Japan Adventures! Post #1!

It's the middle of the night in America, but it's 4:30 PM here in Osaka, so Thursday is almost over for us. I thought I'd take a bit of time to share some of our experiences, impressions, and thoughts about our time in Japan so far, rather than wait until we're home to try to do one huge post--especially because I'm told the jet lag headed back to America is super rough, so I'm not counting on doing much of any thinking when we get home!

The trip over here was super painless. Definitely a long flight, but not hard to handle at all. We took the advice of a friend of mine who goes to China a lot--leave the West Coast in the morning, fly what would be the equivalent of all day for our bodies, land in Asia in the early evening Japan time (which is about midnight/1 AM west coast time the previous night) and stay up til about 9 PM. Then you sleep all night, get up in the morning and are essentially adjusted. (This doesn't work if you sleep a lot on the flight so you're not tired when it's bed time). I'm told going home will be terrible, and that there just isn't an easy way to adjust, so I'm not looking forward to that. We landed and waited in about a 20 minute customs line before exiting to baggage claim. We noticed something about the airport/customs process that I can guarantee you is different in the US. The airport was SO quiet. This is something we've noticed about everywhere we've gone so far in Japan--it's quiet. No matter how many people are around, it is nowhere near the noise level or chaos that we experience in major US cities. Osaka is a major city, yet the airport was quiet, orderly, people waited patiently in lines, definitely using "indoor voices" to talk to whomever was with them. No loud announcements, music, honking of horns etc provided a soundtrack to our airport time. It was remarkable, I could get used to this even if it is a bit eerie at times. (We've made this observation a lot--their city streets are just SO much quieter--their cars are quieter, no large diesel trucks or loud engines of pick ups idling at stop lights--no honking at all, that would be considered rude I am sure. Restaurants, parks, trains, buses etc--all are quiet even with lots of people around).

We met our brother in law after exiting baggage claim, and he helped us exchange some currency and helped us take the bus back to Rokko Island, about an hour from Osaka where they live. We enjoyed seeing our family's large apartment here (seriously, this place is huge--4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a small den/playroom, large living space, all designed in a "Western Style"--made for family's from the US who are living here for work). We also got to meet our newest family member :)
Our family lives on Rokko Island, a man-made island near the city of Kobe, connected to the mainland by bridges. It's an interesting mixture of eastern and western cultures on the island, but not far off the island we pass by neighborhoods that are very definitely Asian. The kids have been showing us around some of their favorite/important places here in Japan, so we've visited Universal Studios, Japan, which isn't far from their home and they've walked me around parts of their island to show me their schools, favorite hang outs etc. My 12 year old niece was explaining to me that at her international school she literally has friends from all over the world, which is definitely something that she couldn't have experienced in Kentucky!

(This is us outside her school--the "peace" sign she's making is literally what they all do here--even at Universal Studios the Japanese photographers were motioning for us to all do this in our photos).

We've had fun learning some pieces of Japanese culture while here as well. It's a society that is extremely orderly. At the train stations you line up and wait your turn to get on after everyone has exited. At the airport, you wait in a single file line to get on the bus, not in clumps of people/family groups. (This apparently is not the case in Tokyo, there they literally employ people whose job it is to shove you onto trains to pack as many people onto the crowded trains as possible--I'm thinking Tokyo isn't a place I am dying to visit). On the escalators you step on and immediately line up single file on the right side of the escalator, so if anyone needs to pass you on the left they can. If you're a business man you wear a black suit, white shirt, and a stripped tie in a neutral color. Literally, there were groups of business men walking in the city during lunch yesterday and they were all dressed identically. Rodd was explaining to us that in this culture you do everything you can to not stick out, it's about conformity and fitting in. In America, the "early bird gets the worm." In Japan the one who sticks his head out will be pounded back into his place. (I didn't make that up, that is literally a motto around here). A friend of ours in LA is Asian and works in the fashion industry going back and forth between LA and China. She told us the joke in Asian fashion is that they don't wear colors. The fashion palette is a mixture of black, gray, brown, tan, and cream. My niece's bright pink sweat shirt was easy to find in the train station today! But, you also look nice and stylish when you go out, no sweats or tennis shoes are found on Japanese citizens out in public. Heels, boots, leggings, mini skirts, and stylish hand bags/accessories are everywhere. I definitely feel a bit frumpy in my Gap jeans and sweaters with sneakers on the train! It's amazing the ways western fashion and culture have influenced life here--for instance Taylor Swift is opening her next big tour here in Osaka in February (my sister in law is taking our 12 year old niece, which is very cool!), Michael Jackson is HUGE, and Starbucks are all over.

A poster outside the stadium where Taylor will be performing

Japan is also a society that has a deep sense of pride in following the rules. I haven't seen one speck of graffiti anywhere--not on trains, in train stations, restrooms etc. There is NO trash on the ground anywhere, and it's not because there are trash cans on every corner. Yesterday we had a tough time finding one in a mall, but still, there was zero garbage left on the ground. Eating and drinking in public really isn't done either--no one wanders around with their Starbucks in hand or gets on the train with food. Many vending machines here sell all kinds of things, including beer. Rodd asked someone once what was to keep the teenage boys from buying up the beer in vending machines (the drinking age is either 18 or 20) and he was told "why would they do that? That is against the rules, they would never do that." It's a shame-based culture, so doing anything that would bring shame to your family's name is avoided at all costs. (It's probably a tough place to be a kid/teenager for a number of reasons).

The food here is a unique blend of various Asian countries. So far we've eaten more of what would probably be typically considered Chinese food than Japanese. (We are going to hit a great sushi restaurant on Monday night after the holiday weekend which Charles is super excited about!). So far, dumplings, gyoza, and ramen are my new favorite foods :) The other thing we've noticed here is that literally no one is over weight. I haven't seen anyone in all of our wandering around. Everyone is petite and slim--Charles said "wow, nothing makes you feel like a giant quite like spending time in Japan!" So apparently their food is relatively healthy, or they eat much more manageable portions than we do. It's also not surprising that they think many Americans are rude, loud, and gluttonous. Compared to the Japanese, we are.Pork dumplings and gyoza--no forks--chopsticks only!

I'm amazed, Diana is a pro with the chop sticks!The kids were snacking on ice cream today. We were snacking on dumplings. You can buy them at the snack bar just like you could a hot dog or popcorn in America.Even the coke can says "Happy" on it--which I was with my second dumpling of the day :)Don't know what to order? Not a problem. Most restaurants have displays of plastic food in their windows to show you what each dish looks like.We are getting pretty good at the train system here! The kids are pros and were eager to tell us how the system worked. We've spent quite a bit of time on trains in the last couple days. Here I am with two of my nieces.
And here is Uncle Chuck with our nephew--attempting to look like the enforcers on the train.Being touristsToday we visited the Osaka castle, where the ruler of Japan lived in the late 16th century to rule the country. I was disappointed that inside is now a modern museum, instead of showing us what it really looked like, but the views from the top were incredible looking out over Osaka.Osaka is a BIG city! This is what the view looks like from all sides of the top of the castle.
That's about it for now! Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, I think the kids are kind of tired of a lot of walking/sight seeing, so we'll see what we end up doing. But for now, have a Merry Christmas weekend!