanese rice wine - sake! And no one would say anything to the two pillaging Americans who could only say "Yum" and "Thank you" in Japanese.

Dunno what he's making, but it looks good!

~ Everything you buy goes into a cute little colored paper bag fit to the size of your purchase, sealed with a single piece of tape, and maybe put into a plastic bag and sealed again with a piece of tape. Cute. Waste of materials, but cute.

~ And it's ok because they recycle everything in properly - and complexly - labeled trash cans. Ok ok, so it's only complex when there's no English translation! But they have all these rules and fines if you don't recycle correctly and all. I mean, labeled garbage "boxes" (as they're translated) are literally everywhere. There is not a venue without multiple recycling bins. My question is, when will WE ever get our act together like the Japanese?

(You have to click on the photos to see what they say)

~ Subways are ridiculously clean. Almost as clean as Ms. Medina's classroom floor! I kid you not.
~ Subways have TVs that show you in Japanese and English which car you're in, where the nearest exit/stairs/elevators are, which side of the car you'll be exiting from, and how many minutes away you are from all the subsequent stops. WOW. Guess it's probably difficult to find an excuse to be late in Japan, huh?

Am I missing anything?