Just Quite Not the Same

Daily life in Japan is, in many ways, a distant cry from American culture. But there are some things that are stunningly similar: things that make it almost unfair in a traveling American's favour. The language, the food, the crazy antics and fetishes with an infamously endearing reputation, the starkly different things mostly speak for themselves, and a typical American most likely has at least a general idea of their existence.

The strangest things I've found are the things that are the same.

Becky and I went on a deito last night, and ate out at Warawara. It was a cozy restaurant that had utterly fantastic sashimi. We removed our shoes immediately after entering and placed them in a locker. Shoes at the door help make the floors of Japanese restaurants sparkly clean. We were seated in a booth far secluded from anyone else - the whole restaurant was set up so the booths had a great deal of privacy. We could barely see anyone else's table from where we were seated. A recurring motif in Japanese restaurants seems to be the service bell. Instead of a waiter or waitress coming over and interrupting conversation from time to time, each booth has a service button, which you press to ring a bell when you would like the aid of the wait staff. Also, since tips are not part of the Japanese culture, you can expect a different face every time you ring the bell. Furthermore, after you ring the bell the first time, you will be asked about both drinks AND food. Drinks only come out first if you opt not to order the food with the drinks. Also, whether or not you order drinks and food together, or just drinks first, the drinks will come out first accompanied by a surprise appetizer. Last night, ours was a cup of macaroni and tuna that tasted dangerously reminiscent of my mother's signature casserole. Surprise, mom! I found a Japanese dish even you would eat.

All the previously mentioned aspects are hardly a far-cry from American culture, but are mostly an easily adaptable changes. Differences like should be expected in a country on the other side of the world. Things would be more strange if there weren't differences like these, right?

Well, let's talk about some of the selections we heard on the radio during dinner. All Star by Smash Mouth... If You Had My Love by Jennifer Lopez...

Washed up 90's pop? Seriously!? I was really excited when I heard the Hana Yori Dango first season theme song on the radio my first day in Japan, and later, the latest Fullmetal Alchemist theme song in a conveyour belt sushi restaurant... but now I get to eat Kelp Salad and Sashimi to Breakfast at Tiffany's? After spending an entire day, from 9 to 9, in downtown Beppu, this was definitely the thing with which I was the least comfortable. Japan is very westernized in some respects. Let the drink I ordered be another testament to this: グレープフルッツジュースgureepufurutsu juusu (read: grapefruit juice）

The Katakana alphabet, used specifically for foreign words (and also colloquially for emphasis), spells out english words very often. Juice, beer, wine, most drinks have english derivatives. On the alchoholic front, the best new drink, which surpasses everything in america but Khalua and Milk, is Chuuhai. Chuuhai comes in many fruity flavours, and grapefruit is my top-tier choice.

Coming soon will be "Adam and Becky's Top 10 'things' in Japan". As for tomorrow, we intend to have a day full of studying for our first two tests: kanji and vocab on monday, bunpou (grammar) on tuesday.

Until next time, please comment, and expand your breadth of knowledge by clicking my links~