Lissette Lorenz

I’ve been up since 2 AM, so…this post will probably suck. Sorry.

I arrived in Tokyo with a cold, but I tried to hide it because I didn’t want to wear one of those little medical masks that many Japanese people wear in public when they don’t want to catch/spread sicknesses. It’s okay for the Japanese to wear them, but as a foreigner, if I put one one, I’d feel just as self-conscious as if I were to wear a kimono or a Jigglypuff costume on the subway. Am I ethically required to get over myself and wear the dreaded mask? Or can I just cough into the crook of my arm, only blow my nose when shrouded in darkness, and promise not to sneeze on anyone?

(I won’t translate what this ad is saying because I’m not there yet language-wise and I can’t copy and paste the kanji into Google Translate ‘cuz it’s a jpeg. Looks like I got a lot of studying to do…)

While I was looking for mandatory house slippers to wear inside my dorm at a local department store, I came across a cute little rack full of trendy face masks. I sniffled, contemplated purchasing one, then decided to save my yen. The dollar is too weak and my bank account is too low to be indulging in such frivolities.

So instead, I risked being seen as the sick, dirty gaijin (foreigner) on the train. But hey, anonymous Japanese person staring at me then thinks, she may be all snotty, but look at her cute curly hair! Doesn’t it kind of look like that girl’s hair in Brave (or Merida and the Forest of Fear, as the film is called in Japan)? Kawaii~!

I may win them over yet!

Man, I wish my hair was that awesome…