Think whatever you want, I don't think you even understand what I am saying

Sorry Germany is a Country, it doest represent the west as a whole, its part of the western representation, but just a small part

No, I think you don't understand the difference between your lovely country and the cold Western society.

Have you ever been to a Western country anyway?

Cause then you would realize the difference right away!

I live in Canada, hong kong and Japan prior to that. Just came back from a trip in las Vegas, walked the street safely till 1 in the morning. Was in Miami last year, And Florida the year before.

To answer your question, yes I have been somewhere "western".

I didn't say there is no difference, I don't think I ever said that, and I didn't say I don't appreciate that. My uncle and cousins are Japanese I love them

I am just sauying that I am being realistic, and I will not be in denial of the negative aspect of Japan

Oh don't get me wrong, you should never ever ignore the negative aspects of your country.

However, you always have to value it towards other Nations out there.

And if you do that correctly you will end up on my side.

OK....

Next topic, on the note of weird behavior, maybe James can help answer this

Aside from sneezing, what else did you find is not "polite" but totally acceptable in the "West"???

Or the other way around... Western society consider slurping their noodles (Gnerally any noise during meal) is rude, but thats THE way to eat Ramen in Japan..

I sometimes wonder if you're just taking the piss when you write crap like this. At the very least put something like 'in my totally naive opinion, because I have never actually lived in Japan I think...'. At least then it makes a little bit of sense!

I have a couple of questions for you as well. If Japan is so vastly superior to every other nation why then are they the economic basket case of Asia? Why have they never really recovered from the recession of the early 90's? Why do they have the highest debt to GDP ratio of any industrialised nation on the planet?

Sure there's some truly fantastic things about Japan and its' people but there's also some major issues. The poor economy is in my opinion a reflection of some of those issues. I'd go back and live in Japan again tomorrow if my wife would agree to it. I loved living there more than I like living in Australia but I don't blindly believe that Japan and it's people are vastly superior to to any other nation or it's peoples. It has it's good and bad like any other nation.

Agree, same here, if my wife agree, I would LOVE to go back to Japan and settle there (Providing if I can find a job).. I am proud to have Japanese relatives.. I love them (I am sure I said that plenty of time already), and they really are very very good people.. but I will not go the extent of saying that "Japan is the best", because there is no facts or any means of quantifying that...

You can walk down the street and see the faces of most people going to work and see how stoic and shut-off from society they are. You can trip and fall and most will just walk around you. They would rather not get involved, as a whole, and sometimes walk with blinders in their eyes. That's how Japanese people are as well. So don't think they're the best in the world. They're just human beings just like us.

You don't think I incorporated that when I wrote this? Think again!

Anyway going back to the subject I am currently living in japan now and is planning on extending my stay here for another 7 months. There are aspects of Japan I like and there are other that i do not like for example:

I like the convience of the subway system here
I like that there isnt alot of crime here so i can ride my bike or walk
I am alot healthier since being here.
Make some fairly good associates(maybe friends but not really sure yet).

What I dont like:
:confused:the hanging out style here it a bit difficult (people being busy, house it too small ect...)
:mad: riding a bike in all weather conditions gets a bit much
:( the staring( though i try to ignore so it gotten alittle better to deal with)
Teachers teach for the test not to learn the information(at least in my case anyway)

These are just 4 examples
I have plenty more reasons than that. I been obsessed with japan since I was 12 and always knew that I would come here, but i alway tried to realist as well and since being here, alot of the so called stereotypes are just at first glance. when you stay in a place longer you see the REAL place for it self. But other than that I cant complain it the same everywhere.