It's, at other times, magnificently convenient.

Going hand in hand with the rough adjustment period has been periods of relief and awe.  The Japanese have a lot of things figured out.  One of them is vending machines.  It's not just what they contain, it's how many of them there are.  Let me offer you an example.

See the little floating guy?  That's where we live.  Also take note of the WEALTH of food, shopping, and entertainment that's right down the block from where we live.  All within a few minutes of walking.  Ok, so, from the 新江古田 station (bottom, big letters, has a green fan that's partially obscured by what is that cheese?), along that road with the two burger joints (they're not what you think), you will come across the following.

It's truthfully like this all over Tokyo.  And we're out on the periphery too, a good half hour away from places like Shibuya and Ikebukuro.  Our ward is a...really idillic place.  It's so clean and nice.  It has a good vibe to it.  Except near the train station where the pachinko parlors are.  There it gets seedier.

It's also a very bicycle friendly place.  If I were a kid in Japan, I would've been overjoyed by knowing that I was SUPPOSED to ride my bike on the sidewalk.  As an adult foreign pedestrian, it's a little unnerving.  It's intimidating to see a mom, with two kids, and basket full of groceries, holding a cell phone in one hand and barreling towards you with reckless abandon.  That kind of thing can startle a grown man, if caught unaware.  One does quickly acclimate.

ALTHOUGH: One of the first things that Temple University told us during orientation is that there seem to be semi-abandoned bikes everywhere in Tokyo.  They also followed that up with telling us not to touch them.  Ever.  Here, bikes are a vehicle, not at toy.  Each one has a title that must be registered at the local ward. Failure to produce proof of your ownership of a bicycle can result in 23 days of jail time, and a hefty fine.  Strange but true.  Which is crazy, because it's super tempting to take one of them for the long rides.  But, it seems like every semester, some kid decides that it'd be easier to just borrow a bike that he's seen on the street every day for the last 2 months than hoof it through the rain.  And, inevitably, through a combination of boredom and racism, the Japanese police will stop him and ask for his registration.  If he runs, they will (no joke) set up a huge net to catch him.

Yeah, Temple has a reputation apparently.

Oh, and the food here is beyond wonderful.  Those burger places?  Think more like salisbury steak.  The one closest to us is called Gusto.  While the exchange rate is at a real low of .83 cents to the yen, you can still pretty safely guess the prices by sticking a decimal point two numbers over from the right.  Not bad for some of those meals.  They fill you up right good.

So far, we've tried all the basic staples of Japanese dining.  Sashimi, takoyaki, curry and rice, ramen, gyudon, gyoza, and bento sets.  Also a steak dinner at a place called Little Maggie, pizza from Dominos (tuna and mayo), and McDonalds' local specialities, the teriyaki burger and the salt and lemon chicken burger.  Top all of these off with some Sapporo or Asahi and we've got one happy Danny.

Everything here either talks to you or makes a nice sound effect.  The 7-11 ATMs around here make me feel like I won at something.  Since we've been scolded for trying to record things in stores here (I guess that's not cool) I'm just going to link you to someone else using one.  Small note, all the ones I've used here, in Shin Egota, Azabu Juban, and Shinjuku, don't beep at you when the money is displayed.  Just the pleasant ding dong ding dong.  Well, you'll see.



Same with going through toll booths, flushing nice toilets, and using certain vending machines.  I can't wait to find this one:



Speaking of toilets, ours offers another bit of Japanese ingenuity.



OK, I can flush it with a straight face now, but after a 15 hour flight and a nightmare of a time carrying our luggage all over west Tokyo we couldn't take this seriously.  I've NEVER seen a toilet that doubled as my sink.  Needless to say, we do our morning (wo)man-scaping in the kitchen.

There's one other thing I feel is worth mentioning, because it has been genuinely the most helpful place since we've arrived.  Not Tokyu Hands, though it's a marvelous place for home goods.  Not Bic Camera, even though it's an electronics's store to beat all other electronics store (Akihabara, you're next on my list).  Not even the mighty Shibuya Ichimarokyu.  No, it's the Lawson hyaku-en store!

 Hyaku-en stores offer everything inside (almost) for only 100 yen.  105 really.  That's pretty much an honest to god dollar store, but it's packed with food.  To get a good feel for what I mean, picture your local convenience store.  Think about all the food, snacks, drinks, and then maybe add in an extra isle just for toiletries and home goods.  Now replace all of them with a wacky japanese counterpart.  Turn all the lettuce into daikons, and Elios pizzas into strange fish cuts on sticks with sauce.  Now, imagine everything is only a buck.  If you want a bunch of clothes hangers, some ramen, a carton of orange juice and one of coffee, some shampoo and conditioner, razors, a loaf of bread and jam, and some ice cream, you'd be spending about 1,000 yen.  Roughly, 12 bucks American.  Mind = blown.  Also it sells alcohol.  That's just about the only thing in there that isn't a buck.  It's 200 for most cans, 300 for big ones, and somewhere between 700 and 2,000 for sake (of varying quality).  Cigaretts are probably more too.  Hey, all I know is if I can get 3 sticks of dango for a coin, I'm not going to complain.

And would you believe that they are more than happy to break a 10,000 yen bill?  Not a single place has so much as blinked at the idea of breaking 10,000 over a 700 yen purchase.  That's trust and cooperation at it's finest, ladies and gentlemen.