Hashi Legs

The women here are held to a far higher standard of beauty than us Western girls. 90% of all ladies I see on a regular basis are tiptoeing around in 6 inch high stilettos or platforms, with perfect makeup and fake eyelashes at all hours of the day. They also have smaller waists, smoother skin and nicer legs. In short, the ladies in Japan are beautiful, especially in Tokyo.

There is a phrase here called "Hashi Legs," or "Chopstick Legs." It refers to the very common super-skinny girl leg that has zero fat on the upper thigh. "Stick straight," if you will. This look might appear anorexic on a white girl, but with the Japanese it's completely normal. That isn't to say anorexia isn't common here. An adult student of mine told me that it's actually a very common (yet ignored and therefore accepted) practice. So next time you see a pair of Hashi legs on the subway, fellow gaijins, take pause; that girl may be starving.

On a more upbeat and joyous note, I now have company in Japan! It's this guy;

Yes, that's a donut sticker on his face. He's possibly my favourite person in the whole world :)

We went to a crazy huge 6 story club in Tokyo on one of his first nights here. We stayed up all night and drank way too much with these people;

Taking a 2 hour train ride home at 6 a.m. after dancing all night is possibly one of the worst ideas I've ever had, but I'd do it again!

Don't push the children into the sewers, people! It's CLEARLY not okay, according to this sign. Or I'm reading it wrong, and it says that I SHOULD be pushing small children (with oversized hats) into the sewer... There's a lot of room for interpretation here!!!

FIRST OF ALL!!!!! (kanji kanji kanji kanji kanji) TABASCO!!!!!! I spent about 30 minutes trying to read the label of this bottle with a beer-soaked brain. Then I gave up because I realized that I was trying to read the instructions on a bottle of hot sauce and I felt silly.

This is the self-proclaimed EVOLUTION of the gym. If you read the bullet-points underneath, you will notice that the evolution of the gym includes ARM WRESTLING. At first I thought this was another hilarious English typo, but on further investigation I discovered that this is considered an ACTUAL SPORT. Sort of how table tennis and curling are sports, I suppose.

This hotel deals in class and elegance. They have demonstrated this by naming their hotel accordingly. SUAVE. It's where they keep the AWESOME.

There is a beautiful stone garden next to the train station by my apartment. Most of the statues are of anime characters and national icons, but there are a couple strange ones. Not sure why, but I decided to make out with one in particular;

And then there's this;

Enough said.

 Thank goodness I'm learning this language! This is the menu for an amazing gyoza (meat and veggie dumpling) place in Utsunomiya. With the minimal knowledge I now possess, I no longer have to play menu roulette!

He tried to make out with Godzilla, but got REJECTED! Denied by freaking GODZILLA! That's harsh.

Sunflowers and eggplants.

And now, a picture montage brought to you by the makers of cheap wine (three dollars for a litre);

And the moral of the story is; don't drink the wine. Or do... but pay the consequences.

 I was a little worried when I first saw this ad for "kinki kids"... but then I remembered that Kinki is a place in Japan. But STILL!

For food communication! Where food goes to talk? Or where people go to talk about food....? Or where food goes to talk about people...???

After a long day of teaching kids, I usually feel the need to be with adults to relax. This is at that great bar across the street from where I live. They know me so well that they keep a bottle of bourbon behind the counter just for me :) I love my life!

おやすみなさい !