I'm aware that this isn't a new thread. Even so, I felt left out by the opposition created between Japan and USA in this thread (at least, linguistically).
I'm brazilian (ブラジル人）, and I'm also a little embarrassed of writing in English, since my native language is Portuguese. The sensation of trying to express yourself using words you don't quite understand feels a lot like been naked, or exposed. But, hey!, since I'll be soon moving to Japan for a couple of years, at least, I should get used to this feeling, right?
Of course. I don't see the point of living in Japan if you're not diving in hard enough to become really fluent. My benchmark will be reading an entire newspaper.
Brazil isn't like Japan: public transportation's bad, most people get paid low salaries. My life here isn't bad though: I've graduated from a good college, and have bought my own car after only one year of work (so I don't take the bus no more!
).
Brazil isn't like the USA: only a few rich people live on huge houses, and crime here isn't as bad... the USA is a very violent country (talking about violence occurrence rates).
I'm not really trying to make any point here... there's no point to it. But the world is not bilateral anymore, and saying there are many shades of gray between black and white just isn't enough too. The world is colorful.
Very nice discussion, guys! Do you agree with me when I say that people who should read this thread are more likely not to read it?