Canada Not The Same As Japan

[Mulboyne]

Joel, from the Usuki Trojans Official Site
Globe & Mail: Finding myself bowing in Saskatoon
...I had heard about "reverse culture shock" but never really believed it to be true. What could be so crazy about Canada? Culture shock is the new and the bizarre, not the old and the familiar. I stand corrected...I knew my Japan and Canada routines were different, but all of a sudden it feels abnormal to be at home sleeping on a big bed and sitting on couches rather than the floor. Some of my friends gawk at me when I tell fond stories of karaoke or onsens (hot spring spas). I feel defensive over the fact that they don't think it would be fun to sing (let alone soak naked) together. Because of my fondness for the food and my interest in the culture, my friends often joke that I am (albeit very tall) Japanese...more...

[gomichild]

*pages sillygirl*

I think it's not uncommon to experience this when back in the home country for a trip. Things change a lot. Everytime I go back I have to relearn the basics such as how to catch a train even. I feel like a tourist in my own country. Possibly it gets worse the longer you stay.

Also it's a shock when it comes to the confrontation of others. Shop assistants are really agressive. People around you say things assuming you are part of the group. Suddenly you blend in again - and that feels weird.

And it's not a case of what is bad or good - it's just what you get used to.

[Charles]

What I Saw in America
[quote="G. K. Chesterton"] I have never managed to lose my old conviction that travel narrows the mind. At least a man must make a double effort of moral humility and imaginative energy to prevent it from narrowing his mind. Indeed there is something touching and even tragic about the thought of the thoughtless tourist, who might have stayed at home loving Laplanders, embracing Chinamen, and clasping Patagonians to his heart in Hampstead or Surbiton, but for his blind and suicidal impulse to go and see what they looked like...
... Travel ought to combine amusement with instruction]

[dimwit]

Yes Canada is not the same as Japan. When Japanese politicans get caught with their hands in the cookie jar, even when it is done by their fart catchers, they are legally removed from office.