miscellaneous pictures

(or fukuoka, japan - the finale)

these are just random pictures that didn't really fit into the other posts... funny, different, strange... it's all here... enjoy!

on the street

no smoking on the streets of fukuoka!

even the manholes are interesting!

boys should not hit girls with their bikes!

fire hydrants are underground

except for the signs! which have advertising on them!

beware of the giant man-eating turtles! (i didn't even see any turtles!)

in the store

green tea kit-kat!
because women don't chew gum?!?

need an individual size glass of ice?

some people...

a burned out building with one room left is a perfectly suitable place to sell chestnuts!

yes, there are homeless people in japan. more than you would think. this was just outside the walls of the castle ruins...

in the train station at night after everything closes... people will sleep anywhere they can... so sad...

japan was a great experience, despite only being there for two days. it was truly a breath of fresh air for me. it helped me realize a lot of things about korea, most of which i will not subject you to. japan is just more open, in every way - the people, the buildings, the atmosphere, the variety of food, the different international stores...etc... the list goes on. i guess that japan is just more "modern" and "international" than korea. they aren't xenophobic or homogenous the way koreans are. they are more approachable. they are nicer (they smile and nod when you pass them in the street - in korea you don't exist). they understand what it means to queue for something and don't push to the front. like i said, the list goes on and i won't go into it any more...

hope you enjoyed following my little side trip... i guess the posts will resume to the regular "ranting about korea" that we've all grown accustomed to... hopefully not, things are looking up with less than four months to go... now i need to figure out what to do when i get home... any suggestions?