I was sitting in a Kagoshima, Japan, Starbucks yesterday enjoying my tall green tea frappuccino. Suddenly, a Japanese woman at the table next to me started talking to me in English (her English was quite good, by the way). This is not an unusual occurrence, as I’m often approached by Japanese people wanting to practice their English on a foreigner.
She asked me if I was a student or traveling. I told her I was a teacher. She asked if I was planning on coming to Tokyo someday. I told her yes, in August. Then, not three minutes into the conversation (before we even exchanged names), the women invited me to her house in Tokyo where I can stay with her and her two small children. She gave me her name, number, and email address. Wow…
I continued to talk to the women for an hour, so in the end I gave her my information as well. However, this got me thinking about how trusting people are in this country. How many of you would consider inviting a complete stranger to stay with you and your young family? Even after spending a year in this welcoming, trusting country, I was surprised by this woman. I mean, I could have been an evil person for all she knew. And what if I was? With the info she gave me after just a couple minutes, I could do a lot of damage. As it is, thank goodness I’m a fairly decent person.
This experience was yet another interesting example of how different the trust, people, and cultures are between America and Japan.
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