Well LOTS has happened! I meant to write a bit earlier on but there's was no time and I really wanted to sleep.
Anyhow in my time here, I've noticed Japan is a country conscious of many things.
First of all, health. I'm sure you have all heard of the new Swine Flu and are probably being a bit more careful than normal but it's a very big thing here. Ever since it's started, I've heard it as the topic of many daily conversations. I also find that when I sneeze or cough (because sometimes you just do) someone will always look horrified and say "Are you okay?! It's not the influenza is it?". The school also has a yearly health check which takes an entire day. Also if someone is sick, they wear a face mask as to not sneeze and cough on others. Sometimes, you even see people who aren't sick wearing masks to guard against sickness. My host family has a habit of... I'm sure what you call it... gurgling water? It's like when some people brush their teeth, at the very end they take a mouthful of water, throw their head back and gurgle (that has got to be the most ridiculous word I've used in a description) then spit the water out (Great). My host family does that as soon as they get home. It apparently is a great way to prevent sickness.
Secondly, image. As I noted quite a while earlier, everyone here carries mirrors. Not only the females but also the males. Image seems to be very important here. A lot of people also carry a hair brush around and you see them brushing their hair again and again when the teacher is reporting the notices for the day. In the magazines here, there are pages and pages of how to do your make up and hair. I don't think I've seen so many different make up and hair styles in my life!
Thirdly, weight. The Japanese like to eat small portions and a bit of everything. Usually though, it's only 3 meals a day. There's some snacking in between meals but not very often. I've also noticed in restaurant menus, beside every selection, how much calories the dish contains is written on the menu. I asked my family why and they said it's because Japanese people like to be very careful bout their weight. =/ I must look like a pig here.
Fourthly (I've always found that a strange word), rain. I'm used to not caring very much about the rain unless it's absolutely pouring down. Here, even the slightest drizzle will result in everyone pulling out their umbrellas. I saw an incredible sight on the way to school one day. It was just a bridge of umbrellas. I don't mean to sound like I've been living under a rock my entire life but I've seriously never seen so many umbrellas before, and definitely not all in one place. Everyone makes sure to bring flannels too, especially during the rain. Usually everyone brings a flannel to dry their hands after the bathroom since they're always in a rush they don't always use the dryers and if they do, they literally slide their hands under it for 3 seconds and rush off. I see some people wiping their suitcases, phones, drink bottles..., watches (and other daily items you can name) with the flannels sometime. During rainy days, they'll wipe their faces, clothes, shoes and (bags plus everything else that got wet excluding umbrellas) after getting inside. My host mother's stressed many times over giving me a flannel during rainy days. It's very cute and sweet of her. There are also umbrella holders everywhere. Outside and inside stores, restaurants etc. If there aren't holders, there are bag machines which you shove your umbrella into and the machine releases a plastic bag for you to carry your umbrella around without it getting everything else wet.
Everything here is.... really mini. Really, everything's downsized. Though the insects are all super sized. Their bikes, fridges (The fridges wouldn't be able to fit half of the stuff shoved into my fridge at home!), cutlery (I swear the chopsticks in my house are longer...), plates, bowls (which I just stupidly spelt bowels haha), cups, cars, buses (Some buses here aren't much bigger than an average sized van), tissues, skirts, oreos, chips and other food products and items are half the size of what we're normally used to. Some of the bikes the teens and adults ride here are the same size as the bike I had at 7 years old. Their school bags are also ridiculously small. I wouldn't even fit half what I have in my bag in NZ in my current school bag, not to mention I've never had a lunch box ([o]Bento) so filling yet so small. Their meals are also downsized. You end up being really full after the meal but it's a very tiny portion of everything. Their streets are also impossibly narrow. There are mirrors above almost every street corner. They're slanted downwards slightly so you can see oncoming traffic on both sides of the road. It's so narrow around some corners so I've giving up looking sideways, I just look out for cars using the mirrors now.
Japan also loves hiding things and confusing you with escalators. Zoe and I were checking out Shibuya 109-2 one day and on every level, the next escalator leading up changes sides. I'm sure we spent an extra hour or two in that building than was necessary just because we kept getting the wrong side. We've also rarely run into rubbish bins here. I asked Ms Sakurai why and apparently Japan doesn't have a lot of public rubbish bins because they're scared someone will chuck a bomb inside it. Thus everyone's encouraged to take their own rubbish home with them. Unlike how we usually chuck what rubbish we create at school and outside into the bins provided, you take all your rubbish home with you. Their rubbish is very well divided though. It's not like how we chuck everything recyclable into the same bin. They separate their recyclable items so it's like paper only, plastic only, caps only, straws only, cans and cartons only etc.
We've also been a tad surprised that there are so many housewifes still and gender is very separated. Unlike how even at a one gender school in NZ everyone has a mix of friends from their school and other schools and friends of both genders, here, they don't mix if they're not at the same school. Barely anyone in my school knows anyone in another school. The ages are also divided. Everyone respects their elders so much, even at school but year groups don't mix. Nearly everywhere, girls are urged to wear skirts or dresses and avoid pants. A lot of females do where shorts and pants now but female students and all business women I've seen so far always wear skirts. Anything school related, pants are not allowed, skirts and dresses only, because we're not males. A lot of the co-educational schools here separate the genders once inside the school.
That's all I have time for tonight. I'll write some more in the weekends.
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