Sayaka's Study Abroad Strategies for Success

This post will focus on strategies and know-hows I've learned thus far:

1. Get use to being stared at.  The second Japanese people see you, they know you are a foreigner.  Just accept the staring and continue on with your usual business.
2. Look right-left-right rather than left-right-left since cars are driven on the opposite side of the road from the U.S.
3. Make sure you always double check the train schedule so you know which stations to get off at and which ones you need to transfer at (a couple of my friends and I have missed a stop or two during our ventures in to Tokyo...)
4.  Don't be afraid to ask for directions when lost because most people will gladly help you but do not necessarily believe them right away - always ask another person or two to make sure the directions are correct because some Japanese people do not want to look ignorant in front of you so they may make up the directions! 
5. Only buy as many groceries as you can carry back to your apartment since there is no car to put them in
6.  Check the weather before doing laundry.  Most Japanese homes (my apartment included) only have a washing machine so we need to hang our clothes outside to dry.  If you do laundry when a storm is coming, you have to resort to hanging your clothes indoors which takes about 3x the amount of time.
7. If you don't understand what someone has said to you, there are two options: (a) Ask again and see if they can explain it to you in another way or (b) just make an "mm" sound and slightly nod your head  
8. Don't trust Japanese "pizza" - many times they have pizzas that have shrimp, corn, mayonnaise or a combination of all three..along with the sauce and cheese
9. "Bacon" in Japan is not really bacon.  It's more like ham.
10. When you go to the convenience store (convenience stores in Japan have food, snacks, drinks to purchase) be careful when you go to the drinks section..They don't distinguish alcohol from non-alcoholic drinks very well.  Six years ago, my first time going in to buy a drink from a convenience store, I thought I would buy this nice-lemony looking drink (the can was this blue color with a picture of a lemon on it) until my cousin stared in horror and said that I was about to purchase alcohol.