Things You’re Forced to Learn for the First Time When Living in Japan

With seven years of Japanese study under my belt and a homestay experience, I thought I was more than prepared for living in Japan when I came here two years ago. I quickly discovered that was not the case, not only in certain aspects of language that you miss out on simply from learning from textbooks. No, there were simple everyday things that I discovered were very different from my home of USA that I was quickly forced to learn in order to survive in a new country. Nothing you read online can prepare you for what the reality is when it comes to every day, run-of-the-mill things. As an American some of these things are more difficult for me than for people from other countries, but here is my list of things I had to learn in order to survive.

1. All the difference sizes of printing paper – it’s not just 8 ½ by 11!

This is the equivalent of A4 in Japan. There’s also A5, B4, and B5, all different sizes ranging from lesson than 8 ½ by 11 to double that in one page. Working at a Japanese school teaching English, I frequently have to make copies for class, which involves selecting the size of paper to print it out on. Printing was another thing I had to figure out, which, depending on the machine, requires you to make a model of the page you want to mass produce, wait for the test print, then inputting how many copies you want before getting anywhere. If there was only one size paper in Japan you wouldn’t have to worry about finding the right size and loading it up every time you want to copy. But these sizes – A4 and 5, B 4 and 5 – are going to become a part of your everyday life whether you like it or not. I still haven’t memorized what everything is aside from A4.

2. What constitutes as burnable and unburnable garbage – and you will never truly get the hang of this; always to be flustered by sorting your garbage at McDonalds.

Hanami Time! Saturday in the Park with Pups, and New Disney Store Releases

At hanami in Tokyo.

Last weekend was the start of hanami, cherry blossom viewing! I met my friend Sarah (www.twitter.com/S_NelkinEN) in Tokyo – and her adorable pups! – to marvel at the beautiful light-pink blossoms now blooming throughout Japan. This is my third hanami in Japan, but last year I was visiting my family back in the states and arrived at the tail end of the brief season. So this year I was more than ready! Usually there are only two weekend chances to enjoy hanami eating and drinking underneath the blossoms with your friends and family, given sakura’s extremely short lifespan. Unless you travel from southern to northern Japan following the blooming. And I’m so sure there are totally people who do that.

Beautiful light-pink blossoms mean spring is here!

After a long winter and a cold start to spring, sakura are a sure sign that warmth and sunshine is on the way! Unfortunately this wasn’t the case last weekend, as a stubborn cloudy, rainy spell hit the Tokyo and Yokohama areas. Still, crummy weather or not, sakura attract a crowd! Popular sites in Tokyo for hanami are Yoyogi and Ueno park, but I tried for something off the beaten path near my friend’s house. This was a nice little park with plenty of sakura and not too crowded, although she said it got more crowded than last year due to a TV special that attracted more people this year. I was more than happy in a smaller, less crowded setting, and enjoyed snacking on tomato-garlic takoyaki while playing with my friend’s cute dogs.

Me, my friend Sarah, and her dogs Aurica and Philo enjoying hanami.

Another spot near the park.

Stage performance in the park.

Other gorgeous flowers in the park.

Also, a big announcement for me – I’ve become a freelance writer! My first article is up on www.izanau.com, so please check it out and look for more of my writing on the way!

Back to business, right after enjoying hanami I decided to pay a visit to the Disney store in Ikebukuro (I had an intense craving for Blue Seal purple sweet potato ice cream), and they have tons of cute new products! I’m considering featuring new Disney products every month, but this may cut into my spending money quite a bit, as who can resist all the cute things there? First up, these adorable French pastry goods.

Can you say adorable?

My favorite are the croissant goods. Chip and Dale are extremely popular here, and they look so cute sharing a big buttered croissant!

This one has to be my favorite, though. It’s really a pencil pouch, but it looks good enough to eat! Warning: purchasing any of these products may cause intense cravings for French pastries.

On the other hand, Easter products are in full swing, featuring Pooh and his friends! The cutest ones are all the little critters sitting in a colorful Easter egg.

Plus there’s a whole new line of Winnie the Pooh tsum tsums! Just when you thought you had painstakingly collected them all. They are all dressed up in fuzzy yellow chick utfits similar to the bumble bee versions from last year. And for some reason on the big Winnie the Poohs there’s a bunny attached to the front like a little kangaroo pouch? This makes no sense.

I also have to recommend this adorable line of sleeping characters that has been around for a while and looks like they're here to stay! They are so soft you’ll swear they’re stuffed with tofu and marshmallows.

Continuing in the spring vein, there are new jewelry stands for sale. You may have seen original jewelry and ring stands in the dresses and heels of your favorite Disney princesses. (I have to say I’m partial to Anna’s, because it’s a perfect match. Some of them have had creative liberties taken). They run about 25 dollars each.

But now you have two new jewelry stand options in these super cute dresses!

They’re both very pretty, and unique from the standard Disney princess dresses. If you’re a real Disney fanatic (and have lots of money) you can even buy this dress that matches the first one!

And Disney doesn’t only have its animated movie products. Check out these super cool Avengers tsum tsums! (Why is there no Loki?! Clearly the production team messed up on this one).

You can also find some Star Wars goods still around! I really like this BB8 cup.

That’s all for this month! Look forward to more awesome Disney store products!