"You've been in Japan too long when......
I know Kate posted this ages ago, but i rediscovered it today when looking for material for my radio show this arvo. I think i can use some of them...
...you notice you've forgotten how to tie shoelaces.
...you rush onto an escalator, and just stand there.
...you find yourself bowing while you talk on the phone.
...you think US$17 isn't such a bad price for a new paperback.
...when you are talking on the telephone to your parents and your father says, 'Why are you interrupting my explanation with grunts?.'
...you see a gaijin get on the train and think 'Wow, it's a gaijin!', and then you stare at them without trying to be noticed.
...you have trouble figuring out how many syllables there really are in words like 'building'.
...when you wait for the first day of summer to wear short sleeve dress shirts and shorts.
...when the first 'optional extra' you buy for your car is a TV set.
...you are not worried about speeding in the rain, because you know the cops are only out in good weather.
...you think birds cry.
...you think wet umbrellas need condoms. (plastic covers to those non-japan visitors)
...you have discovered the sexual attraction of high school 'sailor suit' uniforms.
...you are only slightly puzzled by 'Melty Kiss.'
...you ask fellow foreigners the all-important question 'How long have you been here?' in order to be able to properly categorize them.
...when in the middle of nowhere, totally surrounded by rice fields and abundant nature, you aren't surprised to find a drink vending machine with no visible means of a power supply...
...the TV commercials make sense to you.
...when having gaijin around you is a source of stress.
...when your arguing with someone about the color of the traffic light being blue or green...and you think it's blue.
...you can't have your picture taken without your fingers forming the peace sign.
...when you pull out your ruler to underline words.
...you bow to other drivers who give you the right of way.
..."natsukashii" comes out of your mouth instead of "what you're saying makes me so nostalgic that I must look like one of those wide- eyed manga characters with a tear rolling out of my eye."
...you buy a Christmas cake on Christmas eve.
...you run for the Yamanote line pushing people left and right, jump on the train holding the doors open to let your bag follow you on. Because you know there will not be another one for at least a minute.
...you leave your office mid-morning and go to a coffee shop in order to get some work done.
...when you vow to "gambaru" before every little activity you engage in.
...you go to a coffee shop back in your home country and order "American coffee."
...you go back to your home country for a short visit and you patiently wait outside your taxi for its door to spring open for you.
