Last week I received a package in the mail from Japan and was surprised and sooo excited when I saw that it was from one of my favorite people-- my former student and current friend, Pyongan. So excited! *Pyongan is funny, sincere, thoughtful, hardworking, determined, smart, engaging, and has a smile that lights up a room-- so full of life!* I opened the box, which contained a woven, hanging scroll style 2012 calendar. Cool! I looked further to find a letter. But there wasn't one. ?? I kept looking, thinking it might be in the bottom of the box or stuck to the inside. But no. There wasn't one. THEN, it hit me. I realized-- he couldn't send a letter, because that would have increased the postage by ￥1000. (= more than $11) This is true. The Japanese post office charges you for including a letter in a package. I am not making this up. This is not a joke. Although it did seem like a cruel joke every time I encountered it. I remember the first time. I was mailing a birthday present to Mia in the States. The lady at the post office weighed the box and told me that the postage would cost about ￥1300. Then she said, 'There's not a letter in here, right?' What?? Of course there's a letter in there! Who sends someone a package without a letter in it?! 'Um, yes, there is.' She recalculates the postage...and the new price shows up on the register...￥2285. WHAAAT?! Are you kidding me??!! You didn't ask me if this package contains flammables, liquids, weapons, or live animals! You asked me if it contained a letter! A 'yes' reply to that question increased the postage price (which is already insanely expensive) by ￥1000?!? I am shocked and going broke. What the heck? The charge is not for added weight. It is for a sheet of paper with a message written on it. Later, I asked my friend, Matsumura San, about this. Her daughter, Yumi, was in college in D.C., so I figured she had encountered the same thing. She told me that she never includes letters in the packages she sends to Yumi...she just writes a note to her on the inside flap of the box. Huh...that's creative. I make a mental note (which is free!) to do the same thing next time, or to just mail a letter in a separate envelope for ￥105. BUT.....I forgot!! I mean, you'd think I would remember because it was such a shocking and expensive experience...but, my whole life I've been including letters in packages, so it's just so natural [LOL!] that I completely space out the insane post office rule. So...once again, I'm asked if there's a letter in the box I'm mailing. AAAAAH! YES! ;\ Yes, there is. Okay, new plan-- because, really, I can't write a very long message on the inside flap of the box...Plus, Japanese stationary is so cool, it's a waste to never get to use it (もったいない)-- so, my idea is to not go anymore to that post office where they know me. I'll go to a different one and fake like I don't understand the question, hoping (and expecting) that they'll just give me the benefit of the doubt, finding me-- by language-incompetence-default-- 'not guilty' of including a letter in the present I'm mailing. This plan also fails. I am so angry about the pure stupidity of having to pay double postage for putting a letter in the package that I ask why? [LOL!] I just realized that to an American audience, it won't seem like asking, "Why?", is an event that would require getting riled up and over-the-top angry. :D BUT, in Japan, no one asks, "Why?" People just follow the rules. To ask is confrontational, and Japanese people don't do that. (in general) So, having me ask, 'Why does the postage increase so much if there's a letter in the package?' probably felt very unnerving to the postal clerks. The lady helping me, all of a sudden, looked very worried. She didn't answer my question...she just continued pushing keys on the computer, while it seemed that sweat would start to form on her brow. If there was a security call button under the counter, I'm sure she had her finger on it. Thankfully the police were probably busy dealing with more serious crimes like stolen laundry [more to come in my next post] so they didn't respond to the call for back-up to deal with the American girl at the post office asking, "Why?" I'm surprised, actually, that the clerks knew the answer...I can't imagine that they would have ever asked their 先輩 (more experienced co-workers) why they had to charge customers double price for a letter. It must have been written into their manual. The reason for the insane charge is: if there is a personal letter included in a package, the postal staff isn't allowed to open the package to inspect it-- out of respect for the privacy of the content of the letter; the package will instead have to be inspected by a machine, which is apparently more costly. "I don't care if you open the box and read my letter", I reply. Confrontational. I mean, I'm joking and smiling big, but this kind of rule-rebellion is no joking matter for Japanese employees...and I'm sure they don't think it's funny. And there's no chance that they will actually allow my box to be put into the ￥1000 less expensive, letter-not-included pile of packages to be searched by hand and risk someone reading my letter. UGH! SO FRUSTRATING!!! What makes it worse-- or just more annoying-- is that I forget this rule repeatedly (??!!), so every time I mail a package and am asked the question, I get caught totally off-guard...the horror shows on my face...so I can't even play it off like I don't understand or just say no. The post office is my least favorite place to go in Japan. By far. THEN, it gets worse. I know-- it seems like this would be the extent of torture that a service-oriented Japanese government agency could inflict on customers who want to share awesome Japanese goods with their friends and family overseas. But, things are not as they seem. Another day, at another post office, I asked the clerk to put postage on a postcard and mail it. I knew right away something was wrong when she took it behind the counter, pulled out a guidebook and ruler, and started discussing with two other postal clerks. I looked at my friend, Chris, not sure if I should crack up laughing or roll my eyes. What could it be?? Clearly there was some serious problem with mailing this post card if it required a 4-centimeter thick guidebook and consultation with multiple people. After a few minutes, the clerk returns to tell me that she can't mail the post card because it's not regulation size. It's 1 cm shorter than standard postcards. Small items cannot be mailed because they could get lost in the mail. She presents me with the following page which she kindly copied out of the guidebook for my future reference.
OhMyGosh. Are you kidding me? Of course not. I do realize that very small items have a greater chance of getting lost in the mail. And I can agree that there may need to be some standard regarding the size of items mailed. But we are talking about a post card that is A centimeter- ONE!- shorter than the standard! I'm not trying to mail a business card. I can't believe this is my real life. Everyone's real life in this country. I mean, I guess everyone doesn't encounter this because most people never try to mail something that's not regulation size. I take the acceptable-size-mail guidelines handbook photocopy and thank the clerk while trying not to bust out laughing as Chris and I exchange looks of disbelief. The next day I went to a different post office, bought a postcard stamp, put it on my postcard, and dropped it in the mailbox myself. やった! ;D Triumph over the system! LOL.
Coffee shops close early!! I just went out-- at 10:30-- and couldn't find an open one! I went to three, at least one of which used to be open until 11:00. Sad. I remember now...thinking that stuff here closed early, but I had forgotten. I'm used to Starbucks being open until midnight. Bummer!
Something else I noticed yesterday but hadn't fully thought through was that when I was at the bank exchanging my yen, a line started forming behind me and my immediate response was to feel sorry. I thought of telling the teller to help them first and that I could wait. But then I realized that it was okay for me to be helped first because I was there first. I thought...this is a very Japanese response-- feeling concerned for those other people and not wanting to cause a problem for them. I mean, I don't think Americans want to cause problems for other people, but I don't think most Americans-- including myself pre-Japan-- would have thought to let the other customers go ahead of them.
Having been back in the States for a week now, these are my thoughts and observations...
I miss karaoke.
I miss using o-hashi (chopsticks) every day...I haven't yet had a meal that would be most easily eaten with chopsticks.
The airports are noisy.
There are SO MANY white people everywhere!
So many people have tattoos.
America is so much more casual than Japan. たとえば: The Zumba instructor at the gym deciding on-the-spot which song to choose from her iPod play list for the next routine...as opposed to my Japanese Zumba teacher, 木村さん, who always has mix CDs cued up with the songs in order. Also, while I was meeting with a staff member at the school district office to sign my teaching contract and other paperwork, another employee walked in and greeted that staff member with a hug.....during work! while she was doing business with me! A hug!?!
I miss karaoke.
Drinks at restaurants are HUGE, and the servers keep refilling and refilling your glass even if it isn't empty.
"Hot, humid" weather in Colorado is like the one cool day of Spring weather in Gunma.
All the TVs at the gym broadcast in English, which means I can understand all of them...and it's information/stimuli overload.
I miss karaoke.
Horrible Japanese fashion has invaded and is being sold and worn in America.
There are so many overweight people. Many very overweight!
Most guys at the gym are huge...with muscles.
Only a few of the people working out at the gym here look anorexic...whereas in Japan, MANY do!
I naturally walked around the gym locker room barefoot while carrying my shoes. ;) Then I realized I had to put them back on because they were the only ones I had...there wouldn't be another pair waiting for me near the gym door.
It felt really awkward to wear my shoes into the dressing rooms at Old Navy and the alterations shop.
People are really nice! (But the ones who aren't are direct about it!)
Life is easy here. So easy. Too easy?
I miss karaoke.
Sales tax is not included in the listed prices of items.
Sales tax is high.
When I get $100 out of the ATM, it is dispensed in 20s or 10s...not a $100 bill. I had forgotten that we don't deal with such large bills here...since people so often use debit and credit cards. I'm used to paying for my 450 yen white mocha with a 10,000 yen bill! I saw a sign at a coffee shop here that says they don't accept any bills over a 20! :O
There will be more to come...I'm sure...
