In Canada it's "Be Happy"

These were the words echoed by another Canadian student at my university when a Japanese teacher asked him "what do Canadian parents tell their children?" The Japanese teacher then asked me whether if this was true or not. As far as I know, I think it's pretty true.

In Japan it's "Don't cause others trouble." Such is the cultural rift between Japanese and western culture. From this perspective, I think it's very true too. Even sometimes apologizing and saying "thank you" is nearly synonomus. Hold the door out for someone and they'll bow their head down and say "Excuse me."

People have a hard time asking other people for favors too. They always start off with a "um.. are you busy?" (esp girls). I'm also slated to give an english class to some of the volunteers on June 16th because I thought it would be cool to do something nice for these people that have done so much for me. I get an e-mail back from one of the volunteer asking what I would like in "gratitude"? People, it's the other way around! I get an e-mail back from the volunteer that it's sort of a culture thing that it's bad to take without giving something immediately in return.

Dispite sometimes being a little over polite sometimes, the Japanese in general are really friendly. Though sometimes I miss the "yo, what's up" rugged feeling of Canada :)