PurpleKnight said:

In general, I wouldn't say so. That's simply not my experience.

PurpleKnight said:

where did you get those words you just put in my mouth hey???

CarrieMpls said:

...or it could be just us Minnesotans.

TMPletz said:

yes we are highly polite and civilized beings. more evolved than your *other* states, i'd say

XxAxX said:

Sorry, my mistake. So if you're not saying that people in the US aren't hostile, etc., then why would you prefer living in America to Japan?

Sounds like you're basing how Japan is on one area you went to there. Sapporo is completely different.

PurpleKnight said:

as are different regions in america. sorry but i'm going to make a racket in the P & R forum now. glad you're back! welcome home!

TMPletz said:

I was just going to point this out as well. That it also depends on what state you're in.

clarity edit
[Edited 11/8/06 11:00am]

PurpleKnight said:

and aren't you also beasing how Japan is on one area you lived in when you were there?

PurpleKnight said:

see, i lived in New York City for about a year and I really don't find people there to anymore rude than anyone else. Abrupt maybe, but not rude per say.

I've lived in NYC my entire life and I've met many kind, friendly people. I don't find it terrifying at all. Ask someone on the subway for directions and you well get numerous people itching to tell you what the best route is.

I've met kind, friendly people in many states. To judge the entire country based on some bad experiences in a few cities is wrong.

sextonseven said:

exactly.

JasmineFire said:

no. i traveled from one end to the other.

I felt the same after a one week trip to Mexico.

Also, when I went on a road trip around the US I found the South to be much more polite--it's that Southern hospitality.

Now, I know the South isn't perfect, but to me they were incredibly friendly in Arkansas, Tennesee, NC, VA, and the moment I passed into Pennsylvania, people were jaded, mean & suspicious just like here in California

JasmineFire said:

Technically, yes, I only really lived in Sapporo. But this one area is everything I claim it is.

So, I guess you could say I miss Sapporo, and not really just Japan in general.

I'm not arguing that there aren't some extremely nice people in Canada and the US. Just that the culture is a lot more rude and hostile than it should be.

There's a coldness in America that I'm still trying to get used to again.

I can feel it even when I just walk the streets. Everyone looks at each other with a certain amount of dislike and cynicism.
[Edited 11/8/06 11:20am]

XxAxX said:

i wasn't referring to you. i was referring to purpleknight.

JasmineFire said:

hehe. i knew that, i was checking to see if you were on your toes

I haven't traveled the whole of the US, but live in Minneapolis and have been to Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, New Mexico, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Orlando and Atlanta. And probably a few places I'm forgetting. I've also been to Canada and traveled fairly extensively in Europe so I have something to contrast with. And in general, I still think Americans are polite the majority of the time.
I'm sure there are different standards and cultural differences you're getting used to. But I just haven't had the experience of people being 'cold' in general anywhere here.

CarrieMpls said:

I find most people are great if you actually talk to them. It's the impersonal encounters--driving, passing on the street, retail exchanges, or just being near crowds that often leave a bad taste in my mouth

In Mexico the driving was insane--way more crowded, no rules it seemed, cutting people off, tailgaiting, passing dangerously--but nobody seemed angry like we do here.

Come to Boston. We're a bunch of assholes here and enjoy it!

NDRU said:

There it is. I wasn't quite able to pinpoint it, but this is exactly what bothers me too. This is where it's prevalent.

CarrieLee said:

I'm reading this and looking at your avatar...



...in that position, you'll enjoy it.

TMPletz said:

She's just playing a little game of peek a boo!

PurpleKnight said:

okay, that makes more sense to me. I think you're just going through culture shock or reverse culture shock or whatever they call it. I remember I went thorugh something very similar when I returned from Morocco. It wasn't so much that I found people cold, it was other things.

In Japan they buy used panties in vending machines to keep their fetishes at bay.

In Japan they get off to cartoon rape, particularly of schoolgirls, and usually by tentacles.

I am going to live in Japan when I'm older.

I would like to live somewhere like that aswell but i would go for china. Aswell as most of the people being friendly and nice to eachother, it's also full of beautiful monuments and buildings.

Ok, because I'm from Boston and because I know I'm an asshole I'm just gonna say it seeing how nobody else has:

IF YOU LOVE JAPAN SO FUCKING MUCH QUIT YER BITCHIN' AND GO BACK!

CarrieLee said:

That's what I say about people who move to Minnesota and complain about the snow and cold.

I was in japan on holiday last year for about 3 monthes, i stayed in the province Ehime Prefecture, in south japan around the area matsuno,, extremely rural area, and you could feel the racism there towards americans, but they warmed up to me quite well, when they found out i was a friend of a local fisherman of the area whom everybody knew, a friend of my father. Its nothing of what i thought it would be, when i first went to japan, Tokyo, and saw whati thought was degridation, against females children etc...
its extremely peaceful in the rural areas, nearly no crime, and laced with esoteric beauty. while there i met up with local girls, and talked with them with my horrible japanese which they found cute,
They claim that Japanese woman are brought up to hold a certain respect, they gain dominance by their docile behaivior, it isnt male superiority, its just what their mothers have brought down from generation to generation, to appear delicate as a flower on the outside, its hard to comprehend especially coming from an american background but i guess i did, they where peaceful there, i asked one them to back with me, she declined cause she didnt want to be away from her family, and didn't like image they have about america, i swear most of them think americans are a bunch of decadent swine who run through the streets naked and barefoot. after coming back to the states, i didnt blame em...
fuckin sucks here