not quite perfect

Let me begin by saying that I love Japan. But I am a self-profressed cynic and curmudgeon, and there's no way I'm going to say that Japan is perfect. Much as I love this country, there are some things I'd change if I could. Because I can't, I accept them as they are. But I'd thought I should take a break from singing the praises of Japan and vent a few grievances.

coffee
Nothing wrong with it as it is. It's strong, which I like. Seems to me that most Japanese drink their coffee black, but sugar and cream (even the disgusting non-dairy kind) is readily available. There's also some kind of syrup with flowery labels, but I'm still not sure what it is, and it doesn't do much in the way of sweetening things, so far as I can tell. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate Splenda, which I've come to prefer over regular sugar. No, the problem with coffee is the price. You think Starbucks is expensive in the States? Try paying the equivalent of $4.50 cents for a small cup of regular coffee. Ouch. At Mister Donut, the coffee was cheaper (about $2.60), but the serving size was even smaller! Fortunately, both Benni-sensei and Hitomi-san drink coffee, so it's in ample supply at the school. All I have to do is buy sugar and creamer, and I'm set. Still, it's a ridiculous price to pay for coffee.

my utter and complete lack of a dryer
Domestic duties are not my strong suit. I have no problem with the washer - it's simple enough to use, and it does what I need it to do. However, I would kill to be able to fit a dryer into this place. I cannot figure out how to keep my jeans from drying crunchy and stiff. My towels are flatter than the Kansas plains. I can't deal with it. As soon as I'm mobile on a bike, I'm going down to a nearby coin laundry and scouting for dryers. I know they exist in Japan! I've seen them in stores! I've got to be able to find one to use somewhere! My work suits are fine (they just need some ironing, which I can do without much problem), but the crunchy jeans are beginning to get to me.

the size of my bathing room and my kitchen
The whole apartment is small, and I'm okay with that, really. This is just something that's going to take some serious adjustment on my part, because I can't help being a big, clumsy gaijin. Also, I'm clinging to some fairly American ways of doing things. Like drying off in the bathroom after getting out of the shower. I can only assume that most Japanese don't do this, because it's pretty damn difficult to do given the space available in the bathroom. This is true of the kitchen, too, in which there is no counter space at all. I knew this was going to be a problem, I just had no idea how difficult it would be to actually deal with it.

having to bag my own groceries
Okay, this is just because I'm lazy. But, at least I'll admit it. I just really hate having to bag my own stuff.

mosquitoes and spiders
Holy crap, mosquitoes are everywhere, and they come in droves. Whenever I kill one, it seems like two more come to replace it. It's freezing outside, and yet, there are mosquitoes. It makes no sense. Even Hitomi-san was complaining about them the other day. Also, there are spiders. Duh, it's not like I expected Japan to have no spiders. And most of them aren't too big. The biggest I've seen have been in house gardens or in the bushes in front of restaurants, and they're about the size of the banana spiders that are all over the place in Florida. I'm fine with that, as long as they're hanging out in their webs and not bothering me. I'm just wondering how they manage to survive this COLD and very STRONG wind that has been blowing every night for the past week. They're apparently more resilient than I would be.

And, um, that's about it so far. I have yet to come up against the "you need your gaijin card to get in here/do this/buy that thing," so I consider myself fairly lucky in that regard. Most people have been very nice and polite and willing to help as much as possible (though, according to Hitomi-san, the woman who processed my information for my gaijin card was "making things more difficult than they should have been - she was very grumpy," but the woman has a government job and I can't say I expected anything more than what we got).

Overall, Japan's pros definitely outweigh its cons, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just feeling grouchy after dealing with the internet, which is irritating no matter which country you're in.