Friday, May 28, 2010

JP to the rescue!

I'm just back from the Post Office, collecting a prize from Natalie Whipple and I thought I would post about it.


Hello lovies!

Here I am with the book I won, which I am so psyched to read! I'm kinda sorry I have to work tomorrow -Saturday- and won't be able to start til Sunday. (I don't want to start tonight, because then I'll spend all of Sports Day thinking about how I should be reading my book instead of watching my kids compete in ridiculous events.

Anyhoozy, the subject of today's post is Japan Post. I know, I know. The Post Office? How boring could one post be? Let me tell you, if you think the Post Office is not the awesomest thing since sliced bread, then you've clearly never lived in Japan.

First off, Japan Post is a total misnomer. JP is also an insurance company. AND a bank. And as if that's not enough, it's pretty much the only national bank there is. Japanese people don't do a whole lot of travel, so there isn't as much need for an ATM card for Iwate to work in Tokyo as there is for a North Carolina ATM card to work in New York, for example. Japan Post is the only bank you can access from whereever in Japan. If you were to visit Japan, there'd be a good chance that your credit and debit cards would only work in JP machines.

On top of that, JP is the most convenient Postal service in the world! The major cities (including my capital, which doesn't count as a major city in anyone else's estimation) have 24 hour post offices. 24 hours! And the mailman delivers every day. If gotten mail at 8 pm in the rain, and I've had mail before I woke up on Sunday mornings. If you mail a letter, it will get to any destination in Japan in 2 days or less.

Seriously, JP is the best thing EVER!!!

As usual, here's the next instalment of Iwate Swan. This time Rodger takes us grocery shopping in Hanamaki, his city- which he often referred to as a rural town, but for Japan it is a medium sized city.



Tomorrow is Sports Day at my tiny elementary. Hopefully, I'll have some pics of crazy stuff to post for you soon.

5 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats on winning the book. It was so exciting when I got the package of Kit Kats that I won in your contest. My daughter's adopted from China and she was so excited because she loves Asian candy.

It's so interesting to read your blog and learn these amazing things about Japan. It's one of the things I enjoy about blogging. Hope you get lots of time on Sunday to read.

Carrie Harris said...

Oooh, hope you enjoy the book! It's really good.

Regina Quentin said...

Just found your blog. Very interesting! I must admit, the idea of a 24-hour post office is very alluring.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the book you won!

Marsha Sigman said...

What an awesome post office! The mail in the US does not run on Sundays and they are talking about maybe doing away with Saturday post as well. So many things have gone electronic now.

Natalie Whipple said...

Yay! I'm glad you got it:) Thanks for the Japanese post office lesson!