[colechristensen]

One of the things attractive about Japan is that it actually does have a lot of unique culture in a world otherwise somewhat dominated by a global culture, when you are actually different there are bound to be several things about your culture which others see in awe.

One of the disappointing things (not that there aren’t awesome things) about traveling across the US is all the things which aren’t different even though separated by thousands of miles. I recently moved back to Minnesota from several years in California and often get the strange sense that I’m still there because I’m in an environment so familiar that I think I’m in Sunnyvale for a moment. (Walking through a shop or doing this or that… the snow though is a bit of a differentiator)

[JohnBooty]

Yeah. It's depressing when you fly 3,000 miles across America and hey, there's another shopping certain with an Applebees and a Target, exactly like the place you just left.