things i did not expect

 extremely clean. and extremely pink.  && the "flushing sound" button.

1. that literally everything in japan can be made cute. i've even seen a pink garbage trunk on the side of the road.
2. the extremely watered down soap in public restrooms.
3. the lack of paper towels [there are dryers sometimes] in said public restrooms.
4. there aren't many trash cans on the streets, or in train stations for that matter.  a friend asked an officer where she would find one--- the officer responded by taking the trash, and [i'm guessing] he disposed of it somewhere else later on.
5. how expensive peanut butter is in japan!
6. the train stations are very, very clean.  no trash to be found anywhere.
7. there are cushioned seats in the subway.
8. people line up on one side of the escalators in stations/department stores to leave room for those in a hurry to run up or down.
9. shopkeepers and cashiers are super 元気, or energetic, and they greet/thank their customers almost overzealously ~ but that's just the culture. 
10. money is usually never handed to the cashier. rather, it's placed on a small, rectangular plate-like receptacle.
11. how often laundry is done sometimes. it seems like every other day at my house.
12. it's very possible to be bitten by a mosquito four times over the course of breakfast alone. it's happened to me two days in a row.
13. things purchased online from amazon may be picked up at 24-hr lawson convenience stores all over japan.
14. a 25-minute/month cell phone plan without texting runs around $20.
15. on some toilets, a button may be pressed to imitate the sound of flushing ~ with volume control.

#16. that this list has been mainly about toilets/restrooms, money/shopping, and cleanliness ^_^