Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Things I Don't Miss About Living in Japan

Along with the "Things I Miss About Japan" post I figured I would have to do the opposite post to be fair to myself and others that might want to hang out in Japan for a few years.

1. The Squater Toilets. Espeically the squater toilets at the rural train stations that are basically a hole in the ground.  The smells there are just terrible! These are a last resort and recommend not using if at all possible.  That said if you gotta go you gotta go!

PS. Check for toilet paper before you do a number two.

2. Highway Tolls.  Highways are crazy expensive in Japan. Basically you pay about $25 for every hour you drive.  I often used them because, to me, my time is very valuable, and the time savings is worth it to me. That said it's nice to be back in America and not have to pay for tolls on the highways.

3. The Weather.  I don't miss the freezing cold winters and the hot and humid summers. Spring and Fall are the best seasons in Japan!

4. Teaching.  Though I had a blast teaching in Japan, after about 9 years of teaching, I was done! I give credit to all the teachers that can do it as a career, but for me it was a means to an end.  I think if I had to do it again it would have to be on a part time basis, and it would have to be smaller conversation classes, not large JHS classes.

5. Kanji. The Japanese writing system isn't too bad except for those difficult little Chinese Characters called Kanji.  Not being able to read and understand everything in Japan wasn't too stressful but I wish I did understand more.  That said I don't miss them at all!! lol

6. AKB48 on the news every freaking day. I am a fan of JPop and Kpop too for that matter, but the amount of coverage that AKB48 got was just irritating. Every dam morning on the news there was an AKB48 story!?! It got to the point where I stopped listening to JPop all together because I was just sick of hearing about AKB48.







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