dijun: treasurewisesilliness:This is Japan in a nutshell. Forget all the crazy stuff with th
dijun: treasurewisesilliness: This is Japan in a nutshell. Forget all the crazy stuff with the weird tv programs and the cosplaying—that’s just the outer shell that gets attention because it’s unusual. This, this is the beauty of the country. I’ve had little grandmothers chase me down because I dropped my shinkansen tickets. In amusement parks, the attendants do their upmost to get lost items (usually cardigans or kids’ shoes) back to the owners—before the owners even realize they’d lost said item(s). I’ve had complete strangers not only give my thorough directions but have offered to drive me to the place I needed to go. It is so, so, so hard to go back to the States after you get the J-treatment. I mean, Japan has its downside (“What is this madness you call pizza???”), but the general attitudes of everyone—even the so-called hardcore yankees (two of whom who, on a blazing summer day, helped me find one of my schools when I was heinously lost in the labyrinth that is the neighborhood in which said school is located)—is the epitome of the mindset that I wish everyone would adopt. Because yelling at people gets you nowhere. And being able to empathize with people kinda helps make this country a really nice place to live in. There is quite a lot of other problems in this country but this is utterly what I miss the most about Japan. I remember after Fukushima when I was in Kyoto trying to find my way to the stations at bloody 4 a.m and I asked this guy in his bicycle. He was from Osaka, didn’t know where I was going and to top all of this, it was snowing as hell. The guy just stopped and cycled in the whole neighbourhood to find some help. And he even say “Sorry for not being useful". seriously ?! Or the teacher who get late to his class just to help me finding my way at the university, who came with me to my class to tell the other teacher that I was with him and that they should tell me nothing for being late and told me “good luck" before rushing to his own class. well… I should stop there, there is way too many times I experienced this nice moment and it would need me ten pages at least. Not something people should laugh about, but learn from instead ! -- source link