GoingAwol wrote:ladislav wrote:The ones you meet in the USA are different from the ones you meet in Japan. Also being a guest in Japan is different from living there and functioning in Japanese.
The ones I met here in the United States were mostly Japanese citizens that spoke very little English, so I don't see how they would be much different than the Japanese people I would meet if I went to Japan.
They at least got a passport, got on a plane, paid money for the ticket and moved to America to live/work/study. That means that they actually accepted the idea of living/working/studying outside of Japan. It means being very open minded, by Japanese standards.
A similarity would be a very provincial American, say, from the Azorks, actually buying a ticket to go and live in Japan and rent an apartment there and go out and meet Japanese people every day and even speak a little Japanese. You would probably call such an American very international.
So, they are different, just by virtue of them not being in Japan.
Issues in Japan? Well, just google discrimination in Japan and read about what goes on. In Asia, a smiling, polite person does not mean anything beyond just being that: smiling and polite. Anyway, hard to explain, you need to go and see it yourself. And learn Japanese to see what goes on.