Cultural Insights About Japan

I am trying to learn some things about this fascinating country that we find ourselves in.  Here are some differences that I have noted:

1. Bear is taking cello lessons from Inoue Sensei off base. We have learned to take off our shoes as we enter the building and how to greet him in Japanese. I really like the formal greetings and closings of meetings as well as the bowing. There is ceremony to these procedures and I enjoy the respect they instill.

2. There is a procedure at the Japanese market. We pay for our items in yen and we place the yen in a dish. We do not hand it to the cashier. Then we take our items to the side to bag them ourselves. The Japanese packages for food are smaller than we are used to and the shopping carts are small. Some days the markets will offer eggs for 100 yen (approximately 1 dollar) and you can take one carton per person. So all the ladies bring all their kids so they can stock up on eggs. I discovered this when I took four cartons but I only had two kids with me. The cashier politely took one away with a bow. I smiled back because I could not ask why I was not getting my eggs. I had to ask my friends later to find out why.

3. I love the Japanese toilets complete with seat warming and bidets.  They scare Pants but I think they are wonderful.

4. When we went to Sapporo, I was very impressed with the Japanese cab drivers.  The ones I saw were older gentlemen and they all dressed in white collared shirts and ties. I thought they looked very professional.

5. The Japanese workers are very efficient. We received our household goods last week and had a Japanese crew of five. They arrived on time and did not mess around.  They brought in all the furniture first so it could be placed. They assembled Bub's bed, the TV stand, and the couch. Then they brought in all the boxes, assembly line style. It was so fast. We asked them to unload the upstairs (bedrooms and bathrooms) and kitchens. There is a strict recycling process in Japan and if the movers unpack the boxes, they will break them down and haul them out.  This was completely overwhelming at first as we were left with piles of items on our bedroom floors, dishes on every counter top surface, and even piled in the sink.  The good thing about the mess was that we could see all our stuff at once so we could sort it and put it away. And we were forced to put the things away if we wanted a place to sleep and eat.

Kitchen mess

Bedroom mess

I am enjoying this new to me country. I enjoy that all the kids activities are provided on the base. There is a strong sense of community. I enjoy that I can just send my kids out to play without worrying about sunblock. Here we need our rain boots, umbrellas, and mosquito repellent. There are many things and people that I miss at Nellis but my heart cannot be sad all the time. There is a lot to love in Misawa.

I love how things get translated sometimes.