Interesting Facts about Japan #3

* In the coffee section of the ubiquitous beverage vending machines here, there is a drink that I have always found to be surrounded by an air of mystery. UNTIL NOW. It's called "deepresso". Being who I am, I had never put much thought into why this coffee was called that, I just figured it had to do with depression... possibly it was reverse caffeinated? And steered clear. Yesterday, Jeff's ingenious friend J revealed the secret of deepresso: it's deep roasted espresso! But as Jeff points out, this is too long to fit on the can, and the Japanese are a people who very much like to make things shorter.

* There is no Ladies Night in Okinawa, except at the bar where a particular someone (whose name shall remain undisclosed) works. However, there is Ladies Day at the gas station. That's right JET ladies: were you aware that your gas might be 10 cents cheaper than the man's liter if you show up on the right day? You should ask. They've got this on Sunday at my station.

* If you buy a bottle of awamori (Okinawan rice liquor) at an izakaya (Japanese bar), you can consume part of it, and leave the rest there. The bar will keep your bottle in their storage area under your name for up to 2 months, and you can keep drinking from it every time you come.

LEFT: neko-chan guards a bottle of awamori and the bell one rings to get more awamori at a local bar.

* Japanese people are obsessed with point cards. Every place you go in this country has a point-o kaado that they swipe/stamp for you every time you shop there: the grocery store, the gas station, restaurants, department stores. After 7 months here, I must say I have yet to see a single one my point cards bear fruit (and I've got at least 5, cuz my supervisor signed me up for all of them in my first week here). How many hundreds of dollars of groceries do I have to buy at Kanehire before I get my measly 500 yen off??? Like $1,000. Whaaaaat, you're thinking. That's just depressing. Give up the point cards now, or don't even bother. The funny thing is, Japanese people are really enthusiastic about these incentives. I mean, these folks are in it for the long haul. Tell an America that you have to shop at one particular grocery store for 2 years every week and then you'll give them the equivalent of one box of free cereal and they'll rip that up and throw it back in your face. I want my free stuff NOW! I want buy one get one FREE! I want a coupon I can hold in my hand for 50 cents off my next can of kidney beans. Are you guys with me on this? Patience is definitely a virtue that Japanese society has more of than I do. And yet, I'm still handing my point cards over, every time.

I hope you now feel one step closer to understanding my way of life.