the people in japan are annoyingly cute.
actually. as card-carrying, bitter north american cynics Hannah and I have been having a jolly old time scoffing at cars that look like gum drops, women wearing pigtails into ther forties, the animation of literally everything (an ad for an OBGYN featured a cartoon family of dogs? the exhibit on how beer is produced at the beer museum would have you beleive that magical elves play a large role in the process?) not to mention the sensory overload of cutsy that is japanese television. and everyone's shoes are about a size and a half too big.
But Buddha does not approve of eye-rolling and the other day, he got his revenge. we went to Mt. Shosha where we rode up to the top of a mountain on a cable car to see a bunch of temples that were tucked away in the forests. Everything was super until Hannah says "hey I think this is the way to the next temple" and we head down a (in retrospect kind of deserted and suspiciously overgrown) path. Neither Hannah nor I can read Japanese so despite a smattering of signs along the way (many of which alarmingly had cartoon pictures of snakes on them) we could not figure out where we were and ended up HIKING DOWN THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. literally. in sandals. and it doesn't stop there. in our descent we managed to end up on the other side of the mountain than the ropeway and/or bus route. luckily we stumbled upon the cutest elderly couple working on their cute garden and they ended up drivng us all the way to the station in their tiny adorable car and basically saved our lives. Meanwhile Buddha was, I'm sure, laughing away at having taught the judgemental gaijin a lesson in humility.
And it's true, even though there is not a single normal sized glass in the country (2 sips and you need a refil) and there is an irritatingly adorable theme song for the start and finish of ANYTHING (train arrivals, rice cookers, every half-hour on any clock) and we will probably still be laughing at all the cutesy stuff they come up wit, the people here have been the most helpfull, kind, polite and awesome hosts a traveller could ever ask for.
but seriously though, why can't they just buy shoes that fit?
