Welcome to Japanland

Someone needs to make a guide to Japanese customs and lifestyle…this is my attempt. Everyday I notice or learn something that most people don’t know about Japan. There are the obvious standards such as: take your shoes off, bow in place of waving good-bye, don’t stand out, be overly polite. I have this overwhelming feeling that I am unwanted. Japan has a complete absence of human contact…even when you are standing in a train with at least ten strangers touching you. There are small things that I would never think twice about in the states but here you have to be conscious of your every move. Todays lesson…DO NOT blow your nose in public or sneeze loudly. Casey has the sniffles so I tried to hand him tissue..”Oh NO…you cannot blow your nose in public!” People would rather hear someone sniffle on the train for hours instead of hearing them blow their nose. I don’t quite understand why this is such a big deal…I will have to do some further investigations.