Random thoughts from Japan

- Attention to detail is everything- I saw a worker hand painting/touching up a wheelchair lift with 1 cm wide brush.

- At parking garages there is someone to motion you in and on your way out will step out into traffic and stop it for you so you can join the flow.

- It's rude to blow your nose in public but lots of companies offer tissues as promotional material.

- It's rude to eat in public, except in designated places. Restaurants are an obvious place, but often there are sitting areas near vending machines in stores and subway stations. Yet there is still the option of take out and there are convenience stores and vending machines everywhere. So are you really supposed to buy something and wait till you're home to consume it? Wouldn't Starbucks fare be cold and pointless if this is what you did?

- Squat toilets, they're everywhere

- TV arrived to my apartment today in the form of two cable installation guys- and with it such quality programming as FOX, a movie channel, CNN, BBC World and with all that such quality programming as American Idol. If with my few English language channels all there is to watch is Idol I'm going to be very unhappy.

- After a week of TV I think I've now been exposed to the full range of TV programming it includes such quality programming as Moonlighting, Walker Texas Ranger, Numb3rs, Bones, Nip/Tuck, The OC, Charmed, CSI and lots of old movies. Not to mention CNN & BBC with 15 minutes of news every hour recycled throughout the day. For an extra $18 a month I can get one more English language channel- I think it will be worth it.

- Everyone asks if Japan is expensive. Yes it can be, but doesn't have to be. Buses can be cheaper than in Edmonton, dry cleaning is, and alcohol purchased in grocery stores certainly is (like 2/3's of the price in Canada if not less). On the other hand I saw a $100 cantaloupe in the shop today along with strawberries, 12 for $21, and 4 brussel sprouts for $2 (really who would pay that much for sprouts?).

- Another thing I was warned about was small apartments. Yes, I think they are a reality, especially for families given the relative space needs. Apartments are everywhere, probably more than half my students live in one. However, for one single person in my part of Osaka even a smallish apartment was not an option. My apartment is 65 m square- a kitchen, 3 rooms (bedroom, living, study), large enough bathroom and then still another room that currently ahs no other purpose than to house all the boxes I've acquired since moving. It's more space than I need or even want to furnish, but the location and price were good so here I am.

- Speaking of my apartment I found out today that two of my students live in the building across the street. I'm surprised I haven't run into their families yet either on our street or at the local shopping area. Humm...