edo days and nippon nights

I'm back! (You: hooray!) Japan was delightful.  Here's a list of things I learned about Japan while I was there:

1. They drive on the left side of the road in Japan.  Yet we still saw a few cars with the driver on the left instead of the right.
2. For some reason, there aren't very many trash cans around.  How did they keep that place so clean with no trashcans?
3. It is very English friendly there. All the road signs and subway stops and everything are in English as well and Japanese.  In addition, if you are white and looking lost, people will stop and ask if you need help.
4. There is no diet coke in Japan, only coke zero.
5. Traditional Japanese pillows are filled with beans or something, not feathers.
6. There are no beggars. This is the first trip I've ever been on where I haven't been panhandled.  Tokyo is a big city and we saw a few people who looked homeless, yet not even one person asked me for money.
7. People don't make eye contact and smile at each other.  It was my personal goal to get as many people to smile at me as possible.
8. They really do make the most delicious sushi you've ever dreamed of.
9. At every restaurant, they give you either a warm towel or a wet wipe to wash your hands before you eat.
10. They love love love McDonalds over there.
11. The bullet trains are smooth enough that you can write in your journal with your left hand and still have it be neat.
12. They love ticket machines and having things automated.  We stayed one night at the temple and we had to buy a ticket from a machine outside the office.  At one restaurant we ate at, we bought tickets for the food we wanted before going in.
13. Despite what people told us, Japan was no more expensive than the United States. It was pretty much the same.
14. Whenever you buy anything at a souvineer shop, they wrap it up in nice paper.  You could go straight from a souvineer shop to a birthday party if you already had a card.
15.  It really is a lovely place to travel to, and if you get a chance, you should go. 

(ps. thanks for the title of this post, Raskolnikov.)