We all know Japan as being the land of sushi, sumo, and ramen...but I thought I'd share a few of the more quirky things I've been loving about Japan lately...
THE BRASS BAND
Okay, I'm a little bias since this brass band I'm speaking of happens to be from my high school but NEEDLESS TO SAY, our school has one of the best bands in all of Japan which kind of makes them the pride of Kashiwa city. Literally, any major city event (this one happened to be a city marathon) you can expect the brass band kids to be there. I hear them practicing in the halls every day at school, so when I went to go check out the marathon (notice I said check out, not run) I was a block or two away and heard the music playing and immediately knew those were kids from Ichikashi! Proud teacher moment *tears*
7-11
The Japanese are SMART people and they know the true definition of "convenience store." I live next to a 7-11, (which in the states would mean getting slim jims, slurpees, and a redbox dvd) where I can pay my bills, buy a plane ticket, get money out, buy good $1 coffee, or a full course meal, or eggs, or really anything I could ever need in life. LITERALLY- CONVENIENT!
PERFECT PORTIONS
Oh sorry did you need 2kg of rice? Or ONE apple?! Or a tiny head of lettice? Japan is your place to be. Food is cute and tiny here and everything is perfectly portioned out. I'm convinced this is why Japanese people are so healthy...they eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that and then walk it all off!
COSTCO
A gift from above. The best part about having a costco in Japan (duh free samples but thats a given) is the 180yen hot dog and drink combo along with the BULGOGI BAKE! Yes, you heard me...not only do they have the chicken bake...they also have the amazingly sweet korean meat aka BULGOGI bake. uhhhhmazing