Things I Will Miss

If you don't know by now, I'm back in Canada, and I had an amazing trip. My blog is not over, I will still post a few more things about Japan, but I wanted to talk about what I missed from home and what I'll miss about Japan.

Things I missed about home:

Beer:
Japanese beer is good, and they have lots of varieties, but they are not that different. The most widely available beers are always lagers. There are some stouts but you would have to go to a real liquor store to find them. Canada has everything. I really missed Guinness. I like deep, dark and complex beers. And they don't have many ales there or IPA. I think I enjoyed Sapporo the most, and Yebisu. Yebisu is a light redish orange color, and the taste is a bit more flavorful than other lagers.

Central Heating Systems:
Japanese homes/apartments don't have central heating systems. So most of the house is freezing cold all the time.  In the summer, I wouldn't be worried about this. So Japanese keep doors closed all the time and heat the room you are occupying the most. At Mao's house, when I would use the bathroom, it was so cold. They use some sort of portable gas heaters, and heat specific rooms. Apartments are heated with air conditioners which do a really good job in small Japanese apartments.

Wireless and fast internet:
Canada has got it good when it comes to internet. We were one of the first countries with broadband internet capacity, and we use wireless everywhere. Surprisingly enough, Japanese haven't caught onto this wireless obsession yet. Most likely this is because you can do everything on your phone in Japan. Every phone is almost as good as a Blackberry. Japanese don't need wireless Cafe's because everybody uses their phones to access email. When you text someone in Japan, you are actually emailing them. Yes, we may have good internet, but Japanese have really good phones, and this already widely known.

Finding a good Cigar Shop:
It's hard to find good cigar shops in Japan, but it's probably because I don't live there. So yeah I couldn't get a cuban from a convenience store like I can sometimes in Canada, everybody smokes menthol cigarettes and nasty shit like that.

What I will miss about Japan:

Convenience:
In Japan, you can get almost anything you need anytime. Vending machines, transit, you name it. It's almost right at your finger tips, specially if you live in dense urban centers. Convenience stores really live up to the word.

Some of the best Coffee in the World:
I really enjoyed the Cafe scene in Japan. 99% of Cafe's are sit down, they don't have no take away cups, that's what cans and vending machines are for. If you're going to destroy your coffee drinking it in a wax up you might as well buy it in can. I don't know if it's the water, but the cream and milk is definitely better. So much flavor and fat content. Coffee is made strong. Tea is delicate and flavorful. I was never disappointed with a cup of coffee in Japan. I have had coffee around the world a bit. Coffee was great in Spain too, and pretty good in Greece. But I had no idea Coffee had such a hold on Japan. Japanese and Chinese are different, no matter what anybody does, Coffee hasn't made it into China the way it has in the rest of the world.

Weather:
The weather in Japan was sunny and blue skies 85% of the three weeks we were there. It rained once, and snowed once. We touched down in Vancouver and just take a wild guess at what the weather was like.

Environment:
Japan was aesthetically pleasing to me. They take care of details. Very clean place. It's a very comfortable place in terms of climate. Yeah it will be hot as hell in Summer, but I'm ok with that.

The Service:
The culture shock back in Canada was felt the most when it came to service. We Canadians behave like wild animals compared to the Japanese. Japanese welcome and greet their customers in extremely formal language. If you stand around a retail shop facing one of the store keepers, they will keep repeating the same phrase with consistent enthusiasm, that means something like, "welcome, I'm at your service." Whenever they help you or serve you they say, "I've committed a disgrace, excuse me". When we got back to Canada, we were travel-high, it seemed like everyone was depressed and always in a hurry. What are they in a hurry for? The only thing people do here for fun is go home and log on facebook. (that's what I do...) Japanese are swift when moving about the city, but I never sensed that feeling of hurry and rushing or desperately wanting to get ahead of everyone else. The first thing I think about is J-walkers in Canada.

The Fashion:
Japanese are very stylish. Everybody takes care of their appearance. I said it before, Japan is like the France of Asia, so to speak. Except, they are nothing like the French, just stylish, and fashionable.
Department stores are huge in Japan. Think of them like malls. They are several floors of which the majority of stores are for women. If there are three floors of women's shops, then there is one floor dedicated to men's shops. It's really amazing. Each store is unique, you never find the same thing twice, unless you go to the ubiquitous Uni Qlo.

The Vibe:
What I miss the most, is the vibe... Japan is full of energy. It's familiar somehow. If Mao and I decide to live there one day, I would be very happy to call Japan home. Japan is filled with harmonious dualities, it is very peaceful there, but it is also vibrant, and you can experience both feelings in the same place. I feel something very special there. I didn't feel this in China for example. So far the only other place I felt a similar comfort was Oregon, oddly enough, and Greece. I cant wait to go back.