明けましておめでとうございます！HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

So I just got back from a whirlwind two week visit to the States. First time in 18 months, stirred up some strange feelings... Here are a few of my observations...

　　　　　　　　　　

日本　vs AMERICA

(in no particular order)

10. Pumping my own gas...most stations in Japan are full service, meaning you don't have to leave your car nor touch the pump which leaves you with that fresh, impossible to bottle, scent of gasoline, you pay through your window, and you are not required to tip...I have become so accustomed to this that I nearly forgot how to take the lid off the gas tank when I needed to refuel my rental car.... and I sure don't miss standing there shivering in the freezing cold while I pump! But I have always said that holding that valve is quite an invigorate experience.... After deliberation of that point, I still have to go with Japan on this one.... So...POINT 日本!

9. Driving on the right; This is a given, it actually came back more easily than I thought it would (as I sat in my sisters car as the passenger, in what would usually be my drivers seat in Japan, I was worried that it would be very difficult to get back in the swing of driving on the right).. With my heart beating faster, I pulled out of the rental lot, but kept steady with my mantra... The driver is on the inside of the road, the driver is on the inside...) I must say that I felt people took right turns much slower in America, and you do see a lot more cars with different color doors or crunched up sides, which I have never seen in Japan... but as the driving on the right came back to me, I saw very little difference at all... so for this one, I must call it a... DRAW

8. CAN I GET A BEER OVER HERE!!! This may have been the most annoying thing... Having to wait to actually get served, in the States there is no yelling over a server when you need a refill, no calling out Sumimasen when my drink was half full... no one waiting on me hand and foot... WHAT!! Why has this quality of service that I have become so accustomed to in Japan not caught on everywhere else in the world?? (and this is coming from a girl who has had professional restaurant serving experience (I was always on top of my section though) But in America... There I was out of water, I had been out of water for a while...I sat there trying to make the necessary "eye contact" and get the attention of the server, who was just chatting in the corner with her co-worker... I was dying to yell out "Sumimasen" and get my water, that would have been much more convient than sitting there parched, and I would have been a more satisfied customer. POINT 日本

7. Being a short girl. In Japan, I am not short. I am also not tall by any means either, Japanese people who are sterotyped as being so short are actually quite sizeable. I expected a lot more from all the stereotypes you see in the media. But my first night in America, reality hit me again. There I was in the bar, amidst a sea of people, and on average I was at the height of most peoples shoulders. On average in the States, I was short! It really was a reality check. Maybe it is the lack of bars in which you have communal socializing, or it was the fact that other than rushing through the streets or on a train you typically are not in a social environment with many people standing around talking (the few exceptions are dance clubs and events or PTA)..but I really did feel short, and it was surprisingly different..I kind of liked being able to duck by shoulders and under arms to navigate through the bar.. POINT AMERICA..

6. Varieties of Beer; In Japan you have two types of beer; beer and black beer... now for me, a person who prefers darker more flavorful beers, I like my options... so it was nice to have more options than just "beer" and "black beer"... now I admit you can find good beer, and I like the beers they offer here, but I loved being back in the land where you got your pilsners, your ales, your stouts, lagers, your micro-brews, your imports...all on tap!! none of this looking around for something other than a Heineken or Kirin...now that was very refreshing... POINT AMERICA

5. Being able to read , now this is effected by the fact that it has been extremely difficult for me to learn kanji. In Japan I have learned how to live being illiterate. I look at pictures on medicine boxes to determine if it will cure me, I memorize my grocery store in order to find products... I struggle with menus taking a long time to figure out what I want to eat and limiting myself to about half (if even that much) of the items offered (although the lack of reading menus has helped me, being the indecisive creature that I am) But all in all I must say that it was nice to be able to look around and know exactly what everything is, without having to peak my head in and see for myself...and for that reason....POINT AMERICA

4. Friendly, After my stream of visitors everyone said, "Wow everyone in Japan is so nice" And I began to agree with this... that was until I realized that the whole everyone is nice thing is true, but not everyone in Japan is as nice as they could be... really... On my connecting flight between Chicago and Saint Louis I really realized this.. as many people put their carry on luggage in the overhead bin, everytime if it looked heavy, someone would offer to help. My bags were even light and this man next to me immediately offered to help with my bags or at least ask if I need help. This is not common in Japan! You can sometimes see an old lady walking down the road with a heavy load, and two able-bodied men next to her who do not ask if she needs help. Or you can be dragging all your suitcases down the stairs and people with empty arms walk by, and don't even bat an eye. One time in Takada there was an old lady trying to carry too much, and I offered to help her. She didn't take my help, probably because she thought I would run off with her things because this kind of friendly gesture is unheard of in Japan... for this (and I can't believe I am writing this) I must say the friendly vote goes to the States, POINT AMERICA

3. Tipping.. why oh why is this in our American culture?? Can't we just even up the pay scale on all occupations? After waiting forever to get served at a bar, I forgot to tip, and then I had to run back through the crowded bar to leave my tip.. I also saw people around me be shitty tippers...now if this were my friend I would have said something to them, but really leaving 3.76 on your reciept in order to even it up to be 60$ on your 56$ bill is just ridiculous. I had the same server as him and she rocked! Her name was Louise..now if you are leaving a place and you know the name of your server, you know she was good at her job...she was fun, and made hefty reccommendations, and even comped a drink for this guy (I saw her do it) and he left her less than 10%!! WHAT??! You would think that in a society built on tipping, that at some point you would get a lesson or two on it...without having to work in the service industry.. but you still have it, your good tippers and your bad tippers, and then you have JAPAN where you don't even have to tip at all... I will say that it is much easier to do that.... so POINT 日本

2. People without inhibitions / Getting hit on.... Oh how good it felt to be able to speak to anyone about anything...before I even arrived in Saint Louis I had 3 new friends and had 3 great conversations with those interesting people... one at the baggage claim, one waiting for a flight, and one in route to customs... and then you have the bars...how long had it been since I had actually met ahot man while trying to flag down a bar tender at a crowded bar..18 months... it was nice to walk into a place, and know that you have the ability to be curt, sassy, witty, and sarcastic... wow how glorious.. (I will say conversing in my groutesque japanese is also fun..but..I gotta give this one to the states) POINT AMERICA

1. Credit Card Friendly environment / true universal cash cards.... now I know it causes debt.. but I think the main reason it is nifty is it reduces the amount of cash you are always carrying on you... and if you are getting ready to travel internation from Japan, that means all your travel money... this leads to the main draw back to Japanese banking systems is that your cash card only works in JAPAN... come on now, become global all ready!! I can use my local bank card from the States at an ATM in a post office in Japan, but my bank card in JAPAN doesn't even work at all the ATMs in Tokyo... this really needs to be corrected and fast... POINT AMERICA

日本　３　 America 6 Draw 1

Now there are many reasons that I love each country, and this isn't to say that I love America more, but these are fresh in my mind differences after returning to my home land on things that really stood out to me....

and on another note, another thing I

Reality TV... I never thought I would say I missed it... actually I would instead say that it wasn't that I am missing reality t.v., but it is all the pop culture I am missing out on due to reality t.v. Watching reality t.v. with my friends really put into perspective how much I am missing.... "So there is this girl who was on Tyra Banks show~ America top model~ and she won or was runner up or something, and then continued her reality t.v. star streak by being put in a house with all these B list celebrities, where she fell in love with a Brady (the guy who played Peter Brady / the youngest one), and then they moved into a house together and are getting or got married and they are passionately in love despite the 40 year age gap..." or something along those lines... and all this derived from one tv commercial on VH1... whew! who knew so much was going on in America, the only thing I hear about in Japan is about what's his name Bush?