A note to shop assistants in Tokyo: No more bowing to me, please.

One thing that we found strange while we were in Japan earlier this month:

Very few rubbish bins in public places

While we were out and about, we wanted to throw away things such as food wrapper, empty plastic bottles, pieces of unwanted paper, etc. But 9 times out of ten, we couldn't find a bin within several minutes.

And some more stuff during this trip.

• Usually NO "Sorry", "Pardon me", etc. (in Japanese) when people bumped into me or my bag in Japan. At least this was how I was treated over there. Oh, how often I was calling them horrible names (in English)!!! Women around and over my mother's age were the nicest, though, at the occasions like this. The worst was the young women. Each one deserves a slap in the face.
• Perfumes. Even in very crowded places, I didn't notice any strong smell of perfumes in Tokyo. But coming back to N Ireland, I often smell perfume/aftershave when someone walks past me, which sometimes makes me feel sick for a few seconds.
• Walking across roads/pedestrian crossing. We were often too scared to jaywalk or to ignore traffic lights in Tokyo, because we couldn't guess how Japanese drivers expect us (pedestrians) to behave on the road. So, we were 3 good (frustrated and impatient) girls for not jaywalking or ignoring traffic lights. 
• Customer service. Impressed that how ritualistic some Japanese shop assistants could behave/speak to everyone. But I felt awkward, and also felt that I wasn't worth receiving such extremely polite manners. For example, we went into a burger shop for a lunch, and one of the staff brought a tray-ful of food to us and bowed very deeply... Why? It kind of proved that I shouldn't work in a shop if I ever move back to Japan. I'm too slow, and my attitude is too casual.
• Masks. I knew that Japanese people wear masks over the mouths. But it was sooooooooooooooooo scary to see immigration and customs staff  at Narita airport wearing those masks. Are they still wary of swine flu? Would they have carried me away to the medical room if I had had an innocent coughing fit? Anyway, I felt some kind of hostility thanks to the masks, because they were inside the building. I mean, no problem seeing people with masks outside because it was the season of hay fever. But I felt sorry for people from countries where such masks are seen only on the faces of surgeons and dentists. A very warm welcome from the Japanese civil servants, indeed. 

Maybe I've lived here for too long.