Here are some of the things that I've learned after my first month in Japan....
1. There are many earthquakes here. Awesome.
One of the first things one of the trainers tells us as I'm expressing my nervousness about earthquakes is...."Seriously don't worry, they're not bad at all. I'm trying to think...I don't even think there's been one this past week..." Perfect. So basically she can recall earthquakes on a weekly basis.... Are you freaking kidding me?
A couple weeks later on my Japanese phone I see a message
that says "earthquake." What on earth is that supposed to mean?? Did someone text
me this? Does it always say this? Maybe it's a warning? I later come to find out that yes, there was an earthquake (which somehow i didn't feel) and I'll get a text message with alerts...so I guess that's good to know?
They also have a city-wide loudspeaker that I am pretty sure is used to inform us about storm conditions...but unfortunately i have no clue what
they're saying...all I know is that when I hear someone talking at 4am, I know there is most likely going to be a typhoon that day....
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| My amazing start group...all of whom have felt the earthquakes...I'm somehow the only one who hasn't :) |
2. Driving on the left side of the road in Japan is NOT a piece of cake.
On my first drive here in Japan (yes I somehow have a car) I was quite nervous to say the least...but
forty minutes later I successfully arrived at my
apartment....besides of course the two curbs I ran over and the side mirror of someone else's car that I hit...SOOOO, not too bad for the first drive in Japan I guess. :)
Oh and I may have been having problems with the windshield wipers as I kept thinking I was turning on the blinkers...I couldn't figure out how to turn them off....so maybe the distraction from the wipers is why I hit that car? I'm not quite sure....
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| Still Best Friends :) |
3. "Yield" Signs are actually Stop signs.
I also soon found out that a red
sign that looks EXACTLY like a yield sign, is actually a stop sign. But
then again, I wouldn't know since I can't yet read Japanese. But yes
apparently this a stop sign. Again, good to know since I had been whizzing through them on my first drive. :)
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| I love signs that I can't read....especially while driving |
4. Taking out the trash and recycling is a project here that I should get paid for.
The garbage and recycling procedures are SUPER strict here to say the least. Everything has to be placed in certain colored bags and taken out only on that particular morning that it is scheduled for. I'm still really not quite sure exactly what goes where since the schedule is not surprisingly in Japanese, but thank goodness for pictures right? :)
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| Hoping to find an english chart :) |
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| A little ridiculous |
5. Grocery shopping is STILL not easy.
It took me over 3 days and a purchase of shower gel to finally figure out where the lotion was and what it looked like.
6. Things are very orderly here. VERY ORDERLY.
In the park the other day, a man was cleaning up his dog's "stuff." It's not like he just used a pooper scooper or a little bag and was on his way. That would have been way too easy. He LITERALLY carried a kit just for this special occasion. After his huge St.Bernard dog went to the bathroom, he spent the next, no joke, 10 minutes sanitizing and cleaning the grass with all of these cleaning items he carried in his what I like to call "Dog bathroom clean-up kit bag." Only in Japan...
Oh and the sunsets from the park right next to my house have been absolutely amazing :)
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| The entire sky was literally PAINTED this night :) |
