I think I will write about one of my other favorite things that I like about Japan - UNIQLO.

Today I went to my favorite clothes store - UNIQLO, yes I am not scared to admit it, my favorite clothes store is UNIQLO!

I know that it is supposed to be ‘cheap’ and everyone at my work pretends they don’t wear it, “oh no, this shirt is not from UNIQLO!”, they say to me. But I don’t mind, the clothes are ( generally ) very good quality and they always have fashionable items and basic items in stock.

I went today because I wanted to buy one of their new T-Shirts, in the end I liked the T-Shirt selection so much that I bought three of them. Oh and I also bought a hat, a portable umbrella and some trousers. The price for all this just came to over 6000 yen. Not bad!

If those exact same T-shirts were on sale in Diesel they would have cost more than 10,000 yen each! I like the style but I don’t want to spend that much money on T-shirts!!

So I know people will see my wearing them and know they are from UNIQLO but that is fine, I think they look cool!

I do like to buy some expensive stuff occasionally, usually jackets, and I think I will have to get some nice Diesel jeans to go with my new UNIQLO T-shirts!

I have written about the thing I hate the most so I think I need to write about the thing I like the best just to balance things out.

I tried to think about what I like the best and it was quite clear. The thing I like best is right now! It is the Spring season in Japan.

I love that feeling when you first get the smell the spring in the air, the first flowers appear after a long winter and the sun stays out a little longer every day. I especially love it when the Sakura trees open and the whole of Japan goes out to celebrate the Hanami festival.

In Japan Winter is very cold and bleak, the Summer is great but it is so hot and humid, Autumn ( fall ) is really nice but for me the best has to be Spring.

So I am now trying to enjoy the season and go outside as much as possible!

I meet a lot of people who want to learn English and I don’t mind that at all, I think that is great and I enjoy speaking to people who are trying to talk to me in my language.

However, the thing I hate the most is when someone ONLY want to speak to me because they want to practice their English - it is so obvious and, to be honest, it is so rude!

I am thinking about this now because last night I was riding the train home with a couple of Japanese girls I had met at a party and we were talking about what kind of guy they fancy. One of the girls was clearly into me ( sorry if I sound arrogant but it was true ) and was saying how she really likes Gaijin guys, I thought this was funny because it was so obvious! But that didn’t what upset me so much. The thing that upset me was when her friend turned around to me and said ( with a smile on her face ), “I really wouldn’t want a Gaijin guy, I hate that sort, I prefer a Japanese man, but I do want to practice my English, so that is why I have been talking to you”.

I couldn’t believe it.

Well the rest of that train journey was terrible, I felt awful just being with that girl and I was happy when they got off the train.

But it made me think, and I started to wonder about how many of my Japanese friends might be using me for English practice. And I have some very good friends who are Japanese so I didn’t like to think like this about my friends, I hope its not true!

But this is not really the thing I hate the most.

You see the thing I hate more than people trying to be my friend just to study English, is the big companies that are making money from the people who want to learn to speak English.

I am talking about companies like GABA, NOVA, Aeon and ECC; the big Eikaiwa schools here in Japan.

I hate them because I have to look at their posters every day on the train. I hate the way they make English seem like an impossible task, and make everyone feel obsessed with learning the language. Also I hate the stereotype that has developed of the foreign white guy in Japan just being an Eikaiwa teacher, out here to earn a bit of cash whilst they are drinking and stealing all the girls.

Luckily I think I can do something about it, because I can teach English to my friends and anyone else who asks me, for free! And, I can help people see that it is really not so hard to have a conversation with a foreigner in English.