Once you’ve been living in a foreign country for a few months, things that seemed odd and exotic start to become normal and familiar.
I remember when I first went to a convenience store in Japan to buy lunch. I took my sandwich and soda up to the counter, and as I was counting up money to pay, I was shocked to see that the stuff I was buying had already been bagged and handed to me. ‘What’s to stop me from not paying and just taking the bag and walking out of the store?’ I thought. I also noticed that sometimes cashiers keep money outside next to the cash machine for easy access, a big no-no in any American store. As the months have passed, I’ve started to resent the American way of doing things - they show a total lack of trust in the customer.
Paying bills in Japan? It’s as easy as taking them to your local 7-11 (actually ANY convenience store) and paying for them there. It makes things so much easier than having to transfer funds at a bank. However, in Japan, credit cards and especially checks, are quite rare, so most stores don’t accept them. This means people carry around a lot of cash with them at all times - but since the crime rate is so low (especially compared to Puerto Rico), you don’t feel paranoid about carrying so much money.
What about eating out in a restaurant? Well, most restaurant tables have set up a system where you press a button, and a waiter comes to your table to take your order, refill your water, deliver your food, etc. No more futilely raising your hand and trying to get the attention of an overburdened waiter. And what’s more, tipping? In Japan, it’s not done. No more calculating 15% of the cost of your meal!
Taxi drivers? They wear suits and ties in Japan. Taxi doors? They open automatically (it’s a big no-no to try to open a taxi’s car door).
Bicycles - pretty much everyone owns one and rides one, from the smallest children to the unlikeliest senior citizens.
Trains - you can set your watch by ‘em, literally.
Bookstores - I’ve only ever bought new books in Japan a couple of times. The majority of the time I go to the local used bookstore, Book-Off. The books tend to be in pristine condition. Ditto CDs and video games (i.e., they quite literally look brand new - I can never go back to buying used games in Puerto Rico now, where, in the unlikely event that the previous owner sold a game in good condition, the store employees proceeded to screw it up by putting a half-dozen stickers that are impossible to get rid of).
Movies? Expensive as hell, but that’s par for the course in America as well. I was spoiled back in Puerto Rico with the cheap prices of movie tickets. That said, old American movies on DVD tend to be incredibly affordable - I purchased a brand new DVD of Double Indemnity a couple of weeks ago for 500 yen (that’s less than 5 dollars for a movie that would sell for at least $15 in the US). Animation and recent releases tend to be ridiculously expensive, however - 4,000 yen and up being the typical price.
If you guys have any questions regarding little things like this in life in Japan, lemme know (all two of you). I’ll try to answer as best I can.
