Japan Meme

[rkold]

Meme ganked from muscatlove and setra.

While I've never lived in Japan, for those who want to be horrified, I've been to Japan 16 times or approximately 30 weeks in total, possibly longer.

What makes you happy about Japan? What memories are quintessential to you as being /in/ Japan?


You too can try to guess which trip(s) I am thinking of lol

Hearing the Dango song
Living on a diet of mikan
Getting up at the crack of dawn to queue for 3 hours+ for something.
Getting 5000 yen from a random woman I met on the train from Ononimachi to Koriyama just as the shinkansen doors closed.
The music video where Ami and Yumi help Jenny win back Jeff
Caramel Frappucinos
Earthquake at Sunshine 60
Fuji-san!!!!!!!
Learning how to text message. lol
Trying to visit locales from whatever is my current obsession
The American flag pin given to me by the staff member at the American Club (which was later eaten by a deer at Miyajima)
Asking a doujinshika to draw me an original sketch at Super Comic City after having been too shy in the past.
Seeing a deer and a Japanese tourist play tug of war with a tourist map.
Soft-serve ice cream!
Getting much more up close and personal with a rooting machine than I ever intended.
Breakfast at Honeybee.
The gardens at Okayama
Not being able to effectively communicate with people.
Having random guys trying to pick me up. o_O;;
JR Rail Passes
Blowing out the candles in lieu of Jesus on our Christmas Cake
Santa dancing to the "Yellow Rose of Texas"
Earthquake just as I reach the high part of "My Heart Will Go On" at karaoke.
Finally making it to Prima Baci. <3
Spending 30 minutes wandering 4 blocks of Akihabara trying to find Volks.
Trying to play dumb while waiting at HMV so I can see Suwabe Junichi in person.
Sentences with the Japanese word of the day.
Watching a TV show known only to us as "Girls who kick guys in the balls."
Episode 31 of Seed
Being attacked by the Japanese camera crew at Sato leading to an accidental Omukae ceremony and my picture in the Sato blog.
Karaoking Blood while wearing a St. Rudolph's jersey.
500 yen umbrellas
Uniqlo!!!!!!!
Strawberry ice cream at Tokyo Tower
Working the doujinshi stacks at K-books and Mandarake
Being treated to dinner by a famous doujinshika, who is now published
The vendors who motored out to our boat after riding through the Hozu Rapids.
Curtain shopping at Tokyu Hands
Someone I barely know getting me a voucher for Yo SD Anne
Water Salad, Grapefruit Fanta, and all the other soft drinks I liked and are no longer for sale.
Paying 200 yen to ride in a mini car on track.
Crashing the wedding at Meiji Jingu and getting pictures of traditional dress.
Sitting at the kotatsu eating mikans lol
Heated toilet seats but unheated shower rooms o_O
The various tunes played by trains in Tokyo, which I still hum sometimes.
Finally, all the extremely wonderful people I've met in Japan, both Japanese and gaijin.

Comments

[blacktempest.livejournal.com]

5000yen from a woman on the train? Randomly? Out of all the things you wrote that was the most interesting to me ^^

[rkold.livejournal.com]

Well it seemed random to me. XD;;

I was coming back from Licca-chan Castle on my first trip to Japan, and being rather obviously foreign, a middle aged woman took an interest in me. We "talked", i.e. I pointed to words in the dictionary and then she would take the dictionary and point to words, for 45 minutes, in between which I hacked up a lung. (I caught a VERY bad cold that trip lol)

I said my goodbyes and left for the shinkansen tracks. I was just getting on my shinkansen, when suddenly she was there, and handed me a 5000 yen bill. I wanted to give it back, but the doors shut before I could really process anything.

I ended up using it to pay for a Green Car seat on the Haruka Express so I could go to KIX and go home. lol

[blacktempest.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was so nice of her! Maybe she meant for you to buy some cold medicine! ;) The amiyumi commercial with Jenny sounds really funny too ^^ I always wondered if Jenny left Jeff for that "new" boyfriend at the time, gah, was it Takumi?

[rkold.livejournal.com]

I think Takumi was one of Licca's. I want to say Sho, gah, I have one of them. lol

This was the official music video for some Ami and Yumi song from 2000. If I remember correctly, it featured Ellie (or maybe Kisara) stealing Jeff away from Jenny. Jenny was miserable until Ami and Yumi dolls cheered her up and help her get back Jeff. I think there was even a slap. lol Jenny can have lots of boyfriends, but Jeff has to have only one girlfriend, making the double standard work for you. XD;;;

I want to say the woman had a son who had died? But my Japanese was non-existent at the time (like I only knew domo arigato, konnichiwa, and sayonara lol) and her English was not so great. lol

Most of these memories were really happy, and overall I am very fortunate to have them.