[steven]

Ryzorian, it's one thing if it's someone I know and am friends with... it's another thing if it's just like some random guy in a crowded street I Tokyo or some other big city.

I'm kinda straying off topic, but I find it funny that it's like something that is almost strictly a white thing. My white nod ratio is much higher than my non-white non ratio by a lot. I do find it slightly funny, which I know isn't right.

When I happen upon foreigners in a kind of foreigner only situation-- like when I got my license, there's like no rules though. I've met people from all over the world who end up talking their heads off to me. I personally never considered it myself, but some of my Japanese friends tell me 'you've got a face that's easy to talk to'. Which is hilarious to me. Apparently having タレ目 is the cause of my symptoms. At least in these situations a conversation-- an exchange happens. 'Something that can't really be said about 'the nod', which I see as terribly hollow- especially in the context of a big city.

Their's like a reverse 'nod' in Japan though-- I'm sure you know what I mean if you have any colleagues here. It's like the informal bow. Instead of scooping up, you kind of put more emphasis on the downstroke.

Which brings up something entirely unrelated to this thread-- things like that are interesting to me. The American 'come here' gesture vs. the Japanese 'come here' gesture. The Japanese nod (if you can call it that) vs the American nod. I'm sure there are tons of others-- so pardon this last one- the Japanese use of a scrub plane, and the American use of a scrub plane. I've heard American/European luthiers will scrape/carve (don't know the word) away from themselves while Japanese luthiers will do it towards themselves. Interesting!