Payback

I was surfing around the net the other day and came upon a blog written by another Texan (woohoo!) in Japan, and he had a list up on things he liked and disliked about living here. I think that's a great idea. Here's how my list looks right now:

Dislike (let's start with the bad stuff):

1) People who stare (see previous, lengthy post)

2) Food I can't identify is cheap and food I can identify is expensive

3) Not understanding the majority of what I hear/read. Or when in Shibuya, what I see.

4) Everything is sooooo much more expensive here than in the US! Especially with the horrid exchange rate.

5) Some (not all) Japanese girls. Seriously, do they eat at all? I mean, I see them in restaurants, but do they actually order food? No wonder they think all Americans are fat! Giselle Bundchen looks fat in comparison to some of these girls! Seriously, eat something.

Like:

1) I can eat sushi/tempura without going broke

2) There are adorable dogs EVERYWHERE and their owners dress them up

3) I have to walk everywhere. Most people wouldn't agree with me here, but I love to walk. It's probably the thing I always miss most when I go home to Texas- you can't walk there without frying, unless it's inside a mall.

4) Unlike many humanities & social science majors, I actually use my major every day. Haha.

5) The people that will actually interact with you are almost always ridiculously nice. Like, I mean, take-the-kimono-off-my-back nice. I think there's something in the rice. (oh god, did that rhyme?)

Things I Love/Hate (it's not cheating!):

1) Saleswomen. Everyone knows that Japanese people are generally kind, hospitable, and make excellent tourists. But what you don't know is that they save the very nicest people, usually women, for department store sales representatives. In America, I love to just go window shopping to look at all the lovely things I will buy when I one day have money. I have none now, so I don't buy. But my god, the saleswomen here are so nice, and give you ridiculous amounts of tastes/samples, I no longer window shop for fear of what I might buy. I have already been roped into buying stupidly priced items I didn't really need twice. And even after you buy something, they don't just drop you- they keep giving you free stuff. Seriously people: be afraid. Be very afraid.

2) Japanese cakes. I have never been to France, and I no longer have any desire to go. If the Japanese are merely imitating French pastries, I do not want to go anywhere near the real thing. They wouldn't be able to fit me back onto the plane. I have never seen such amazingly creative or delicious cakes in my life. And it gets better/worse: they have cake buffets! I have been to two and my god, I never want to know how many calories I ingested on those nights. It's very popular amongst Japanese girls, which serves to further my agitation: how do these girls stay so skinny!?!

So these are a few of my favorite/least favorite/ambivalent things.

Oh, and speaking of the staring thing, I've come up with a new game: Make the Staring Japanese Feel Uncomfortable. Before, I simply ignored everyone around me and stared into space. But today, I decided it would be so much more fun to catch people staring at me, stare back, and try to make them as uncomfortable as possible. I did it to two people on the train home, and I was right- it is fun. If you can't join them, beat them at their own game.