A Lesson Learned On The Train

Scene: A train whizzing towards downtown Osaka.

The Players: Me, three friends, random Japanese lady

The four of us notice random Japanese lady near us. She is wearing a very bright, very orange jacket. We’re talking poppy-bright orange, a shade strong enough to make a University of Illinois fan salute.

Friend One: Look at that jacket. What do you think about it?

Friend Two: I don’t like it at all. It’s way too bright, and orange doesn’t look good at all.

Me: Well, I don’t know about the coat itself, but orange is the best color so I think it looks awesome. [note: orange is the best color, no argument].

Friend One: Yeah, I think it looks nice.

Friend Two: Nah, it looks really ugly if you ask me.

Friend One: It’s not ugly, it looks nice!

Random Japanese Woman Who Can Actually Understand And Speak Nearly Flawless English: Thank you very much!

Us: silence

Moral: Don’t talk about people’s clothes when they are right behind you, because they might possibly understand your language.

(Japanese Fun Fact #43: The Winter Olympics are in full swing, and Japan loves ’em! Ads for the games can be found all over the place, though the TV coverage for the games isn’t nearly as insane as it is in America. Instead of devoting ten channels to the games and sticking the biathlon on Bravo, Japan only has one channel showing the games. They broadcast live events midday and then replay them in prime time. No complicated graphics, no phony fireplaces. Just coverage of the events with a few minutes of people in a studio mixed in.)

(Japanese Fun Fact #44: At this very moment I’m watching some sort of TV show where the prime minister is making a special gust appearance. It’s like Meet The Press got mixed with a variety show. It’s really weird. It’s like if Obama went on Deal Or No Deal.