Quote:
Originally Posted by popeyethehomeswinger
yeah but i was meaning economy ^^
whats so expensive in japan ? except things like marriages and funerals..
|
Sorry if I came off as a bit condescending. I just wanted to share the info.
Owning and driving a car is quite expensive. Then they have charges like how NHK broadcasting comes to your door and collects a tax if you own a TV. Traveling inside Japan can be pricey when you are trying to get relatively far from home such as round trip 100 USD for me to get from Ota in Gunma to the other side of Nagano.
The toughest expense though is beer. Two dollar beer is more depressing than, well I don't know anything even remotely as depressing.
Cheap stuff, cigarettes, rice, instant ramen, convenient store food and everything in the amazingly awesome one hundred yen stores.
Oh and let's not forget the expenses incurred due to cultural norms like giving money when a coworker is sick and omiyage which I know I didn't spell right. This is when you bring back souvenirs for like everyone you know when you go somewhere.
Then say you bring candy for your students but not for the teachers they get all secretly pissed even though you brought them high dollar chocolates just two months before. I had ten pounds of candy in my bag. How can I bring something for everyone when I have like four hundred students? Geez, I thought I was working with adults.
Oh and unlike a lot of countries, when you buy in bulk you usually get a discount. Japan can be fairly mixed in this regard. Sometimes you do sometimes you don't. Sometimes you may find a drink machine with a small soda and a larger soda for the exact same price. Americans look at this and say, "Who would buy the small when the large is the same price?" Answer, a Japanese person would say because it is wasteful to buy all that soda when I only want a small.
It's complicated. It's like a school with separate heaters in each room versus central heating and insulated walls. We, foreigners, get so confused by some of these things. You just have to accept it though. Eventually you get so used to it, you will will wonder why the convenient store employee does not offer to put your one can of beer in a bag. They always give you a bag, even if you are just going to throw it in the trash when you walk outside.