Archives: Observations

Things I've noticed about:

Japan
-Weirdo traffic light system
-People eat less fish than I imaginged
-People are less formal and strict as I imagined
-People like assuming I'm Japanese
-People are way too conservative
-Ovens are rare
-Washing machines use cold water only
-Climate is a mess, you only have to go a few hours to be in a different weather zone
-Circle K, Lawsons and Family Mart are generally better than Timely and Seven Eleven (rival convenience stores)
-There are too many shops selling the same thing
-International public phone calls are ****ing expensive
-Most people use mobile phones, few houses have home phones
-This place isn't as internet reliant than I figured it would be
-Cars here are ridiculously small
-Everything here typically has a Japan-only variant which is cheaper, better built and just generally better

Takayama
-Weather is crazy
-Theres a lot to do when you look
-People remember who you are
-Bikes and cars have equal priority on roads
-Retarded layout ie. rice fields randomly all over the place
-It's almost joined to the other towns nearby cause it's so spread out
-Too many festivals in this area
-They serve vinegar as alcoholic drinks here (and no, it wasn't remotely nice) along with many other weird drinks like alcoholic royal milk tea and pretty much anything, with added alcohol
-There's a local dialect (which I'm trying to learn)

General
-I'm so behind on everything, eg. new albums from my favourite artist and I had no idea
-People are disappearing to Uni and I'm not there to see them off
-I'm eating junk food everyday
-I have no idea where my money is coming from but I keep spending stupid amounts and I still have loads left (I hope this lasts)
-I keep visiting the local electronics store too often
-My previously planned activies are actually gonna fall through cause I didn't take into account the snow
-Because of the above, it seems I'll be taking up ice skating, skiing, snowboarding and indoor sports instead
-I keep spilling drinks and food onto my bedsheets
-One of the hospital staff assigned to looking after us usually doesn't understand a word we say, and as a result she typically nods and smiles as if she understands eg. a question, and then just walks off
-Going to the local gym is a pain
-Doing anything here is a pain, like sorting my trash into 5 bags