These aren't necessarily funny, just meant to be informative
10. Students are allowed in the teachers' room.
9. Teacher's main work spaces are in one shared room with individual desks. In Junior High Schools the teachers don't have a classroom, they move from room to room, but they do have their own room in elementary schools.
8. Carpooling is not considered a viable alternative to everyone driving separately. It's considered rude to ask for rides, and people think biking to and from work is very difficult, if not impossible.
7. Fish is in EVERYTHING. Sometimes it's in salad, sometimes it's mixed in with vegetables. It's the base broth in almost all soups. In actuality, it's VERY difficult to be a vegetarian in Japan unless you make everything yourself.
6. All students are required to be in a school club in middle school. They only have one club, and they practice almost every day (including Saturdays and Sundays)
5. If a person feels sick, it's expected that they wear a mask, even if the masks have not been proven to be very effective against the spread of diseases. Everyone also comes to school when they are sick., even if they have H1N1.
4. Everyone changes their shoes when they enter a building. It's not important for shoes to match the outfit, they should just be comfortable.
3. Track suits are considered more formal than jeans (I know, this one still confuses me).
2. I don't have an oven. I have a gas stove with only 2 burners and a fish broiler.
1. There is NO insulation, NO central heat, and it's completely normal to see your breath in the school hallways. (And in our apartment during the day while I'm working - so awesome).
My 10 Favorite things about living in Japan
10. I can get to every school except one in a pretty easy bike ride (I have to take a taxi/car to one school, its very far). I can also walk all the way to the ocean from my house. I can walk 30 minutes to the train station and go almost anywhere in Japan! Yay fantastic public transportation. I don't know why people don't just rent cars only for the winter.
9. Littering is almost non-existent, although it's worse in the country. This isn't because they have a ton of trash cans everywhere, because it's practically impossible to find a trash can. For some reason, people just seem to not litter.
8. Murakami is really beautiful. We have mountains, oceans, castle ruins, pretty much all you need. We can hike, ski, and swim in the ocean all in one place.
7. I love having a wet bathroom! This means that you have a whole room to take a shower in, not just a bathtub.
6. There is a fantastic restaurant that serves Mexican food every weekend. Most of the time they have chicken enchiladas. I don't usually like spicy foods or chicken enchiladas, but I love their food.
5. We have an amazing Nepalese Curry restaurant close to our house which AMAZING garlic naan. We go every week. It's kind of our comfort food, I guess.
4. I don't like Japanese food much. This is good and bad, but especially great for me losing weight!
3. Recycling is not a should, but pretty much a must. Neighbors will go through your trash and separate it for you if you don't, then leave it on your doorstep. There are specific days for taking out specific types of garbage. It's a pain at first, but really beneficial for the environment. This hasn't happened to us, just to be clear. Only the garbage guys refusing to take stuff that apparently was put out on the wrong day.
2. ALL toilet seats (on a western toilet) are heated. I don't like this for the summer, but it really takes that shock of cold away in the winter. You can change the temperatures to suit your needs.
1. Drinking tea all day is normal. The tea is almost never sweetened. You can get bottled tea in vending machines everywhere. Japan really supports and endorses my tea addiction!
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