Archive for March 5th, 2008
Hip-hop and you don’t stop
Posted on: March 5, 2008
Today I rented a dance video from my local Tsutaya which is the equivalent to a Blockbuster Video, but they haven’t yet caught on to the whole no late fees thing. They don’t have Netflix in Japan so they don’t have to worry about that kind of competition, because most of the population in Japan is computer illiterate. But there is a reason, because the average age of people here is probably 50 or older. But the younger generations are fairly savy. The older generation didn’t grow up with computers. I think the average American is in their 30’s so Americans tend to be more computer literate because they grew up with them. But enough broad generalizations for today.
I rented the video and I tried it out. It was a decent workout, but I couldn’t do the routine properly. I’ll try again some other day, but it was a good change of pace. If you don’t already know, Hip-hop is very popular in Japan.
So here’s what I ate today:
Breakfast: 2 riceballs and grapefruit/orange juice
Lunch: A cup of green tea and a mini bento and a bottle of milk tea
Dinner: A mug and a half of milk and 2 peanutbutter and blueberry jam sandwhiches
I also drink lots of water, but I have trouble remembing how many cupfuls. Maybe around 5 or 6.
My exercise routine today:
30 minutes of Hip-hop dancing
Straights 3(50)
Elbow-knee guards 3(30)
Squats 3(20)
The People who make it work
Posted on: March 5, 2008
- In: fukuoka | Japan | japanese | jobs
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Japan is a great country, but it didn’t just happen on it’s own. There are a lot of people out there that make this place good.
The station masters and conductors are the life’s blood of this country. Without them Japan would be at a standstill. These guys and the occasional gal ride the same routes for hours at a time looking at the same old scenery day in and day out. The amuse me with their different intercom voices too. Some try to be super soft so that you can barely hear them. Others put on a voices straight out of an anime. Then you get the American stereo type conductors who talk a mile a minute. It makes for a little variety on the daily commute
Next we owe some props to the convenience store workers here. They are fast and efficient to say the least. They already have my change counted out before I can give them the money. They always help each other out when it’s busy so that there is never a line of more than 2 people at a register. They get paid next to nothing for all the hard work the put in.
Teachers in Japan could use a break. Most of them work 10 or 12 hour days and many of them only take Sunday off. Not only do they have to teach, grade papers, and discipline kids, they have to manage the after school clubs, and they take responsibility for the kids even when they’re not at school. I would say that kids in Japan aren’t raised by their parents. They’re raised by the hard working teachers at the schools. Not me of course, I’m just an Assistant Language Teacher. My job is a cake-walk.
The ladies at the information booths are vital asset to making things go a little more smoothly for visitors to Japan. They sit in their booths in their unique uniforms which include dressy hats, pins, and short skirts. Usually their English is quite good and it makes you wonder why they don’t find a better paying job, but they help you find almost anything in the city. Usually they’ll give you a map too.
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