I have yet to see any obese man, woman or child in the city where I live. With so many delicious and well-presented dishes, I wonder how they manage to stay slim, but looking closely at the portion sizes of products in supermarkets, I notice that the Japanese are against waste, also encouraging the use of refills. The country does not have a wide geographic area, so I believe that if there were no concern for the environment, the country would only lose and would consequently move towards self-destruction.

I'm beginning to understand some of my family's behaviors in Brazil. In the house of some of my relatives, there are always books piled up, little free space and they even store things they will never use. Here in Japan, it seems to be like that too. I imagine that due to the little space they have, combined with the fact that they always think about avoiding waste, they end up storing a lot of things at home, in the office or in the laboratory.

The sweets are well presented and thoughtful. The decorated cakes have delicate decorations and incredible details. Colors catch our attention. As they are not that sweet, we want to eat even more. Although my Brazilian friends had warned me about how common it is for women to gain weight in Japan. I'm having to constantly fight against my desire to taste everything...

Japanese women are very chic. Of course there are exceptions, but they generally wear makeup and wear high-heeled shoes even if they need to ride the bus. Walking in high heels in São Paulo to catch the bus? I avoided it as much as possible. However, as in Japan the avenues are well paved and have no potholes, the buses don't shake as much. In fact, it is not customary to get up before the bus stops completely and the driver uses a microphone for warnings and makes them before any movement, for example, closing the door, starting the engine, turning left or right and stopping at the bus stop. point. They care a lot about the safety of passengers.

I imagined that wearing a kimono would be uncomfortable. We are forced to keep our backs positioned correctly, but it doesn't hurt or become uncomfortable. Japanese women take care with every detail and accessory. We wear clogs, decorate our hair and carry a small bag, with a print matching the fabric of the kimono.

I had a different idea of ​​teacher and student behavior in a classroom. I imagined that they followed a very strict hierarchical system, that students could not be late under any circumstances and that they were very studious. Arriving here, I was able to see that things are not quite like that. Students are late and even sleep in class. The other day, I noticed that the teacher was looking at me frequently. The class only had five students because it was an optional class. I looked around me and noticed that everyone was sleeping! The class had become private, that is, just for me. Not that it doesn't happen in Brazil, but I imagined it would be more strict here. I found other things strange.

During classes, teachers show a lot of patience and understanding. One of my teachers always waits for students to finish copying before erasing the board. He also remembers not to write with pink chalk because people sitting at the back have difficulty seeing.
In my Japanese class, there are many Koreans and Chinese. The Chinese are more accustomed and have an easier time learning the kanji, but have difficulty pronouncing some syllables. Sometimes I can't understand what they say because of the pronunciation.

The other day, I went to research travel luggage prices. The attendant must have realized that I'm a foreigner and spent almost an hour helping me, even though I had told her that I wasn't going to buy and that I was just researching prices. Honestly, when I lived in Mie-ken, I didn't feel as welcomed as I did this time and even now I wonder if it's regional differences or simply the fact that I'm a scholarship holder and not a dekassegui, that makes the difference. Maybe a mix of both.

I didn't really like baseball. In fact, I hated it and didn't see the slightest fun in it. Even so, I read the basic rules on the Internet and went to a game of a famous team from Fukuoka, the Softbank Hawks, who unfortunately lost. The “Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome” is very beautiful. One of the strange things there was the abundance of obentôs. This is not at all common in Brazil and is a bit inelegant. Beer sellers carry gallons on their backs and shout through the aisles. Meanwhile, sometimes some marbles are thrown off the field and lucky fans manage to catch them as souvenirs. When the game is ending, the Japanese start buying and filling giant balloons to release them into the air, making a loud noise - “fiuuuuuu”. I ended up realizing that this sport is really rooted in the country's culture, but I still haven't managed to enjoy it as much as they do.

After that, I went to watch a football game. The Fukuoka team lost, but I still loved it, because I saw two Brazilian players on the field and I was able to cheer for them, shout their names to encourage them. I'm Brazilian, I think it's easy to understand why I like football more than baseball.

Everyone knows that it is Japanese custom to remove shoes before entering homes or research laboratories. In some public bathrooms, too. I went to try on clothes one day and made the mistake of walking into the fitting room wearing shoes. The employee, thinking there was no one in the dressing room, opened the curtain and... What a shame! Lucky I was dressed and so she warned me about the shoes. The shoes outside the fitting room serve to indicate that there are people using the place. Gaffe by a Brazilian on the other side of the world.

Notes:
1. Obentô is the Japanese lunch box. The Japanese tend to take great care in their preparation and assembly, after all, for the Japanese, presentation is always important.

© 2009 Silvia Lumy Akioka