Sunday, June 11, 2006

Japan: the little differences


Vincent: It's the little differences. I mean they got the same shit over there that we got here, but it's just - it's just there it's a little different.
Jules: Examples?
Vincent: Alright, well you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don't mean just like in no paper cup, I'm talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a, uh, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
Vincent: Nah, man, they got the metric system, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: What do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a "Royale with Cheese."


A Few Little Differences from Japan


1. Japanese women are obsessed with making their eyes look bigger. This has spawned an industry of mascara, fake eyelashes, eyeliner.

Apparently, Koreans share this -- look at their celebrities' before and post surgery pics.

A Japanese advertisement -- look at the model's eyelashes:


Here's where you can go to get fake eyelashes just like hers: the shu uemura lash bar!


2. Our tour guide Cindy told us about her 3 years working for a Japanese company. In Japan, you're expected to stay at work late. Even if you're done with your work, you sit at your desk, and look at the other people. You pretend to be busy, or you can even put your head on your desk and take a nap, as long as you don't leave. Eventually, late at night, you all go out in your suits, drinking.

This doesn't change after you have kids. Your kids fend for themselves while you work until 10pm and then drink until 1am. Then you're considered an upstanding citizen who works hard to support their family.

3. Japanese restaurants like to put fake food in front to show what you would get inside:



Our tour book had a section of town that specializes in making fake food, but that was the afternoon we ran out of money.

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