Facebook has reminded me that in 2009, just before Christmas, I went to the USA for the first time to attend an international conference. For a few years after 2013, the beginning of December meant a flight to Japan, also for attending a conference. This year, I attended this traditional conference in Japan without taking a long haul flight, but waking up at 1:20 am and connecting to Zoom still in pajama. Japan and the USA represent the furthermost destinations of my scientific journeys, so far. Two places that are so different from Europe! I've been only trice to the USA, visiting San Francisco (California), Houston (Texas), Santa Fe (New Mexico), Flagstaff and nearby areas (Arizona), and Chicago (well... the airport). I've been six times in Japan, mostly around Tachikawa, Sagamihara, and Tokyo, but also visiting Sapporo and Otaru (Hokkaido). For compensating the lack of travels this year, here is a list of 5+ and the 5- for both countries, according to my opinion and experience. Don't take them too seriously!
+ Natural landscapes. No buildings or people for km. From forests to deserts, from canyons to mountains, from rivers to two oceans.
+ Kindness, especially in the South. I don’t mean the hypocritical servility of waiters in restaurants, but the kindness of normal people, when you ask for information. Maybe, it is a rare attitude in large cities like New York, but I’ve never got rude answers, when I asked people where I was.
+ A common language, worldwide known and used. They do their best to understand and help you, even if you are not fluent in English.
+ Proud of their mixed (European) origins. Any US citizen would proudly state his/her 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Irish etc. blood.
+ Kindness, especially in the South. I don’t mean the hypocritical servility of waiters in restaurants, but the kindness of normal people, when you ask for information. Maybe, it is a rare attitude in large cities like New York, but I’ve never got rude answers, when I asked people where I was.
+ A common language, worldwide known and used. They do their best to understand and help you, even if you are not fluent in English.
+ Proud of their mixed (European) origins. Any US citizen would proudly state his/her 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Irish etc. blood.
+ Gratis drink refill in many restaurants and 24h shops and restaurants. You can live with your own rhythm.
- Cars. Except for large "European-like" cities, you need a car, or you are stuck somewhere along a 6-lane railroad. Even when a public transportation system is present, it is often seen as mean reserved for poor people.
- Most of the people just speak English. Many of them try hard to learn another language, but they easily give up. In Europe, it is normal being able to speak 2 or more foreign languages (well… not everywhere).
- Arrogance, lack of historical culture, racism. This does not apply to all the Americans, of course, many of them fight against these issues in the society. I am always disappointed by the lack of... 3-4000 yrs philosophy, science, music, architecture, literature, etc., compensated by the arrogance of being the best or the first. You can feel that in any conversation. Btw, Europe is going down in education in the last years...
- Social differences and expensive health system. In Europe, most of the inhabitants belong to the middle class, which is almost completely missing in the USA. Poor peoples, mostly Hispanics or Afro-Americans are socially marginalized and seen with suspicion by the rich (mostly white) portion of the society.
- Tax not included in the shown price in shops. In each state, you need a pocket calculator and a table with the different tax rules.
- Cars. Except for large "European-like" cities, you need a car, or you are stuck somewhere along a 6-lane railroad. Even when a public transportation system is present, it is often seen as mean reserved for poor people.
- Most of the people just speak English. Many of them try hard to learn another language, but they easily give up. In Europe, it is normal being able to speak 2 or more foreign languages (well… not everywhere).
- Arrogance, lack of historical culture, racism. This does not apply to all the Americans, of course, many of them fight against these issues in the society. I am always disappointed by the lack of... 3-4000 yrs philosophy, science, music, architecture, literature, etc., compensated by the arrogance of being the best or the first. You can feel that in any conversation. Btw, Europe is going down in education in the last years...
- Social differences and expensive health system. In Europe, most of the inhabitants belong to the middle class, which is almost completely missing in the USA. Poor peoples, mostly Hispanics or Afro-Americans are socially marginalized and seen with suspicion by the rich (mostly white) portion of the society.
- Tax not included in the shown price in shops. In each state, you need a pocket calculator and a table with the different tax rules.
+ Culture and traditions. Thousands of years of history, literature, painting, architecture, philosophy, etc.
+ Creativity and cleverness in living with a hostile territory (volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis...), leading for technology and safety.
+ Respect towards other people and the creation. This is related to their culture and religion(s).
+ Rail network and generally public transportation. It is more common seeing overcrowded subway trains (with officers with white gloves gently pushing people to let the door be closed) than traffic jams. Tokyo alone has more inhabitants than the whole Austria. Tokyo-Osaka (ca. 500 km) by train takes as long as Vienna-Graz (200 km).
+ Food (for variety and price). What reached Europe is perhaps 10% of what you can get on place, not to mention the difference in taste.
- English knowledge. Japanese is not easy to be learned, especially in writing, but English is not very common, even in large cities. A lady at the Haneda airport, aiming to show the preparation for the Olympics, indicated a new sign of toilets, written in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean (I guess)... very helpful! I don't like using English as a worldwide unique language, but... it makes life much easier to a lot of people.
- The condition of women in the culture. Wait! I don't mean that women are badly treated, but they do have less career opportunities than men. It is part of their mentality. Most of the women quit studying or working as soon as they marry, and unmarried >30 yrs old women are considered weird.
- Strong honor mentality. This is also in their culture. Mistakes are not easily forgiven. A personal failure leads to suicide or rejection from the family.
- The word "no" doesn't exist (or is very rarely used). It became a recurring joke among European colleagues. We learned that "maybe" corresponds to our very rude "no" or "never".
- Left-hand drive. Like in the UK and in a few other places on the world. I didn't drive in Japan, but I did ride a bike. It is confusing. Luckily, traffic lights and bike lines are everywhere, otherwise it would have been quite dangerous. How do they manage to survive in the USA or even worse in (Southern) Europe? In fact, it was hard to find 5- for Japan, excluding the difference in mentality with Europe. I like this country very much!
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