International Comparisons

Comparison of life in Piscataway, New Jersey; Kochi, Japan; and Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, China; from someone who's lived in all three places. Some very interesting things you don't often read about. A sample:

Politics	Piscataway, NJ	Kochi, Japan	Zhuzhou, China
Ridiculous foreign policy stance	That cuba is bad. That israel deserves unconditional support. That the war in Iraq was justified. That the US promotes democracy all over the world.	That japan wasn't as bad as nazi germany in ww2. That the rape of Nanking didn't happen. That they were victims of ww2. That dropping the bomb was worse than starting ww2.	That taiwan is part of china.
Ridiculous belief	Our language is the hardest in the world	Our language is the hardest in the world	Our language is the hardest in the world
Many foreigners	YESSSS	some	no
If a foreigner in your store can't speak English...	be incredibly rude	Try one more time, then give up. Get really nervous and try to make the problem go away.	Try out your english, call over your friend, as someone walking by on the street to help, try drawing.
Locals like white foreigners?	Not really	Yes, if they're not too rowdy.	Yes
Locals like nonwhite foreigners?	No	No	No
Free Speech	Yes	Yes, but nobody uses it	Yes, but watch out when talking about politics or taiwan. Actually it's quite open, you can talk about democracy all you want, as long as you don't criticize China.

There's a lot more, and it's all quite funny. Check it out.

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