scouser 4 Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 The more I stay in Japan, the more I seem to 'notice' lots of things, some of them real basic, about England. Just for fun, here's a few off the top of me 'ed..... Good ones: - how friendly people are to strangers; - lovely countryside; - really nice houses and gardens; - supermarkets (oh what I'd give to have a hyper Asda in Tokyo!) - love of footie Bad ones: - prices! What is going on in the UK? It's cheaper to eat out in Japan, no kidding. I'm sure it didn't used to be nearly as expensive as it is now (was it??) - the "what are you doing here?" attitude that many shop assistants give you when you simply go to buy something in the shop they work at; - litter (why oh why???) Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 What I really notice is obesity in alarming proportions. Link to post Share on other sites
barok 0 Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 yeah, I just got back here to the States - fat people, bad food (dare I eat my words), English language everywhere yah go in all of it's dialects and bastardizations, and yeah, rude service people. I miss Japan like a long lost friend, but the weather here is great! Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted August 29, 2003 Author Share Posted August 29, 2003 Rude service people in the US? I thought it was a British phenom, I had the image of US service being really good & impressive? I was really put back by some of the terrible attitudes of shop/restaurant people in the UK this summer. (Not all of course, but enough for me to really notice). They really did treat you with contempt just by maybe asking a question or, shock, going up to the counter to buy something! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Really?? Last Christmas, I was struck by how helpful people were in shops. Apart from the 'shcurity' dickheads with radios, everybody seemed to know lots about what they had in their shop, how much it cost, and what you might fancy. It was a toss up whether you got called 'sir' or 'm8', but I had none of the frustration I experience everyday in Japanese shops. Maybe you just asked contemptible questions. Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 In Seattle the shop workers are very polite and curteous, but man, when I went to New York I couldn't believe how rude the people were that were supposed to be helping me. "Can I get a gyro (yee-row)?" "What, you mean a gyro (jai-row)?" "Well yeah, I think its pro..." "Look buddy its jai-row okay!? You want chicken or beef?" "hmmm, what do you recommend?" "The chicken one has f**kin chicken in it and the beef was has f**kin beef. Which one you want?" Jesus Christ in a chicken basket! Can you get any ruder? It happened to me like 5 places I went. Yo Sparky...you remember that guy at that BBQ place that got me the wrong beer and was such a jerk about it? I certainly don't remember the shop workers in London being like that. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Being a sukebe-master, the thing I notice is: - very small % of sexy ladies compared to the much higher % here in Japan; - misguided humungous blubber-blobs who think that a great big hanging blubbery pierced belly button midriff looks sexy Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by IIIII: - very small % of sexy ladies compared to the much higher % here in Japan; funny you should say that. My female friend just returned from Sydney and said was shocked at how she had forgotten just how sexy other women can be, until she spent a day on the streets in Australia. I am with her, there are lots of skinny girls with girlish faces and tight pants in Japan, but that does not make them sexy. Sexyness has spirit and verve about it. It is in the eyes and the little twist in the corner of the mouth. In Japan I see lots of skinny girls that dress badly and have ok faces, but I do not see many sexy women on the street. (please do not get me wrong, there are plenty of stunning Japanese women, just not as many as most men carry on about). Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 I know all that about sexiness having spirit etc., db. I'm just saying it as I see it when I go back home. Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Can you imagine if all the women in Japan were smart, sophisticated and sexual, like, say, Latin American women or Italian women? Sheesh. It would almost be scary! And very dangerous. Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 IIIII, right on with the blubber comment. Does the rest of the world realize how obese your average American has become? I'm talking circus side-show wobbling giant Sumo-sized freaks. And it gets worse every year... Where I live, you wouldn't believe it. You would gape in amazement at these hugely obese, obscenely obese men and women riding golf carts up and down the aisles of the grocery store. Every food is deep-fried and buried in layers of cheese...every drink's main ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup...every snack is laden with salt, fat and chemical preservatives and flavoring agents the long-term effects of which are simply not known... I grew up here, and it is much worse than ever. It was not like this when I left Michigan in 1990. It makes me queasy to go to the mall and see 13 and 14-year-old girls with bobbling brisket-bellies hanging over their jeans, wearing bare-midriff baby-doll t-shirts. The aggressively-sagging gut has become the norm. Really, you wouldn't believe it. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Other thing I notice is shops not bothering to wrap things up well, and CD cases etc being manky when you get them often with scratches and shit like that. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 what i noticed when i got to canada is how every single cop and security guard, even out in the friggin boonies wears a bullet proof vest. people in canada & australia are alot more willing to help you out than in singapore (which is where ive lived previously) if you walk into a shop in singapore the clerks will watch over you and follow you around the store to make sure you dont shop lift. Link to post Share on other sites
Davo 1 Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 People are very friendly at home in NZ-shop clerks will have a yarn with you. Those New York clerks sound like they deserve a slap, "take your ######n chicken and shove it up your hole", is how I'd reply to that. Yeah also lots of tubby people at home but the US sounds sickening-lard ass nation. db you should come to Osaka-I see sexy girls with attitude here all the time, but realistically I only see what I want to see. A big difference is also how relaxed people are. I like Japan but I'm looking forward to getting home for Xmas in a country where people think nothing of walking about in bare feet etc. Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I notice people being friendly to strangers, also notice the guys hanging out and people eating far too much. Is that an illness or what? It's not as if in most cases it is unavoidable or anything. Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I also notice lots of old, smelly, ripped bank notes being used in shops and even coming out of bank machines >> very rarely see that in Japan. I always seem to get (almost) new notes from my local ATM. Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 another thing i noticed. you can have over 70 channels of english language tv in canada and not one thing worth watching at any given moment. Link to post Share on other sites
ProbablyaCrazyPerson 2 Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I kinda like meaty myself Link to post Share on other sites
rachael 0 Posted September 1, 2003 Share Posted September 1, 2003 I notice more comfortable weather. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Another, I definitely notice less sales assistants and other "staff" in shops. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted September 2, 2003 Author Share Posted September 2, 2003 Ocean, yes I met some very friendly shop people too - but met some terrible ones that really stuck out and left an impression too. (And not just in Liverpool either...) Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 the fact that im not tall anymore. It feels noisy listening to other proples conversations that I tend to tune out in japan. not humid. although this year has been nice. high tax in canada that just sucks. When I stop over in the US i too am shocked by the obesity. They started the lawsuits now though its not their fault its somebody else's. Like mcdonalds forced it down there. I watched an nhk show on walmart. there was this fat lady and her fat family pushing a cart full of nothing healthy and she said "yesh i cant live without walmart". There was over 100 bucks in junk food, all over size. When my parents came from canada they too were shocked by how thin the people were. as a whole canadians are not as fat but i think we are getting there. Link to post Share on other sites
BigSausage 0 Posted September 2, 2003 Share Posted September 2, 2003 Good sausages. Link to post Share on other sites
proudtobegay 0 Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 More tolerance to things that are not perhaps the norm. Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 ok i havent been home in a year, but when i went last summer, i remember being struck by the diversity of people. maybe it was because i spent time in big cities like nyc and philly. and then in virginia everyone had the biggest southern dawls and were superfriendly. Link to post Share on other sites
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