Yesterday my friend Julia and I were driving, and we both realized we were thirsty. In America, we would have gone through one of many drive throughs. But since there is only one drive through in a 2o mile radius, we solved our problem Japan-style. On almost any street corner you can find a vending machine. When we pulled up at a stoplight, Julz hopped out of the car, darted across the road and bought us both a bottled water. Nothing unusal in Japan, but really funny to see this blond white girl running across the road dodging cars and bicycles.
This also spurred a conversation about things that would be unusual in America, but are perfectly fine in Japan. For instance, bulldozers are pink and purple; you only get scared you almost hit someone when their bike is inches, not feet, from you; milk comes with chunks in it and costs $4.29 a half gallon; it takes 7 hours to get a haircut because you have to take a train an hour and a half one direction; or it is OK for adults to have anything you can imagine with Disney characters all over it. Just a few things I thought you would think are funny...
