The food, TV, culture, language. Everything is different in Japan. But Dave and I have done our best to embrace Japan and, thus far, I must say that the locals seem to appreciate the effort. For the most part we look like fools -- often pronouncing the few words we do know horribly wrong and committing what I'm sure are a number of social faux pas -- e.g., exactly when am I suppose to take my shoes off?
We try, however, and that seems to be enough.
To date the hardest part of life in Japan has been the language barrier. There's almost no similarity between Japanese and English, and the confusion is enhanced significantly by the fact that, to me, Japanese writing is incomprehensible. Indeed, the only reason I've been able to communicate anything thus far has been the exceptional ability of most people in Japan to speak at least conversational English -- for which I'm very greatful.
I'm happy to say that my repertoire of Japanese phrases is growing. When I arrived I knew "konnichiwa" and "sayonara," and I quickly learned that the latter is used infrequently. Today, however, Dave and I managed to convince a Japanese waiter with our "Hai's" and Please and Thank You's that we did, in fact, speak Japanese. (This misimpression lasted about 20 seconds, when it became apparent that we couldn't understand the menu.) Dave credits our success to what he believes is an excellent articulation of the word "arigato," though I remain skeptical that we're saying it properly.
Other aspects of Japanese life have been easier to pick up. For example, Dave and I seemed to fit in perfectly at our first baseball game in Japan and I've become a Hiroshima Carp fan. We even joined in the songs that are sung constantly throughout the game.
Likewise we seem to be picking up a taste for Japanese cuisine -- which is not hard to do. The food here is fantastic and, even better, does not appear (read: "Don't jinx it!") to contain many nuts (to which I'm deathly allergic). Dave and I literally frequented the same bakery in Hakone three times in 24 hours, buying more pastries than I'm sure any duo ever has. I'm convinced this place should be world famous . . . so please visit the Hakone-Yumoto train station bakery! Also, I can never go back to North American sushi, as any fish included in it has not been killed in the last five minutes, Japanese style.
There are times, however, when, despite our best efforts, we've fallen short. Indeed, the second sushi chef pictured above had to give us a stern lesson in sushi eating: We ordered our first round and Dave proceeded to soak each piece in a pool of soy sauce -- and, due to a lack of skill with chopsticks, most pieces ended up split apart and requiring finger assistance. The chef watched with a close eye and, thus, when Dave later asked him for a recommendation, the chef agreed but only after instructing us: "No soy sauce!"
And, last but not least, we're a little ashamed to say that we're drawn to Starbucks just as much in Japan as we are back home. Thankfully, the one sitting above Shibuya Crossing has a pretty nice view.
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