Random thoughts about Japan

During the few days I've now been in Japan I've had several thoughts about some random stuff I'd like to share. They are mostly completly unrelated to each other, so I'll just write a long list of them. Think of it as my version of essays in idleness by Yoshida Kenko (with slightly less sexism though).

1. When cars in Japan turn left, they actually say "I'm turning left, please be careful!". Same goes for ambulances, although they talk much louder.
2. Using the yamanote line is awesome.
3. In summer, it's usually warmer on the outside, than inside, which is quite shocking to me. Same goes for when the sun is down.
4. It's summer, but still it's dark by 19:00, which is quite shocking since in sweden the sun is still up at 22:00.
5. Honestly I'm not surprised by very much of what I find here, since I've already read about most stuff, and also been here before, but it's still quite different to read something and to experience it. For that reason, most of the stuff I write here is not "stuff I was surprised to get to know", but rather "stuff that amazes me". One thing though that really did surprise me is the usage of electric outlets, which is quite restricted. At the dorm where I live, we are not allowed to use electric outlets outside our own rooms, not even for using a razor in the bathroom, or using your computer in the self study room. Not even in school, where we have free WiFi, is it allowed to use the outlets for charging your computer, because then you are "stealing" the electricity. This is just ridiculous.. Good thing I have a good battery!
6. All japanese buildings have air condition. That's nice!
7. Yamanote line is awesome.
8. Went to a real japanese supermarket today, and it was actually quite similair to the swedish ones, which is nice. Made some meatballs too. おいしかった！It was actually quite scarry, because there were soo many people, but apart from that, it was something like coop forum, a furniture shop and a small version of Systembolaget in one building.
9. Japanese people, at least in Tokyo, seems to be driving quite crappily. Whereas japanese people in general tend to be very nice to everyone, and showing lots of respect to eachother, this seems to vanish once inside a car. Very fast accelarations, really fast breaking, driving against red lights, etc. Moreover, people tend to park basically everywhere, often in really bad places.
10. I know almost every country is nationalistic when it comes to car brands, but it's even more obvious here. Basically every car I see on my walk from where I live to school is of a japanese brand. I have seen some rare cases of BMWs, and some case Mercedes too, but apart from that, only japanese cars. Toyota seems to be by far the most usual, but in Higashiogu where I live Honda and Nissan seems to be more popular. When it comes to trucks, it seems Isuzu is by far the largest one.
11. You get a lot of coins when you use cash all the time. Especially the one yen coins are quite bothersome, since they are quite useless. Only good usage of them is to avoid getting more of them.
12. People here seem to be scared of walking. I have 3km to school, and most people seem to think I'm crazy for walking instead of buying a bicycle or taking the train.
13. Rice is crazy crazy expensive here, but at the same time really really tasty.
14. It's actually possible to live without a cell phone. Sure, it restricts you sometimes, but at least it works out quite ok.
15. Just having a laptop, and limited space and comfort in your room makes wonder for study morale!
16. Yamanote line is awesome.