Dreaded Scourge!

There are some really funny things in Japan that all of us gaijin laugh at. There is a flier in the kitchen that talks about the danger of fire and in it say’s “dreaded scourge.” It’s really funny because that is nothing we would say in English and with an Aussie, Brit, Scott, and Canadian here we all have agreed that it is just odd. Its kind of a joke that when something bad may happen we say it’s a deadly scourge. Now on the other side fire is a serious matter here. A lot of buildings have precautions like fire walls that we would not have in the U.S. So in that sense fire can be a deadly scourge. We were told in or dorm orientation that not matter what do not cause a fire. Other things can be worked around, but fire is very serious.



Also there were some other funny things they gave us a guidebook about. I have taken pictures of them and but them below. One is about the Japanese style toilet, which I called the “pop a squat” toilet. We have American style toilets here, but most public restrooms are these style. And I will admit for a country that is so conscious about cleanliness these things are just gross sometimes.





Pop a squat . . .


The Japanese bath. Well most of us take showers and two showers for about 40 guys makes hot water a difficult commodity. I have used the Japanese bath twice since I have been here and have seen no one else use it. I really enjoy sitting in the hot water and just relaxing. I would say the tub is more like a jacuzzi, or cacuzzi like they say in Tennessee, and can hold 10 people easily. I generally only spend like 10 or 15 minutes in the tub and it is really relaxing.