Week 1, Part 2: Weather, Culture, and First Excursion Off Post

Hello from Camp Zama, Japan!

For this post I wanted to start with the first things we noticed about being in Japan.

First, it is very humid! Right now we are sitting at 94% humidity. As a comparison for our friends in the United States, also right now Houston, TX is at 79% humidity; Fayetteville, NC is at 82%; and Provo, UT is at 51%. Walking outside feels like you walked into the bathroom after someone just took a hot shower without the fan on. And as we are walking everywhere (we have no car at the moment), we are drenched in sweat by the time we get back home! Not to mention my poor hair. I have always had a problem with frizz, even in dry environments, but so far, ultra-hold hair gel on a slicked back ponytail is the only thing that has even come close to working for any period of time outside.

Second, clothing style is very different here. T-shirts with writing or pictures on them are not common, and if they are worn, the writing is almost always in English, not Japanese. Jeans are also uncommon as far as I have seen (so far, 95% of my wardrobe is not fashionable here). Women wear dresses, or loose, button-down blouses, along with either a long flowing skirt or long flowing, very loose pants or capris. Most men wear polo shirts or other button-down shirts, usually with khaki pants or very loose, flowing pants. And no, I have not seen anyone in a kimono.

Third, the Japanese keep their public establishments very clean -- much cleaner than Americans do. At the Tokyo Narita airport in the middle of the day during high traffic, there was a worker going around and cleaning the handrails of the escalators and sweeping at the bottom of them. (Do handrails in US airports ever get cleaned? Who knows?) On post at the convenience store (again, during the day while people shopped), the Japanese workers were pushing around a large floor cleaner and stopping just short of following people around and cleaning up footprints after them. Outside the convenience store, there was a worker standing outside sweeping pine needles off the sidewalk. (Again, has this ever happened outside convenience stores in the US? Not that I've seen...) At the dining facility on post (which employs mostly Japanese workers), there was a worker standing to the side of the cafeteria, watching everyone eat. When Jordan dropped any piece of food, this worker would rush over and clean it up and go back to his post and continue watching everyone eat. (Whereas in the US you are lucky if they wipe the table after you finish, never mind the floor).

Those are the main things we have noticed that are different immediately about Japan, although there are plenty more in the videos you will find down the page.

Here is a tour of the "temporary housing" (hotel) we have been placed in while we wait for an opening in housing on post. Hopefully we will be placed into an apartment soon. 

We have decided that we will venture off-post at least once a week, shooting for Saturdays, in order to experience the culture around us. We did so for the first time yesterday (Saturday). Here is a video of what you see when you walk through Japan!

Anyway, that's it for now! Next week we will have another post! Stay tuned!

Brittany and Christian