The Nerd Tourist

Celebrating Nerdy Travel

I Embarrass Myself

I Embarrass Myself So That You Don’t Have To #2

In Japan, and many other countries in this world, one should not directly hand money to cashiers in commercial exchanges. This taboo is fairly well known and has appeared in various media (including a great meme format) that most westerners that consume Japanese entertainment are aware of it. Despite this, the very first financial interaction that I had in Japan, I tried to give the clerk money like I am at an American grocery store or fast food restaurant. 

I was buying a bus ticket from the airport to downtown Tokyo (Most travel guides recommend that you do this the first time you are in Tokyo as it is cheap and gives you a good view of the city), and I just, without thinking, handed the cashier the equivalent of twenty bucks. He looked at me funny, but did take the money from my hand. A bit later did I realize what I did and felt super embarrassed for way longer than I should have.

All cashiers in Japan will have a little plate that you set your money in. Always remember, put your money or card there. The clerk will take it and put your change or card back in that same plate. Which allows you just pick it up and go about your day. 

Mistakes are inevitable, especially in unfamiliar cultures. As nerds, we think of ourselves as smart and that smart people do not make mistakes. We tend to stew on mistakes that we do make and this stewing can bleed into other experiences, ultimately leading to lessening or even ruining them. I am hoping that by looking at my mistakes, you will look at yours and realize they are not really that bad, and will help keep you from ruining other memories. 

I embarrass myself so you don’t have to #1

Nobody wants to embarrass themselves. I hope by talking about mistakes that I made, folks can avoid making them themselves.

If you read the zeroth post in this series, you will find that I broke the First Rule of International Travel and wrecked my sleep schedule. But it was the morning of my first full day in Japan and I was going to grab something to eat at this coffee place up the street. Now, Tokyo is a wonderfully modern place and with the exception of the door to my hotel room, every door that I had encountered after getting off the plane had been automatic. Those cool proximity ones where you don’t have to do anything to trigger it but walk close. The door to this coffee shop was automatic as well, but I could not see a sensor or a pressure plate or anything that I would recognize as a trigger. So I’m staring at this door, trying to figure out how to get it open. The patrons of the cafe can all see me, wondering why can’t this foreign idiot work a door. And after what was probably 30 seconds but felt like 15 minutes of just standing around looking bewildered, I bailed.  

I did notice there was this thin strip of black plastic vertically along one side of the door. Later on, I would notice that a lot of doors had this plastic strip on them, about 80% of those strips had the word “push” written in English. So the first time I encountered at automatic door of that time and it was one of the few that didn’t say push on it. I’d like to think that if I didn’t mess up my sleep like in #0, I would have figured out that door. Or if I went exploring the night like suggested, I would have came across on that said push and have no problems applying that logic to this pushless door. Anyways, in Tokyo if you come across an automatic door that you cannot open, check the edge of a door for a pressure strip and you can avoid looking like a chump in front of commuters trying to grab a quick cup of coffee before work.