I chuckled at first but then remembered my reaction to Canada........major negativity in 1974, first holiday to Ontario, Canada, I was 16. Arrived to saturating, tropical humidity then a violent thunderstorm and monsoon. Saw a lot of Hwy 401 from airport to Scarborough. For the first week of three, nothing but heat, concrete and huge roads. I wanted the forests, lakes, bears and mountains that I'd seen on travel posters. Canadians kept saying "pardon" everytime I spoke (my north London accent wasn't / isn't that bad), I very badly wanted to go home. Paris, on the other hand, I fell in love with, but then I always feel at home as soon as I step on French soil and back then I was fluent in French.
I think the real kicker in this story is that the Japanese Embassy will send a doctor or nurse to watch over culture shocked citizens. That's the culture shock for me. The German Embassy would love their citizens out the door. The Americans would express their heartfelt sympathy with much political correctness and send them on their marry way. The French would bitch slap them. ;)
These two articles (the USATODAY article and the AsItBreaks.com article) are just trying to grab eyeballs. Notice the lack of actual recent anecdotes. The most recent articles that actually cite particular cases are from 2006 - you have to Google to find those. Even then, there's no guarantee the cases referenced occurred in 2006 either. Not saying that Japanese aren't experiencing some Paris bewilderment currently, but there's just no meat in these two particular articles.
agreed with the previous poster, these articles are really trying to say,"look how out of touch japanese people are with reality!" they just reek of something noxious and valueless; did i really learn anything about travel or japan? nope.
The U.S.A Today article doesn't sound very credible.
But, culture shock happens, big metropolis can be intimidating. Paris, Las Vegas and Los Angeles vibes are not my cup of tea but they are the favorites of many.
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June 10, 2011
Reader Comments (5)
Arrived to saturating, tropical humidity then a violent thunderstorm and monsoon. Saw a lot of Hwy 401 from airport to Scarborough. For the first week of three, nothing but heat, concrete and huge roads. I wanted the forests, lakes, bears and mountains that I'd seen on travel posters. Canadians kept saying "pardon" everytime I spoke (my north London accent wasn't / isn't that bad), I very badly wanted to go home.
Paris, on the other hand, I fell in love with, but then I always feel at home as soon as I step on French soil and back then I was fluent in French.
I think the real kicker in this story is that the Japanese Embassy will send a doctor or nurse to watch over culture shocked citizens. That's the culture shock for me. The German Embassy would love their citizens out the door. The Americans would express their heartfelt sympathy with much political correctness and send them on their marry way. The French would bitch slap them. ;)
But, culture shock happens, big metropolis can be intimidating.
Paris, Las Vegas and Los Angeles vibes are not my cup of tea but they are the favorites of many.