On Thursday, the Japanese students, all from Yamagata prefecture, all older men and women, gave their teachers and host families their final report on American culture. They described a place that was big beyond belief, where people eat a lot, talk a lot, drive a lot, talk a lot, hug a lot, talk a lot. They spoke with wonder about our diversity, our individuality and independence. In Japan, group harmony is emphasized before individual needs, they said. Opinions are not freely expressed.
Confrontation is avoided.
How shocked they were by public hugging and kissing. How baffled by families where children left the home after high school and grandparents played tennis and lived in retirement communities. The private American and the public American are the same, the students concluded, always saying what they think, always showing what they feel. Only the American hands went up. Only the American hands went up.