Culture Shock

 So here is a list of things that I have learned/experienced/struggled with since coming to Japan that is just so completely different from anything that I have ever known...

Shoes
Firstly, shoes. You don't wear them indoors... Now I am used to coming home and taking my shoes off as soon as I get in, or doing the same when I go to a friends house or some such. But here there is a certain area just inside the door where you remove your shoes and then actually step up into the home. DKH has a bunch of little compartments for us to keep our shoes, and it reeks of feet. I still get tripped up sometimes and grab my shoes and put them on before going over to the designated shoe area. Then its like this awkward stuck in place thing, when I take my shoes off and walk 8ft just to put them back on on a different part of the floor. But everyone isn't walking around barefoot, we all just have house shoes. Its a cultural must. And those can never go outside. AND you have to wear shoes in the bathroom, your house shoes are okay though. And this isn't just in the home, schools (not college) and even some restaurants do it too! And while I am talking about shoes... Japanese women wear heels all day, all the time. Jeans and a t-shirt and heels. A business suit and heels. Long dress and heels. How are their feet not dying?!

Choir
I joined the african american gospel choir at Sophia called the SAfro FAmily (SAFA). I absolutely love it! They are really good, and its great to be singing again. But it is SO weird seeing all these Japanese people singing and dancing and trying to act black. Surrealism aside though, they are super legit. Another strange thing is how they pronounce the words. They try so hard... but if you listen closely, its just not right. Jeeze does not equal Jesus, and you can't just live the final t and d off of words... lol.

Suicide
A tragedy anywhere else is just an annoying inconvenience here.  The train that I take had someone jump in front of it earlier this week (an almost daily occurrence on some line or another in Tokyo), and the line was backed up from the platform, up the stairs, past the ticket gates. It was insane. When I finally got on to a train, I was squeezed in so unbelievably tight that I literally couldn't breath properly, and my arm was pressed up to a pole in such a way that I was sure it was gonna break if I got jolted in the wrong direction. Suicide is almost... blase here. Back in the day, Samurai would perform ritual suicide to avoid disgrace. Now office workers just turn into emotionless drones, and some can't take it. But remember to take your shoes off first, its the polite thing to do...

Bathrooms
No paper towel, no towels, no nothing to dry your hands. Its just not economically efficient. If you are lucky you have an automated air blower. Speaking of automated, automated toilets are amazing! Warmed seats... A in-toilet bide (sp?) that you can adjust the temp, placement, and strength of the water, and (my favorite thing) a sound system that fakes a flushing sound while you are going to the bathroom so as to avoid any embarrassment. You either get all that... or a porcelain hole in the ground that you squat over, and it flushes sideways... I actually like those ones too, super easy and hygienic!

Customer Service
Everyone is super nice to you in the stores! They run to go get things for you. Everyone greets you as you walk into a shop, well... that part is actually really annoying. They go out of their way to please you, and its all just because they can! They aren't working for tips or commission, these things don't exist. Its simply because they should since its their job. Brilliant!

Personal Space
Doesn't exist in Japan. You cannot be the salmon swimming upstream unless you have a serious sense of determination. You go with the flow, packed in with the rest all the time. Hold tight to your bag, not cuz someone might pick pocket you, but because it might get pulled off of your arm and lost in the crowd. However, if you happen to be in a place with plenty of space, do NOT stand closely to someone else... If you don't like crowds and/or are claustrophobic, NEVER go to Tokyo... end of story.

Religion
There is a weird mix of Buddhism and Shinto (the ancient Japanese religion) here. Often a Buddhist temple can be found right next to a Shinto shrine. I honestly can't tell the difference between the two most of the time. But there are a few factors that help. Basic cultural things pertaining to the temples and shrines exist in daily culture... and yet no one apparently really claims to belong to a religion... Its a weird concept from the western perspective, but the melding of religions is completely normal here. Born buddhist, marry christian, and die Shinto...

Trash
Japan is a series of four relatively small islands. And its already overpopulated... They don't really have a space for landfills. So trash here separated diligently. There are like... 8 different trashcans outside DKH that we are supposed to put our trash into. The main ones are plastic bottles (pet), anything else plastic, and everything burnable. Trash cans in public places (few and far between in existence) have these three distinctions... it was annoying at first. But now I've really gotten the hang of it, and its pretty handy!

Basically, I am starting to miss the little things from America that I always took for granted... I ordered dominos pizza for dinner last night and got the american special (pepperoni). It was amazing. Now I'm off to the international market to buy some hot sauce and mexican food, lol.

Ja! Matta, ne!