Ikebukuro

Happy December 1st!

December came so fast. It also means that I've now been in Japan for about 3 months and now entering my 4th month. I suppose I've learned a lot so far, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn. I keep having dreams that I leave Japan already, but it's probably for the best that I'm staying for a year.

Today, I'll be uploading the pictures that I've taken recently. They include my trip with Stephanie to Ikebukuro during the break and the personification of inatimate objects.

First, my trip to Ikebukuro. I wanted to go there because it's the setting of an anime I saw called "Drrrr!!". From the anime, I heard of some famous places that were in Ikebukuro, so I wanted to see them in real life. Ikebukuro is a really nice town. It's a city, but not nearly as big and bustling as Shibuya. There was also a really nice bakery in the train station where Stephanie and I stopped by for lunch.

We first stopped by Sunshine City, which is pretty much a big mall. There are lots of stores, food places, and there's even an observatory and aquarium somewhere inside. It was fun looking around but we didn't buy anything. I've pretty much given up on Japanese clothes. They are too expensive. It's quite depressing when all the dresses you like are all around the $80 price range.

 This was a Hello Kitty store along the main road. There are lots of stores like this--the Disney store too--that make you feel like you're stepping into a fairytale world.

 The main road of Ikebukuro. There are a lot of game centers, shopping, restaurants, etc. It has a really nice atmosphere.

 This is a famous dessert place. The desserts are so amazing looking. But, when you're hungry, you want something more substantial than chocolate and cream...

 Stephanie and I spent a really long time looking for West Gate Park, which is this famous park in Ikebukuro known for the novel and drama that take place there. Unfortunately, we gave up by the time it was getting dark and cold. This was a pretty park though on the other side of Sunshine City. I really like these kind of trees.

 Ikebukuro Station

 Me with the Ike-fukuro. This is an iconic statue which can be found in Ikebukuro station. It places on the name Ikebukuro, which combines the characters for lake and handkerchief/bundle, replacing the second character with the character for "owl" that sounds similar. It then becomes "lake owl".

When there's something iconic, the Japanese have to create souvenirs. Here, they were selling Ike-fukuro shaped pastries with different fillings.

Mother and Daddy--you were talking the other day about how you saw a tv show where they were talking about how the Japanese personify inatimate objects. Apparently, this demonstrates a naivite and a love for cute things, as well as deeply ingrained Shinto beliefs that everything has a spirit and is somehow alive. Inspired by that, I noticed two examples in the station the other day:

 Here the ticket dispenser for commuter passes and fare tickets has a face and legs.

 Here is something specific that mother mentioned--the personified lightbulb to encourage saving electricity. I have seen the posters with smiling lightbulbs as well, but this is the poster that I've seen around the stations the most. A sleeping lightbulb. Oh, I didn't mention this before, but there are signs like this everywhere to encourage saving electricity. In bathrooms, hand dryers will be out of order, elevators will sometimes be out of order, and ticket buying machines will be out of order to save electricity. As many probably know, as a result of the earthquake/tsunami incident, the nuclear plant was seriously damaged. Thus, many people were afraid that there wouldn't be enough electricity to run Japan. To prevent this from happening, the whole country went into an electricity saving mode. In the train, I also see several advertisements for electricity saving refridgerators and heaters. One encouraged families to not be spread out while they're in the house, but rather gather in the same room and play non-electronic games like board games together. This restricts the use of electricity in the house and also works to strengthen family bonds. It's quite an interesting campaign.

Anyways, today is Thursday so I have class in the evening--composition and art. For art, we're going to a museum in Roppongi, which is a really chic part of Japan. I have to get there by myself, so I hope I don't get lost...

Happy Thanksgiving~

I compromised with my mom by having fried chicken AND sushi.
I spent the day alone today, but I met two people I knew and I got to see my family on skype. Good enough.

Mita Festival

Good morning! I have just come back from the Mita Festival! There was food and entertainment and discussion seminars...Not that I experienced much of it...These three pictures are the only material proof I have that I went to the Mita Festival and I took them in the morning before anything started, so it's not much. 

 These were the food stalls where different clubs or circles sold food for club funds. I decided to try lots of different festival food so over the span of two days, I had a cinnamon churro (I usually don't like churros, but this was so good), a chocolate banana, a chocolate banana crepe (not so good...they're better in Shibuya or Harajuku), fried ice cream (I've always thought this sounded gross but this was actually delicious), and a hot green tea milk bubble tea (okay but I mostly just bought it because I was freezing my hands off--lately it's gotten really cold!).

This was the stage where bands and other performances were held.

So, why didn't I experience much of it? Why have I done none of the traveling and studying that I thought I would do during this week break?

Because I was drawing portraits at the manga club booth for three days. And that's realistic portraits, not anime style...Englehardt would be so proud. Not only was it more popular than I thought it would be, but it was unexpectedly a tiring job, too. Even though I was pretty much just sitting, I was there from 9am-7pm each day with little to no break. I was exhausted at the end of each day, but I feel like it was a really interesting and unique experience. I got to see lots of different faces, talk to lots of different people, and have the priviledge of giving those people a memory of the festival.

It was awkward at first to draw people, because as the artist, you're kind of getting intimate with that other person as you familiarize yourself with their face. I like including the tiny details in each person's face--especially the tiny moles or freckles--which means that I had to look the person straight in the eye and examine the person's face, see the way their face is formed and their mouth curves. This is especially embarrassing when the person is a guy and/or is attractive. Normally, people aren't supposed to stare, so being given the priviledge to stare at pretty people and take in all their features was fun. Actually, the guys I drew were probably the most embarrassed. They would get so tense or look really cool and nonchalant until I talked to them and they would smile really bashfully. It was kind of funny.

Then, it was the best feeling when people were super happy with their potrait. There was this one girl who's face was flecked with moles, so it was so much fun to draw her face. She was so happy with the picture, that she gave me a pastry from her bag as a thanks. Then there was this maybe 10 year old boy who, when his mom said to make sure the portrait was cool, sat in front of me so composed and wasn't afraid to look me in the eye as I drew him. He was so cute and the perfect model. When his mom checked up on him, she complimented how well he was sitting, and he got this super proud and happy face on. He was really so cute. They were both really happy with the final portrait, too, and gave me a vanilla candy♪

Today, I met this old man who kind of flirted with me...Maybe it was just in a nice way, but anyways...He was apparently in love with Kyoto, so he wrote a list of places I should go there. Then, there were these two guys from Tokyo University (known for smart students, Harvard level uni). They were really fun to talk to. The one I was drawing was pretty good looking and his friend who was drawn by the girl next to me was apparently ranked top 10 of his class. At one point, the girl next to me, asked the guy she was drawing if he had a girlfriend (she's so bold...) so I thought it would be okay and asked the guy I had if he had a girlfriend. He said no and then asked me if I had a boyfriend (yes! my first time I've been asked! haha). I said no but told him I didn't know why he didn't have a girlfriend, since he's good looking and he got embarrassed tehe♪

Also, the manga members were all so nice to me. They kept checking up on me to see if I was okay, and they brought me drinks, and they noticed when my friends came today and asked me about it. I also met two new girl members who were really nice, too--Kei-san and Sei-san. As today was the last day, we went to celebrate at an izakaya (japanese bar) in Akihabara which was lots of food plus all you can drink for two hours for 2000yen! Super cheap. I pretty much talked to the guy who's pretty been my texting buddy since I don't have any of the other club member's mail address--Niizuma-san--the whole time. He drank lots of beer and got really talkative. I was so happy to be talked to haha...my little happinesses. He was also really considerate of me and when someone said a word, he would ask me if I knew what it meant, and if I didn't, he would explain it to me. I love the manga club! They're all so nice! I'm the only foreigner in the club so it's kind of a weird experience, but it's really nice to be excepted by so many people, not to mention that it's a real immersion experience.

Anyways, this whole experience was so much fun. In a way, even without picture proof, I feel like in these past 3 days I've experienced something so unique, I've left a precious part of me in Japan, and I've made great memories!

Cultural activities

Hello~ It's been a while! I haven't had the time to upload my pictures lately, (I've been feeling a cold coming and freaking out, taking as much vitamin c as possible so I don't catch anything, etc etc...) so I'll do that briefly now.

2 weeks ago, I went to a cultural event sponsored by Keio University where a small group got together and got to see how soba noodles are made. For those who don't know, soba noodles are made out of buckwheat and are very healthy. I asked how the flour is different from pasta noodles for example. Apparently, they're very different. Soba flour is very light and actually slightly sticky. It is first sifted into a bowl and mixed with water.

 It then takes a lot of strength to make a dough. This is why soba noodles are always made by men. Apparently, it takes even more strength to make udon noodles (fat japanese noodles). These are made by a combination of arm AND leg power.

 The dough then turns out like this. It's so perfect! Japanese really are perfectionists.

 The dough is then rolled out into a square.

 It actually fit onto the whole table! An amazingly perfect square!

 This square is then folded like a cloth so it turns out as you can see below. The soba dough is on top of a rectangle cutting board here.

 This is the knife used to cut soba. It's super huge! It's probably super sharp as well in order to cut precisely.

 Here the soba is being cut. A wooden board is used to cut the noodles evenly.

 And thus they turn out like this! They are nice and flimsy but still uncooked.

 This is a soup made from soba (buckwheat) seeds and mixed with tiny mushrooms. It has a very light flavor but very warm.

 And these are the final soba noodle product. They are cooked and rinsed with cool water in order to make cold noodles. Soba comes in two varieties: First, there is soup soba, which comes warm in a broth and mixed with vegetables or green onions. Second, there is cold soba, which comes just as the noodles and mixed with a fish sauce and topped with green onions. It was a really great experience to see soba made right in front of me. Something that would usually be super expensive, was only 200yen. These definitely tasted differently than regular soba from the grocery store, etc. You could really taste the texture of the buckwheat. It was great.

 After the soba making, I had a field trip with my art class to make wind chimes. This is my chime. I got to blow the glass myself even! And then, I painted the picture on the inside, which was so tough! This is so, if you put it outside, the paint won't come off. The chime place is actually a really popular place and lots of famous people had been there like Aiba Masaki from Arashi, Kinki Kids, Fujiwara Tatsuya...That was kinda cool.

 Last Friday, I walked around Shibuya and had dinner at a famous ramen place. The ramen was really salty though. I even prefer the ramen in the school cafeteria. My favorite ramen is still Aika's mom's homemade ramen.

 Last Saturday, I went to the long awaited Sukima Switch concert! It....was....amazing. At first, it was kinda lonely being all by myself...but it was fine once the concert started. I was so absorbed in Sukima Switch!♥

 First, there was an opening act by this band no one knew. They were really loud and abnoxious and the singer sounded like he was high...but one of their songs was kind of amusing. The singer said that he went out with this really cute girl in high school, but he was dumped after two weeks. Recently, they saw each other and started talking. She asked him what he was up to so he said "Oh, I'm just in this super cool band like X-Japan level" (an obvious lie...). In reply, she said she had just gotten married...to a Keio boy. And so the singer got kinda pissed and decided to make a song called "I want to be a Keio boy".

By the way, the term "Keio boy" is used for the stereotypical boy that attends Keio. Apparently, they're really popular among girls because they're supposed to be good looking, fashionable, smart, and rich on top of that. Keio is actually a really prestigious school so...there are lots of rich people as I said before. And so, it's every girl's dream to marry a Keio boy. By the way, Sukima Switch themselves brought this up during their MC portion of the concert, but there is no term "Keio girl". I don't know why...Sukima Switch made a joke and used the term "Keio gyaru" instead, which was funny because the term "gyaru" sounds like "girl" but it's actually used to describe girls with lots of make up, super skimpy clothing, dyed hair, and are usually walking around Shibuya. Like this:

Gyaru aren't usually very smart though, so I don't know if they would get into Keio...

But anyways, Sukima's concert was amazing! During the opening act, everyone remained in their seats, but as soon as Sukima Switch got on stage, everyone got to their feet and remained that way the whole concert. There were like 3000 people in the hall apparently. Also, I knew almost all of their songs, they played my favorite song even though it's kind of old (so I was so happy and got to sing along♪), their MCing was so funny, the main singer has the most amazing voice, and they made the concert really interactive getting the audience involved with singing a few times. At one point in the concert, I was so moved by their lyrics and at the same time so happy to be there to experience them live, that I cried. Lives are really something else...

Then, today, I had plans to visit Ikebukuro with Stephanie, but it was raining, so we decided to go to somewhere indoors. We went to this huge mall which really made me feel at home because it was the first U.S.-like mall that I had been to in a while. Rather than a shopping center, it was really like Tyson's Mall if I had to compare it to anything. Stephanie and I ate at a Chinese restaurant, and then walked around. I've kind of given up on buying clothes in Japan, though. They're way too expensive. But, I had to buy this magazine from the most famous bookstore in Japan--Kinokuniya--because it had...this folder that came with it...Niina! (dies) I'm really so pathetic...

Anyways, tomorrow, I participate in my school festival, which as a result, there is a week off from school. During this break, my horoscope recommends that I study a lot because my mind is open for knowledge! Of course, I have planned to do that, but I also want to go around Tokyo some to see lots of things. That's part of studying as well, right?

Wouldn't it be better if you did this maybe probably I think?

Ok second entry of the day, just because I thought this was an interesting topic as well. In my conversation A class, we got into a bit of the topic of "Japanese indirectness".

Japanese people are famous for being indirect, but it's really hard to follow their lead as a foreigner who's used to always being direct. That's the way we're taught. Sure, we have passive voice in English, but our English teachers say that it makes us sound weak, so don't ever use it in essays. We're taught never to put "I think" in essays, because it's already implied that what we write is our opinion. Adding "I think" is unnecessary and gives the writer a weak voice. Japanese is just the opposite. You HAVE to add things like "I think" and "probably" or else, the writer's voice sounds a) Too supposing and sure. You don't necessarily KNOW that it's true so you can't sound like that. Otherwise will think "What? I don't think that's true" and you will get in trouble or b) Too direct and strong. The writer is not supposed to sound like he knows everything. He has to soften his speech or else Japanese people will feel like they're being attacked.

One way to be indirect is to not say the antonym of a word (bad-good [warui-ii], ugly-pretty[minikui-kirei]), but rather the negative form of the positive word. For example, instead of saying, "Your style today is bad [Kyou no fashion wa warui ne]", in order to be more polite and generous to the listener, people will say "Your style today is not -so- good [Kyou no fashion ha -anmari- yoku nai ne]". Instead of "This soup tastes horrible [Kono suupu wa mazui ne]", they will say "This soup doesn't taste very good [Kono suupu ha oishikunai ne]".

Second, you can add words like I did unconciously--"anmari" [not so] and "ne". "Ne" doesn't really have a specific translation that can be used in English, but it works in this case to soften the sentence.

Third, you take a direct sentence like "Go home" and make it super long like so:

Kaette [girl's speech] or Kaere [guy's speech]--Go home.
Kaetta hou ga ii (yo)--It would be best if you go home.
Kaetta hou ga ii n ja nai--Wouldn't it be best if you go home?
Kaetta hou ga ii n ja nai kana/darou ka--Wouldn't it probably be best if you go home?
Kaetta hou ga ii n ja nai darou ka to omoimasu-- Wouldn't it probably be best if you go home I think?
Kaetta hou ga ii n ja nai darou ka to omoimasu kedo...--Wouldn't it probably be best if you go home I think, but...?

As you can see, the more indirect you are, the softer your sentence, the longer your sentence, and the weirder it becomes in English. My teacher explained it as such:

Kaetta= verb (past tense)
hou ga ii= you should
And all the rest pretty much means nothing. It's just there to make your voice more indirect, more passive, and thus sound softer/nicer to the listener.

In the end, you're saying "You need to go home" but you have to add a probably, a maybe, and a "oh but that's just what I think...I'm not necessarily in anyway 100% correct in saying this so you don't have to feel pressured to agree in any shape or form!" More words add more formality, but also more implied meaning.
Such is the Japanese indirect voice.

Maybe.

Probably.

I think.

Fashion

Today, in class we had a recent graph that showed what Japanese young people liked to do on their days off. The top 5 were from greatest to least:

1. Hanging out with friends
2. Hanging out at home watching TV etc.
3. Shopping
4. Just walking around without a specific purpose
5. Read/Listen to music

In contrast, U.S. young people ranked the following:

1. Hanging out with friends
2. Hanging out at home watching TV etc.
3. Going to watch sports matches/movies/etc.
4. Spending time with family
5. Spending time with boyfriend/girlfriend

For some reason or other, we ended up all talking about Japanese fashion. Like, why is Japan the only one with shopping as one of the top things they do on their day off? In Japan, fashion seems to be really important. Everyone dresses nice. All the time. In college in the US, you see people in sweats, tshirts and shorts (even in the winter) all the time. You would never see it at Keio. Perhaps the reason is Keio is a pretty prestigious school and there are students that have been enrolled in the Keio escalator program since pre-school, meaning they belong to super rich families. I really don't know what to think about the girls that wear beautiful coats with fur lining, sleek tights, and bow trimmed heels to school...

Apparently, fashion is so important that some girls get part time jobs just so that they can buy clothes. Well, I guess I do that in my game, but who knew it was true in real life? Fashion is HUGE. And expensive. There are also tons of fashion magazines and make-up books available here. Going out of the house without make up, even if you're running late, especially in the professional realm, is unthinkable. Some girls on their days off just practice make-up techniques. I don't know if girls in the U.S. do that...

Guys in Japan are also super fashionable. It's kind of gross to the extent that some of them style their hair. Sometimes I wonder how long it takes everyday... Guys sometimes even accessorize as much as girls. On the train the other day, I saw this really sparkly guy. He had a dangling earring from one ear, stylized and gelled hair, a jewel studded belt, a leather bracelet with a shiny stone. and a wallet chain hanging from his front jeans pocket to his back pocket. He was pretty rather than handsome. Just captivatingly sparkly.

Also, it's not unusual to see guys carrying bags around Japan. In America, it's weird. If a guy has a bag, it's called a man purse and looked upon as girly or metrosexual. The extent of a bag that a guy is allowed to have is either a backpack or a briefcase. Otherwise, guys carry everything in their pockets. In Japan, I've seen guys with little mini purses and even female-looking purses. Since I've grown up in the U.S., I can't help but think they look a little silly, but because they're Japanese, they can get away with it somehow...

One girl from Germany in my class suggested that Japanese people are so obsessed with fashion because, especially when it comes to elementary to high school students, they have to wear a uniform all the time, so when they go out on their day off, it's a special day. For that reason, it's important for them to look special. According to my teacher though, even when they wear their uniform, they try to make it as individual as possible by wearing their shirt in a different way, or changing the length of their skirt. The same is probably the same in the business world. They have to all wear a suit, so they try to make it a nice suit and then do something with their hair to make themselves different from the others. Perhaps it's because not only foreigners, but Japanese people themselves think they all look to similar to each other physically, so they use clothes, hair, make up to make themselves stand out. It's an interesting topic, I think.

Good things

Today, some good things happened!

Not only did I get to try the cafeteria’s new lunch menu: omelet-curry rice (which was delicious), but I went into Watanabe-sensei’s office as always on Tuesday to work on grammar, and she praised me! She said that she has noticed lately, but also Ikeda-sensei has said that I have been trying really hard to make grammatically correct sentences and I’m making quite a lot less mistakes than before. Yes, I have been trying hard! I’ve been studying very hard! It makes me very happy that my teachers have noticed!

At my Donguri club with the older people, I got help from my favorite Sato-san and the really gentle nun I had last time checking my essay which will become a speech for my class. They were both really impressed with my work. First of all, the theme for the speech was open-ended and I chose to talk about my bi-nationality and my how it inspires my love for languages, etc. Sato-san thought my  topic was excellent. Then, both of them were super impressed with my conclusion. It made me soo happy! I may translate my speech later and post it here.

Last Friday, we were listening to some speeches on tape and I pointed out something that no one else got. Watanabe-sensei said, “That’s impressive that you caught that”. Yes, well, I had been listening to the speeches the previous day as preparation and on the train on my way to school that day so that I was familiar with them before class.

Also, on the last kanji quiz, I got 100% on the reading and writing portions for the first time! It was so exciting that I had a little dorky victory party in my head ~Final Fantasy victory theme plays~.

Perhaps I’m improving little by little more than I thought. That makes me very happy.

Kore kara mo ganbarimasu! I will continue to do my best!

The baka-mitai manzoku-nai complex

Yesterday, I was talking with the other girls from the U.S. in my class, and they feel the same as I do.

For example, Kathleen was saying how she considers herself a fairly intelligent person and other people think so too when she's at home. But, in our Japanese class, she feels like the stupidest (baka-mitai) person in the world. I couldn't feel more the same. I'm in a difficult place since I am self taught. I know a lot of things and I can understand everything the teacher says, so I was placed at a high level. However, I am not able to talk very much at all. I'm missing a lot of basics that I wish I had learned already, because now my head is feeling overwhelmed with beginner's learning and advanced learning all at the same time. It's times like this when I wish I had a photographic memory and that I didn't always get so tongue tied at important times. Even when I've memorized something completely, when I have to present my hard work, I faulter and make tons of mistakes. Hearing the recordings of my voice, I think I sound so stupid. Not only in Japanese class, but just talking to Japanese people, because I don't have the vocabulary to express myself to the fullest, I often feel that people perceive me as dumb. It's really quite frustrating...

Then Hinata was saying how she's pretty much acknowledged the fact by now that she's resigned herself to never feeling happy with herself. No matter how much she learns, she still feels that she's lacking in a lot of areas and feels like she's behind everyone else. From now on, she doubts that she will ever be "manzoku" (satisfied) with her own abilities. I couldn't believe that she was saying that because she is so above me on so many levels, especially speaking. But, I guess everyone shares my feelings. On the other hand, despite what she says, I am at a worse position than her. Even though I'm older than her, I'm lacking in so many ways and that's why Japanese, even though I love it so much, is quite painful.

So, just try harder, "ganbatte kudasai" people say. But what should I try harder on? Even when I spend the weekend studying super hard, I don't feel like I get anywhere. There's so much to learn and I'm so behind that I don't know what to do. Then trying to take care of myself at the same time isn't an easy task...It makes me wonder if I'll ever get better. I'll keep trying my hardest--and just hope that it'll be enough?

In the meantime, I have named my current situation the "baka-mitai (stupid-looking) manzoku-nai (un-satisfied) complex".

P.S. People who comment on my blog without an account as Anonymous, please sign with your name at the end of your comment, or there's no way to know who you are. It's kind of creepy to get comments saying "I love you Kenia!" from a random person haha...Thank you!

The art of apologizing

While Japan is amazing in several forms of art, one art form that they probably beat everyone at is the art of apologizing. I've noticed since I've come here, that the Japanese apologize a ton. I've even heard it said several times in different ways in the exact same sentence recently. Here is a lesson in the Japanese art of apologizing.

First, there are several ways to say "sorry". Here are the most used forms:
1. Sumimasen--This is probably the most used form of apology. It's usually translated as "excuse me", but it's meaning goes beyond that. When you bump into someone, you say "sumimasen". When you're late, you say "sumimasen". When you call the waiter over to your table, you say "sumimasen". When someone (usually someone you don't know very well) lets you borrow their pen, you say "sumimasen". So, "sumimasen" has a few special uses...I'll go into that in a bit.

2. Gomen(nasai)--When you're learning Japanese for the first time, this is the word you learn form I'm sorry. It can often be used interchangeably with sumimasen for example when you bump into someone, but sumimasen is still used more often, I think. "Gomen ne" is used in informal cases (ie with friends) in which you can't make it to a date or you hurt someone's feelings. "Gomennasai" is more formal and I feel like it's stronger than sumimasen since it's often used in more serious situations (ie apologizing for a mistake/fault).

3. Moushiwake nai--A more formal way to apologize. It's often used by the train staff when they apologize for running late: "O-isogashii tokoro moushiwake arimasen" (roughly: We apologize for inconveniencing you on your busy schedule). This phrase also has different forms depending on the level of formality demanded by the situation. From informal to formal: moushiwake nai, moushiwake nai desu, moushiwake arimasen, moushiwake gozaimasen.

Second of all, "I'm sorry"--especially in the form of sumimasen--is not only used for apologizing, but to say thank you as well. For example, when you borrow something from someone you don't know well, you usually say "sumimasen" NOT "arigatou gozaimasu". In a way, sumimasen is understood as a way to say thank you, but it is also understood as a humble "oh my gosh thank you so much you really didn't have to go out of your way just to lend me this pen but you did so I am ever so grateful and am in your debt"...Well, that's what I get from the use of the word in that context. Maybe I'm just overthinking things...

Third of all, everyone everwhere is always apologizing. When you're waiting in line and you finally get to the counter, the cashier will say "taihen omatase shimashita", which literally means "you've waited quite a while" but it's really saying "I deeply apologize for making you wait so long". And I'm usually thinking "Um, it really wasn't that long, don't worry about it", even though I know that it's just a set phrase that's always used no matter how you've waited. But still, being constantly apologized to is kind of strange. I feel like saying "Hey, it's no big deal, you don't have to apologize" but in a way, it's often a way to talk more than anything else. The fact that apologizing is so ingrained in the Japanese language that it's used constantly on a daily basis as a greeting almost shows just how well Japan has mastered the art of apologizing. In my opinion anyway.

For making you read all this and keeping you from other things while you're on such a busy schedule, moushiwake arimasen. For spouting all this opinionated information, sumimasen. Please excuse me, I have rudely bothered you (Ojama shimashita, shitsurei shimasu).