Friday, August 7, 2009

Hi From Canada!!

As they say in Canada...good morning eh! We are here!! You might be wondering why I am blogging but I will tell you....jet lag!!! I am up at 6 am and frankly,....there isn't a lot to do at this time!!
So...the flight was ok but I learned just how broad my hubby's shoulders are because man he took up space on the plane!! I also learned that American airlines has better food then Air Canada. And...I still can't sleep on airplanes!


When we got off the plane I basically wanted to claw my eyes out as they were stinging so much! My hubby met my dad and they hit it off!!! We went to Guelph (from Toronto) to my favorite Chinese restaurant and it was sooooo fabulous!!! My dad's girlfriend and her daughter met us there and we had so much fun because they not only did they hit it off with my hubby but they also love his cute English as much as I do!


So that night, we basically crashed when we got home but we could only sleep for 5 hours. We got up at 5 something and frankly, I was ok all day but hubby wasn't. Jet lag hit him hard. We had to go out as I had a dentist appointment and an eye doctor appointment but he didn't make it. At the dentist, he fell asleep in the waiting room which I told him was fine given that he was exhausted but he knows that we basically don't sleep in public (totally opposite of Japanese as they can and do sleep anywhere). After the dentist we went to burger king and he ate a whopper...he was so happy to eat it but basically fell asleep while eating his fries. So, we took him home before I went to my eye doctor. He crashed and slept for 14 hours.


I went shopping!! I totally forgot how high Ontario sales tax is....15%!! But I LOVED going to the supermarket where the cheese section is huge (unlike in Japan where there options of shredded cheese is "pizza cheese" or "sandwich cheese")! I took pictures of some food and other products to show my Japanese friends/students. I was just so happy!!


The weather is FABULOUS and actually my honey thought it was a bit cold! I am so happy not to start sweating as soon as you open the door!


My hubby is in love with my dad's HUGE flat screen TV which is in the newly renovated basement where we are staying. It is huge and there are so many sports channels so basically he is in heaven!!


I have been speaking Japanese automatically which causes some looks and lots of questions. I also looked stupid because I got confused by things like...they pack the groceries and I had started to do it. I drew a blank looking at the money and trying to figure it out because it changed again and the coins are so small! I am surprised by how friendly people are here and how they joke with you. At burger king I asked if I could change something and the lady looked at me and send "no" and then winked! Another worker at burger king just started talking to us about stuff. At Second Cup (like Starbucks) some customer started telling us how delicious something was. People just talk to you here!! I forgot about that as that NEVER happens in Japan. They are polite but just do their job with no chatting or joking. It is also weird that I can understand EVERYTHING but hubby can't. I am also shocked by the fact that everyone looks different. I know that sounds weird but honestly....I am used to seeing black hair and most people are around the same height and size etc but...here you see everything...counter culture shock...it hits me every time I come back!


Well...hubby is hungry as he missed dinner last night so I'm off for now!

11 comments:

Mekkan said...

Interesting! You are definitely experiencing "counter culture shock"! I'd love to read your "From Canada with Love". Have a wonderful vacation!

Phoebe said...

sounds so fun!!!
Have a great vacation!

arkonite_babe said...

Oh I wish I was there too, enjoy your holiday :0)

Ann said...

Hahaha! Sorry that made me laugh a bit when I read this :) I hope you have fun!! Canada is great!!

Grace said...

Hubs felt the same way when he went to Japan - a completely different culture he says and all he could see was dark hair too LoL!!

The jet lag is the worse part.. I hope in a few days it'll get better.

Have lots of fun!!

Pili said...

Get some rest now and hopefully the jet lag won't be too bad!

Sandra said...

I have the exact same experiences as you do (my hubby is Hong Kong Chinese). It is so funny. I miss it too that people don't talk to you here (in Hong Kong). But sales are definitely MUCH more friendly and I am treated like a princess in stores here. May be an advantage of "being white". Hope you have lots of fun in Canada, we are off to Austria for Christmas again... And I am definitely going to buy lots of cheese there ;-)

Geotacs said...

"I learned just how broad my hubby's shoulders are because man he took up space on the plane!!"

haha - now that's interesting as generally Asians are smaller in built

but no harm having such broad shoulders to lie on :)

enjoy yout stay in Canada!

ja ne!

Agent Ada Kennedy aka Nina said...

Hi! I love your blog :) I really would like to visit Japan one day and all your interesting bits about their culture is great :) Have a nice vacation!

Miranda said...

Really? I never would have thought that people in Japan wouldn't randomly talk to you about something. I guess I am so used to it happening here in the US. Seems I will be shocked as well if I ever go to Japan! 8D Canada was fun when I went. Hope you have a great time! :D

FromJapanWithLove said...

Hi everyone. Yep...counter culture shock! Yes...his shoulders are so broad...on the way to and from Tokyo the planes are extra small and I had to keep leaning to one side (meaning into the aisle) and I kept getting bumped by people and the drink cart! It was the one time I wished my hubby wasn't so tall and big.
Oh and on the way back to Fukuoka as we were getting on the little plane again, a few older Japanese stopped to tell my hubby how tall and broad he was...they were amazed!
Sandra-I ate lots of cheese too!! Hubby was in shock by all the cheese!
Panda...it isn't that people don't talk to me here...they do but it is different. People are much more guarded here while back home strangers will share their life story and are just so open and spontaneous with what they say. Japan is a very reserved and conservative culture-but I do love it!

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