weekend starts monday
Monday and tuesday are my days off, so my week has shifted two days. Only one of many things i have needed to adjust to. Let's make a list of wacky Tokushima shenanigans:
1. Whenever you go into a store, at least one clerk greets you formally, usually all. And when you leave, they all formally thank you. I was in the bank today, and when i left, every single teller said thank you in a row as i walked towards the door. There must have been close to twenty. Like a stack of speaking dominoes!
2. However, when in the streets, everyone does their best to avoid looking at you. If you ask them a question, they snap out of it and become human again, then try to help you!
3. Most fruits you will find are unbelievably expensive. I have seen Japanese pears for 1600 yen (~16 dollars) and melons for close to 5000 yen (~50 bucks!). They are "gift" fruits, and i suppose they must taste good. Ordinary fruits are found in the grocery store, where apples are a mere 2 bucks each. No, the fruits never get cheap!
4. There are many streets, and they all have names, but there are no signs to remind you of them!
5. Sometimes you will be lucky, usually on a big street, to find some signs with its name on it. But unlucky for you if you can't read kanji!
6. Everything has fish in it except fresh produce. Even the air! I try my best not to breathe, but some always get in because of my damn muscle reflexes!
7. My roommate doesn't like to talk to me. When I try to engage him in a conversation, he usually gives me a one word answer and rushes away somewhere. And i can't figure out why!
8. The phone in my apartment is a rotary phone! This means I need to use my phone card outside at the pay phone. I forgot rotary phones even existed!
9. Japanese is hard! One year of college study leaves me a bumbling fool. At least i can ask for directions and tell people i don't eat fish!
10. To read ingredients on a food product, i need to spend a good hour or so with my trusty kanji dictionary. Good thing i get to study kanji as i hope to god there is no fish extract in my food!
That will be all for now. There will be more later. I hope my tear-inducing hardships put a smile on your face. Cheers!
1. Whenever you go into a store, at least one clerk greets you formally, usually all. And when you leave, they all formally thank you. I was in the bank today, and when i left, every single teller said thank you in a row as i walked towards the door. There must have been close to twenty. Like a stack of speaking dominoes!
2. However, when in the streets, everyone does their best to avoid looking at you. If you ask them a question, they snap out of it and become human again, then try to help you!
3. Most fruits you will find are unbelievably expensive. I have seen Japanese pears for 1600 yen (~16 dollars) and melons for close to 5000 yen (~50 bucks!). They are "gift" fruits, and i suppose they must taste good. Ordinary fruits are found in the grocery store, where apples are a mere 2 bucks each. No, the fruits never get cheap!
4. There are many streets, and they all have names, but there are no signs to remind you of them!
5. Sometimes you will be lucky, usually on a big street, to find some signs with its name on it. But unlucky for you if you can't read kanji!
6. Everything has fish in it except fresh produce. Even the air! I try my best not to breathe, but some always get in because of my damn muscle reflexes!
7. My roommate doesn't like to talk to me. When I try to engage him in a conversation, he usually gives me a one word answer and rushes away somewhere. And i can't figure out why!
8. The phone in my apartment is a rotary phone! This means I need to use my phone card outside at the pay phone. I forgot rotary phones even existed!
9. Japanese is hard! One year of college study leaves me a bumbling fool. At least i can ask for directions and tell people i don't eat fish!
10. To read ingredients on a food product, i need to spend a good hour or so with my trusty kanji dictionary. Good thing i get to study kanji as i hope to god there is no fish extract in my food!
That will be all for now. There will be more later. I hope my tear-inducing hardships put a smile on your face. Cheers!
posted by mdove at 8:18 PM
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