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(Oh, right! Like we're not weird to them!?) Unnecessary white gloves worn for jobs like .. "C'mon, get on the bus!" Don't put one person onto a job when you can get the same job done with six. Whaddayacallit?: that sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth. They just cannot get through a conversation without it. Often accompanied by waving the hand from side to side. Stand at a urinal in a men's bathroom in a train station .. and watch the parade of women walking in to use the facilities who will not wait in line (translation for New Yorkers: on line) in the women's room. Japanese wives who put up with husbands getting drunk with co-workers or customers every damn night for 30 or 40 years. Elevators attendants who bow and apologize like they've done something
to offend you.
Spending $$thousands$$ to play a round of golf.
Objects are counted using different sets of words, according to their shape and size. Long and thin objects, like bananas, are counted using different words than the same number of objects that are round, like oranges, or the same number of objects that are flat in shape, like train tickets. Where else in the world would burglars remove their shoes before entering a house they intend to rob? (True story.) If you misplace a wallet or handbag, the chances are that it will be returned with the money intact.
You can park your bike outside a department store while you shop .. without a chain .. and it will be there when you return. If you're not used to it, it can be startling to walk into a big store at opening time (exactly on time!) and hear a Greek chorus of "irrasshaimase" (welcome), accompanied by the bowing and scraping as you walk down the aisles. Did Queen Elizabeth walk in behind me? Japanese find it hard to say an outright "no" to a request, regardless of the fact that they know they will not be able to do it. Expressing your feelings clearly is not the norm in Japan. To be vague is a positive attribute. To sidestep an issue is preferable to confronting it head-on. Where is this heard? -- Fifteen rub-u, thirty forty, deuce-u, nice
shotto and justo outo.
Manga, the brutal and erotic Japanese comics that (male) adults read on trains. The Tokyo Ski Dome - 300 feet tall and 30 lanes wide of downhill
skiing in July. Reservations are now being taken for the year 2023.
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