Things I Learned

From coming to Japan
1. Even if they don't speak any english at all, they still know what 'taxi' is and can point to where to find them.
2. McDonald's is here, though I personally think the quality is much higher.  I will say that the ketchup has a hint of spicyness but I actually like that.  Helps when I'm craving Western food....Pizza here is just not the same.
3. Hotel and Guest house owners usually can speak english well enough for you to understand, though in my experience the latter is better at it.
4. It is not quite the 'other world' feeling despite being across the ocean.  Though the driving on the left side of the road helps me remember I'm not in the U.S....And all the rice.
5. I think they really know how to cook seafood here, because I actually like it.  Though the dried fish and squid(I think) they gave me for a snack once was not.
6. Onigiri is awesome.  I'm hoping I won't get addicted to it, but it makes a great snack. Plus it comes with many different fillings so I won't get tired of it.
7. Kids are still energetic and restless, even here.
8. The only things you really need to keep an eye on are umbrellas and bikes.  Strange huh?  Those are the top two stolen items here....
9. Public transit is like the U.S., as in it is displayed in both Japanese and English in most places.
10. Drying laundry takes forever...and washing it by hand is hard...have a lot more sympathy for our ancestors...
And that's it for now.

Okay...

So things I learned just from flying to get here is going to start off my lists...
1. Airport security is not as scary or detailed as they make it out to be in the movies and books.  Maybe just because they could tell I'd never done any of that before...

2. While the aisle seat is great, you can get better views from the window.  Being in the middle is no fun for standing or seeing.  Unless you're glued to a movie/game.

3. Airplane food is great, though that may have been that it was a Japanese Airline....

4. Having someone willing to listen to you chatter before takeoff to calm your nerves really helps for the first time.

5. In flight movies that give you more than 1 option really helps, and games could be fun if the controller worked better...and they had more options that a novice could play...

6. Luggage retrieval is not that hard unless you are in a real hurry. 

7. Baggage handlers are not nice to any bag.  I got both my bags back dirty and one was damaged.  Thankfully in a minor way....

8. Jet Lag is REAL....spent the first two days in a dizzy fog where I was falling asleep at 8 pm and waking up at 4 am (no I'm not kidding).

9.  When my dad told me not to 'nickle and dime' getting from the airport to the hotel, he meant it.  I was sooooooo dead by the time I got there....

10. Layovers are super boring....no matter how cool the airport is.

And that's all for that list.

W. O. W.

Okay, I know it's been two months since I've written anything, but the electronics I brought with me could not do Blogger. Figures.
Plus there was the whole move to Japan thing...Jet Lag is real...and other things...
Well, I have a few lists that I will post later about the last two months but mainly I was seeing if I could get on Blogger for now.
Plus I work as long as my dad does with a bit of a longer commute...so not a lot of time for stuff.  Sigh....
Plenty of rain here...weird compared to home I must say....But I still catch myself not thinking I'm in Japan.  Not as 'other world' as one might expect.  But I did study the language and culture for a while there.  Made it less of a mystery I think...
So that's all for now.