Becoming invisible

One thing I've noticed while here in Japan is that gaijin or foreigners are almost completely invisible while we are walking around. Almost every Japanese person acts like we just don't exist as we go by, its almost like we are ghosts just drifting through a sea of humanity. Its hard to explain but you really do feel like they almost don't see you as you go about your daily business, no one makes eye contact, physical contact is shunned at all times and people hawking food or random other things always ignore us. The last part could be because they have guessed that we don't want to buy some octopus balls, but someday I want one of them to offer me some fried octopus head just so I know that they do care.

But regardless of whether they act like we exist or not the one thing the Japanese do have down to an art is customer service. When my friend and I went to open a bank account yesterday we went to a real Japanese bank, not the usual gaijin friendly one that the rest of the English speakers use. So no one in the bank spoke English and even with my intermediate Japanese very little communication was happening. But fear not because the bank president himself and a personal assistant for the two of us soon appeared and helped us set up an account. Then as we were leaving it seemed almost every employee was bowing and thanking us, really makes you feel like some visiting dignitary or something. I have to admit when I leave at the end of my year I am definitely going to miss the service here, because no matter if it is a tiny mom and pop restaurant or a huge department store you are always treated like a VIP.

I have to work early tomorrow so this will have to do for now, but I have plenty of pics to put up so I'll try to put some of the crazier ones up tomorrow. Like the picture of people fishing for koi in the bottom of an arcade. No joke. Oh and...if you happen to be tall, blonde and and caffeine deprived a certain boy in Japan misses you :)