Japan, and Italy, 2 years later

It’s the last day of the year, and unless anything goes horribly wrong I am currently in the Italian Alps skiing and getting drunk later in the evening with my younger brother. Thanks technology then for publishing this post on time, which follows up from the list I posted pretty much one year to the day, and which was also one day before going skiing over the new year in the Japanese Alps. Life’s weird like that no skiing for 14 years then 2 years in a row during the most expensive season of the year at ridiculously cheap prices.

Last year the list was a rundown of good and bad things about living in Japan. In the 12 months that followed, life decided to throw me a curve ball of fairly monumental proportions and I found myself leaving Japan after 6 months rather unexpectedly, travelling the world for 2 months and being back in Europe. So this year’s list takes on a sligthly different angle: things I miss and don’t miss about Japan and things that suck and don’t suck about being back in Europe.

Also, if comments are to be believed, last year’s list somehow proved useful to some people for their homework (still can’t quite figure out if those comments are ‘real’ or trolling jokes) so maybe someone will find this year’s list equally as useful. Can’t say I ever planned for it to be useful in anything remotely academic, but that’s the wonders of the internet.

This is the last list of the year I promise.

2008 in lists full of bullet points and randomness

Things I miss about living in Japan

• Efficiency: in the home, in public transport, in what you eat, how you eat and pretty much every aspect of your life where efficiency can make a difference
• Ramen Jiro: if ever further proof was needed that overly fat food can be horribly addictive
• Ramen in general: but not the crappy, quick fix drunk salary man kind, the kind that makes it into Ramen mooks
• Green tea flavour: from ice cream to flippin tissues
• The lack of space: that one might sound weird but I really miss the way Japan’s lack of space forces you to rethink daily living
• Politeness and respect: in moderate amounts as it can be as annoying and infuriating when done in excess, but seriously I miss the fact that at least in Japan most people seem to remember what respect means
• The feeling of safety: no I don’t enjoy the idea that I might get stabbed or attacked at 3 a.m while walking home in my suburban part of town
• The cost of life: that one definitely took a hit with the global meltdown, but regardless I’m willing to bet Tokyo is still cheaper than any other city I’ve lived in
• Drinks machines: everywhere, always turned on, always taking big notes and dispensing change with their warm/cool (delete according to appropriate season) goodness
• Machines: human interaction in most of the day to day buying needs is overated imho
• Love hotels, karaoke joints and all-night bowling/ping pong/arcades: all night entertainment and ‘I missed my last train home’ options in Europe suck
• Kanji/the language: that one is a bit masochist, but I really miss living in a country where the majority of what surrounds you makes no sense, allowing you to decide not to pay attention to most things and relieve your brain from uneccesary stress and information. It also doubles up nicely when you learn Japanese as it gives you something to constantly do when out and about, read Kanji, decypher what you’re seeing etc…
• Being a stranger: see above too, but I miss being a stranger and an obvious one at that. It kind of frees you to an extent, and makes you reconsider a lot of stuff you take for granted living in the west and being white
• Food and how it’s eaten: see ramen, and pretty much anything else the Japanese eat apart from weird shit from the sea like urchin’s genitalia
• Media: media consumption of all sorts and kinds in Japan is encouraged and facilitated by technology that everyone else spends 3 years catching up on. Also I miss Akihabara and buying toys without having to feel weird about it
• Onsen and bathing: that might sound weird to anyone who hasn’t experienced the pleasures of bathing or onsen the Japanese way, but seriously the Japanese have got the whole ‘bathing as a relaxing activity’ thing down to an art. And it’s not limited to just onsen and the likes, as even just the regular ofuro (public baths) are also great for relaxation and cleanliness. This is all helped by the fact that your bathroom is unlikely to be big enough to accommodate you if you’re a tall foreigner

Thigns I don’t miss about Japan

• Air con units: seriously, I mean come on central heating can’t be that hard to install
• Sea urchin: and other weird stuff from the sea that is part of the culinary heritage of a country surrounded by, well, sea
• Seaweed: put on top of any edible item possible, seriously stop it
• Katsuboshi: aka dried fish, see seaweed above. I don’t want it on my food especially if the dish is meat ffs
• Karaoke: I don’t like to sing, even when drunk. But ok they are good for overnight downtown crashing and cheap booze/crap food
• Rush hour: I mean come on you have dudes whose job it is to push people into the trains in the morning, and then at night they’re off duty so we all get to fight each other in various polite and impolite manners to make sure we’re not stranded in town. Not a good look, but made slightly better by having an efficient transport system. And actually downgraded again for having no night time transport (not that European night time public transport is a shining example or anything like that)
• Politeness: taken to extremes it confuses everything
• Floor level living: lack of sofas, tables, chairs etc… meaning that unless you go for the western lifestyle or apartment you’re most likely to be spending the majority of your time doing things at floor level, which plays hell on your back and sucks for heating too
• Kanji: you can’t understand anything, and why have an alphabet that’s over 5,000 characters deep and which the majority of the population does not know in full?

Things about Europe I’d forgot and which don’t suck

• Food cooked by your mum/insert relevant family member: say what you want but you know it’s the best because Mom made it
• Central heating: though Italy gets minus points for having buildings where central heating is locked to some master timer and so can’t be activated as and when you wish
• Kebabs, burgers and meat: in 4 months and a bit of living in Europe I think I’ve managed to eat my body weight in meat, which feels good after the switch to a rice and fish diet in Japan. Also in Europe you can buy proper kebabs, not fake ’scam the dumb tourists’ kebabs like those in Shibuya
• A language I can understand: that one is kind of self explanatory I think
• Pasta: this one applies to Italy most specifically. Now Japanese noodles are great, but I’d forgot just how many different types of pasta and sauces there actually is and just how awesome pasta in Italy can be
• Coffee: seriously they can’t make a decent coffee in Japan, forget about it. Only decent place in Tokyo I ever found was Italian
• Happy hour: this one also applies most specifically to Italy, where Happy Hour is a now a national standard whereby the price of a drink buys you access to a buffet. Depending on the spot you choose (ie classy or not) this means you can eat and drink for the price of a couple of cocktails. Not to be confused with English happy hour which means you’re most likely to get beat up by someone if you say the wrong thing or bump into them
• European people aren’t Japanese: and while I’ve grown to like the Japanese a lot, there is a certain something lacking after a while, and this was made all the more apparent to me coming back to Italy where everyone is loud, obnoxious and in your face. There’s much to say for a society where not sticking out is a gold standard, but I realise now that I really miss the whole randomness that comes with people not being afraid to stick out

Things about Europe which do suck

• It isn’t Japan
• There is no ramen
• Sushi is overly priced
• Public transport is a joke (though Italy is nowhere near as bad as the UK)
• Internet connections are slightly lacking, but they are getting better
• I can understand everything and therefore it’s harder to blank stuff out and not get pissed off
• There is no onsen

Right I’m done see you all in the new year!

PS: