What Did That Sign Say?

Here's a sign that made me flinch:
Frankly, I don't like how close the wave is to the man in the picture considering the man hasn't made it to the top of the hill.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Whenever I talk about my mother I tell people that she's a living angel. My mother is truly one of the most selfless, good-hearted people you could ever meet. Not a day goes by that I don't realize I've been blessed with such an amazing mother. My mother thinks about other people 365 days a year. Well, today's her birthday so lets all think about her. I love you, Mom!

Pay Parking Lots

Here's something that will eventually catch on in the United States:

What you're looking at is a self-parking pay lot. How it works is that a car drives into the lot and parks in a space. When the car parks in the space, the metal layer rises up making it impossible to drive out. To get the lever to lower, one has to pay a machine when they are ready to go. It's a really efficient system:
1. Drive into the lot.
2. Park (the lever goes up)
3. When you're ready to leave, pay a machine (the lever goes down).
4. Drive out.

The Most Expensive Grapes Ever

One thing that I really miss about Vietnam is the cheap and delicious fruit. In Vietnam you can get a kilo of just about every fruit for no more than two dollars. In Japan it is a different story. Check out how much these grapes cost:

That's 1580 Yen. As of typing this email that converts to $17.60. No, I'm not joking.

All grapes here are not that expensive. However, they are never cheap. That said, Japanese grapes are AMAZING. Katie described the grapes here best for me. She said, "Grapes here taste like grape candy." The grapes are the sweetest things I've ever tasted...but yeah, not worth nearly twenty dollars.

Supermarket Auction

One of my favorite things so far about Japan is going to the supermarket. When you check out at the supermarket the cashiers are sooooooo friendly. They say like fifty things to me which I just nod at. The only thing that they say to me that I actually understand is whether or not I want a plastic bag. If I want a bag I have to pay about a nickel for the bag. They do this to encourage recycling. Regardless of whether you want the bag or not though, you have to put the groceries into your bag by yourself. They have a packing table about five feet from the register where everyone bags their own groceries.

But none of those things are what I love about the supermarket. What I love is that when the cashier is ringing up your groceries she calls out how much everything costs. Basically she scans things and says, "One dollar fifty. Two dollars twenty. Three dollars thirty. Six dollars. etc. etc." Because I don't understand Japanese, I thought the women were actually calling out what I had bought: "Two apples. A bottle of water. Dumplings. Sushi. etc. etc." Paula informed me that they were calling out prices and not products. Regardless it is always entertaining.

Japanese Beaches

(PICTURE: A typical concrete wall surrounding a beach.)

Last year Huyen and I watched the Japanese animated move, "The Grave Of The Fireflies." If you haven't seen the movie it is worth a watch as a good anti-war film. However, this isn't about Japanese animation or reviewing the film. This blog is about Japanese beaches.

In the movie there was a scene that took place at the beach. I noticed in the scene that there was a large concrete wall on the sand of the beach. I thought this was a little odd. Well, having been in Japan for a couple of weeks, I realize it isn't that odd. The Japanese coastlines are almost all lined with concrete. I've been to two beaches so far and both had a concrete wall behind the sand. At one of the beaches there were gigantic concrete tetrapods in rows about 100 feet into the ocean.

(PICTURE: Tetrapods in water.)

I've been doing some reading about these things and apparently it is Japan's way to fight nature from deteriorating the Japanese islands. It makes sense I guess but it sure makes the beaches ugly. I have always thought of Japan as a place that values the beauty of nature. In some ways I'm finding that to be true, in other ways -- like the beaches -- I'm find that is not true at all.

Japanese TV

If you know anything about television around the world, you know that Japan is famous for the craziest game shows. Basically any edgy game show that is on American television probably comes from Japan. Since I joined the gym last week I've been constantly entertained by ridiculous things on TV. I obviously can't understand a word, but don't really have to.

Tonight I saw one of the more bizarre shows yet. Basically about 100 Japanese people started to run around a course in a city (could have been Tokyo or Osaka or somewhere else) and after a few minutes were chased by a black marathon runner. The program was basically twenty minutes of a black guy running after and passing Japanese people. The marathoner ended up passing everyone except two people who crossed the finish line before him. The two people were greeted like they just won the Super Bowl. The whole show felt like a weird version of The Running Man.

I don't know if the intention of the show was to be completely racist but it sure felt racist. That said, and this will sound weird, it was done in an oddly good spirited way. As the black runner ran he was greeted with high fives by the crowds that lined the streets. The marathoner also was waving and smiling the whole time he chased after the Japanese people as if he was having the time of his life. As I watched the show I thought to myself, "This is something that could never fly in America." Can you imagine NBC airing a program where a (fill in this space with a minority group) chases 100 white people? Yeah, only in Japan.