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My blog about living in Japan

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    #92
    hibby
    Registered Users Posts: 273 ✭✭hibby


    username123 wrote: »
    You are welcome. Ive read some more posts.

    Some topics for you:

    An ordinary meal cooked at home, cooking appliances, food eaten (I love any of the food posts and found the cost of fruit/veg interesting).

    Socialising with your wife, her father, other people - where you go, what you do (loved the story of the trad music band), theatre/cinema/drinks etc...

    Furniture - yes bizarre but Im fascinated with the roll out bedding and the high tech toilets!

    The hardware store/supermarket/barbers etc...

    A wander round your neighbourhood is always good.

    I was interested in the post about the swimming pool and the exercises, do they have gyms as we know them in Japan?

    Food again, typical meals cooked at home, take away food, like the Japanese equivalent of ordering a pizza, a packet of crisps, popcorn etc.. Perhaps a chat on diet, your pictures show healthy looking people in crowds, obesity does not seem to be a problem?

    I love when you show us the small cultural norms like places to store shoes in hallways or high tech toilets!

    Just so you know I'm not ignoring your suggestions and will keep them in mind for the future; however I'm working through a backlog of other topics at the moment.

    I really do appreciate your feedback and the point that ordinary things like furniture, kitchen appliances and the price of fruit can be interesting.

    Sadly, our lives don't involve a lot of socialising; between work and study there seems to be never quite enough time.


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    #93
    hibby
    Registered Users Posts: 273 ✭✭hibby


    username123 wrote: »
    Food again, typical meals cooked at home, take away food, like the Japanese equivalent of ordering a pizza, a packet of crisps, popcorn etc.. Perhaps a chat on diet, your pictures show healthy looking people in crowds, obesity does not seem to be a problem?

    Okay, on this point it is very noticeable that most Japanese people are thin. There are a few fat people but it is really quite rare.

    I can't say to what extent this is a natural consequence of the Japanese lifestyle, and to what extent they are consciously dieting to stay in shape. Hannah mentions in her blog that her female students engage in extreme dieting behaviours to try to stay thin.

    My own experience is this. Every time I visit Japan, even for 2 or 3 weeks, I lose weight. In the past 6 months in Japan I have lost 6 kg (around 1 stone) and now weigh 70 kg (11 stone), the lightest I have been in my adult life.

    I would credit this to 2 aspects of the Japanese lifestyle: low car usage (we have a car, but it's a bit of a hassle to use it to go anywhere, so we normally travel by walking, cycling or public transport), and relatively low-fat diet. Rice, for example, is very filling but low in fat.

    So maybe Hannah's students are wasting their time and energy by dieting; they would probably be thin even on a normal Japanese diet.


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    #94
    username123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,484 ✭✭✭username123


    hibby wrote: »
    Sadly, our lives don't involve a lot of socialising; between work and study there seems to be never quite enough time.

    One of the reasons I enjoy your blog so much is that I relate to your life. We are similar ages, Im married too, and you are living the kind of life Id probably live if I was in a different country. Because you or your wife and the dogs are in a lot of the pics you post, there is a real sense of you participating, living the life, not just observing if you know what I mean?

    I loved the pic of you and the dogs joining in the parade passing your house, its just the kind of thing Id do ;)


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    #95
    Beruthiel
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 42,362 Mod ✭✭✭✭Beruthiel


    Totally agree with what username123 is saying.
    Your blog gives the reader a real sense of actually living there.

    I'm jealous you got to do a tea ceremony and I'm totally impressed you lasted 45 mins on your knees.
    I couldn't last 2 mins.
    When I kneel down like that, my left knee tends to pop out of it's socket, popping it back in is more than a tad painful!


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    #96
    username123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,484 ✭✭✭username123


    Beruthiel wrote: »
    I'm jealous you got to do a tea ceremony and I'm totally impressed you lasted 45 mins on your knees.
    I couldn't last 2 mins.
    When I kneel down like that, my left knee tends to pop out of it's socket, popping it back in is more than a tad painful!

    lol - the first thing I thought when I read it was 'oh my knees wouldnt take that!'. Great minds eh? Or bad knees!!


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    #97
    Beruthiel
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 42,362 Mod ✭✭✭✭Beruthiel


    BananaWhoops wrote: »
    lostinhanslation.blogspot.jp

    Just read your comments on the gentlemen of negotiable affection.
    There is much to be found on youtube on the subject.
    I recall watching a documentary some time back on one particular host club and the lads working there.
    Your heart would break for them. Such a sad, lonely, sleazy life.
    I imagine if you stayed in that industry for any length of time, you'd loose your soul. That is, if your liver didn't give out first.


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    #98
    BananaWhoops
    Registered Users Posts: 39 ✭BananaWhoops


    Beruthiel wrote: »
    Just read your comments on the gentlemen of negotiable affection.
    There is much to be found on youtube on the subject.
    I recall watching a documentary some time back on one particular host club and the lads working there.
    Your heart would break for them. Such a sad, lonely, sleazy life.
    I imagine if you stayed in that industry for any length of time, you'd loose your soul. That is, if your liver didn't give out first.

    I had no idea! I must look on youtube like you say. Part of what's nice about blogging is my naivety to such issues. Part of what's not is just the same.

    Hibby & all else concerned, yes my students claim to diet to excess. However, I teach nursing students and last week we had to cover calories, fat, and the food pyramid. None of them had a clue - much less than my fellow university mates in Ireland would have known, so I'm doubting my earlier diet claim. This issue requires more research!


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    #99
    Beruthiel
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 42,362 Mod ✭✭✭✭Beruthiel


    BananaWhoops wrote: »
    I had no idea! I must look on youtube like you say.

    Here's one on a club in Osaka:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwVraM2qp1Q


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    #100
    BananaWhoops
    Registered Users Posts: 39 ✭BananaWhoops


    Beruthiel wrote: »
    Here's one on a club in Osaka:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwVraM2qp1Q

    I'm only seeing this now! The poor things, I really did feel for them after hearing all about it. All the ones we saw seemed really shy and withdrawn.


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