Our school calendar is designed in such a way that at the end of each school term (there being four in total), a number of days off are designated to allow the teachers to rest and recover. I usually take advantage of this time to explore little parts of the continent that I have not yet explored, or that I might find a few friends in. In this case, the end of our first term allowed me 5 days to get a small taste of the land of the rising sun, (just regular Japan)
There are some people I know that idolize and revere this country for its various qualities. I'm not one of those people.Unless it's got a selection of antiquated motorcycles for rent, or an insured 23 year old Buick waiting within its borders, I go into these things with minimal standards and an apathetic attitude.
I'll skip the details of the things said and done there, because pictures , and also because things ran so smoothly that I didn't even embarrass myself ONCE.
There were two things about Japan that were especially evident. Foremost, Japan is a SILENT COUNTRY. You don't speak on the train. You don't speak in the streets. You don't speak too loudly indoors because the country is inhabited completely by church mice. This is difficult for me. Perhaps I did embarrass myself a few times. I couldn't even roll my small suitcase down most streets because the gentle rumbling noise of the wheels on the pavement was too harsh and disturbing for the tone of the neighbourhood. It was a unique quality that was not all that easy to adapt to. 
Secondly, Japan impressed me with its astounding cleanliness. While this may come as something taken for granted for those who live in Canada, Macau is not a clean place. China is not a clean place. But in Japan, everything of human creation: sidewalks, streets, parks, subway stations, EVERYTHING, was kept in meticulously tidy order. Even the hanging handles on the trains that usually feel greasy, moist or smutzy were sanitary to a level usually reserved for your dinner plate.
The other things you may have thought about the country are also true. Yes, the trains run on time, religiously so. Yes, the people are polite, less than 2 thank you's in an interaction would be surprising. Japan is as thoroughly organized and civilized a country as one could possibly be. I am now back in Macau to begin another term of teaching, and it is just now that I realize the certain things I appreciate most about Japan. Only now, days after my return, that I have realize that I miss the manners, and respect for the environment. 
