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True for most Japanese? What is this 'box to sleep in'? Are you talking about capsule hotels? Because that certainly isn't standard at all. I'd imagine the two most common method of sleeping for the Japanese would be western-style beds and by laying a futon out on the floor.

The Japanese people that I've talked to are often surprised by the fact that I can speak Japanese. I got complimented on my terrible Japanese quite a bit. xd

Shibuya is awesome. It's where all the cool young people hang out. Poking through clothing stores around there and Harajuku is a real trip.

As for things that are normal in Japan, but not here.... Um, well, the toilets are either super-advanced, or primative squat toilets - hard to find anything in between, really. Oh! And electronic media is ridiculously expensive. You think you have it bad in the US, paying $25 for an anime DVD, but in Japan, DVDs can be over $50! And last summer, I got to the point where I thought that shelling out $30 for a CD was a pretty good deal. Tokyo is a verrrrry expensive place to live.

Those gross packs with liquid inside.. they're called gelli drinks or something.. I liked them, some even had icecream or yogurt in them.. they are actually pretty handy when you need to ride a train. You don't worry about spilling on anyone.

Damn skippy Japanese people get drunk easily, especially the woman folk. My gf gets tanked off one cocktail stare But Japanese guys are always a riot when drunk, or at least the young ones are. Salary men tend to be more inclined towards public urination (no joke, the guy who lived above me did it all the time) and cursing.

Also, if Tokyo is the only place you`ve been, you are really missing out. Its so frigg`n expensive compared to the rest of Japan plus its a pretty much gaijin land and by far the worst place to learn Japanese. Also, their baseball time sucks compared to our dear Hanshin Tigers. lol whee

And concerning fashion, since I work at my university international office the first thing we advise Japanese female students going to N. America or Europe is to ditch the super mini-skirts and high stockings as that tends to be misconstrued in many Western countries as a "woman of loose morals" if you get my drift. That being said, the Japanese do spend a rediculous amount of money on fashion. I sware my Japanese gf must drop a couple hundred dollars a week on new clothing sad

Here`s my own personal list of suprises:
- Love hotels. Best invention ever. Period (aside from the wimpy condoms they offer, as mentioned before rolleyes )
- Cellphones. I use my cellphone to buy groceries, video call, check weahter, and so forth. Much more versitiel than back home.
- Loudspeak trucks. Don`t be surprised when you are woken up at odd hours by large vans blaring advertising and election slogans.
-Japanese school. College is a joke. Getting to college is hell and high school is just as bad
-Japanese people can`t comprehend a foreigner speaking their own lanuage. I`ve had quite the opposite experience from Raigo it would seem.

Ah Japan. Land of goofyness

Maybe it's because I'm at a high elevation, but two shots of hard liquor is certainly enough to get me tipsy, and I'm not exactly a 5 foot nothing Japanese girl.

Interesting Japanese things I've learn
More about drinking!
If you ever drink with Japanese people, you probably notice many of they get very red in the face. Many East Asians for some reason don't have the enzyme to process alcohol, resulting in this red faced look

Sarcasm is somewhat lost on Japanese people, japanese is very literal and highly contextual, being sarcastic probably just throws a wrench in the works.

Speaking of very literal, I've noticed even if you have one syllable wrong in a word, Japanese people usually can't figure out what you're trying to say. Like if you're trying to say "connection" (kankei) and you're saying "kaikei" even if you explain what you mean, they will probably be like "what? kaikei?"

Also, the one word I never learned in class but heard within 10 seconds hanging around japanese people is "Maji de" (a slang word that means "really?" or "is that true?")

I think the toilet seats were the strangest things to get used to.
The big and little flushes weren't that odd, but the hot water wash, and the bidet was a little too much. My aunt's toilet flips open when you walk into the room and there's a tearai on the top/back part. Its really strange.

And the public toilets were even more interesting - they're uh, squat toilets.

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&hearts

Thanks for the info! My one friend who moved here from Japan wore the mask to school when she got sick. I told her no one wears those mask when they are sick XDD She thought that was pretty discusting.

I think another funny thing is Japanese people wearing T shirts with English on them that they obviously have NO Idea what they say.

Oh, that goes for advertisements also.



Perfect example...