1000 Things I like about the USA

13. Oklahoma’s Redbud trees

Linda — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:52:57 +0000

These trees are gorgeous in first flower – the beautiful deep purple blossoms trace themselves along every branch, with no green interspersed at all. Just lovely.

12. Highway Signs

Linda — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:35:18 +0000

Highway signs in the USA are so uncomplicated! I’m talking about those signs that point you to the next exit or two, you know, the ones that are usually green. Anyway, the next exit will be illustrated by either a left-pointing or a right-pointing arrow, with the through traffic shown going straight ahead. (This is a post that could really use a visual!) They give you just enough information to make your next move, and you just follow the road to where it leads. In Japan, by contrast, the highway signs depict a half-mile or so of the road, showing twists and turns this way and that, so that it ends up looking like a giant Chinese character. This is simply too much information for me to absorb as I fly under it at 60 mph, hoping that I’m not getting lost. . . Give me the signs in the U.S. of A. anyday!

11. Facial tissues

Linda — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:26:12 +0000

Wow – I just used a facial tissue that was so soft it was like a cottony cloth. Wonderful texture, nice and thick. Truly deluxe tissues!

10. That “can do” attitude

Linda — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:24:19 +0000

I’ve mentioned the ingenuity of the Japanese in my companion blog, but what seems to be missing in Japan is that old “can do” attitude that seems to pervade America. Whether it’s a change to an item on a menu or anything out of the ordinary, my memory of America is that people try to be accomodating insofar as is possible. New ideas seem to be welcomed, whereas, where I live (Japan) they seem to be, at best, looked at askance. There seems to be but one way to do any particular thing, and only one way that restaurant food can be served. Sometimes I would just like to be able to substitute shitake mushrooms for lotus root! Wouldn’t anybody?

9. Restaurants with a view

Linda — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:13:47 +0000

Here is a concept that seems to be completely lacking in Japan – restaurants with a view! Restaurants overlooking rivers or lakes or Baltimore Inner Harbor or the lights of Los Angeles rolling down the hill before your eyes. There are many beautiful rivers in Japan, but I have yet to see even a building with windows that face the water. When I’m in Japan, how I long sometimes for a dining experience complete with a vista.

8. Cell Phones

Linda — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:24:18 +0000

When I spent four months in the States recently I was able to get a cell phone on a month-to-month contract for $70/month. Actually there were several plans to choose from, some cheaper, but I chose my plan with heavy use in mind. This plan gave me 300 free minutes, free calls from 9pm on Fri until 6am on Monday morning, and free calls to other users of the same company; my brother just happened to fall into this category. I loved my phone! I get back to Japan, and go phone shopping. All the plans were over $100/month, which included 25 free minutes (Wow, do you think you’ll use all that? . . . ) Now, in Japan, you only pay for outgoing calls, but, since I had often used my 300 free minutes in the States, I decided that getting a cell phone in Japan would be a financial disaster – so – cell phones are definitely on my list of things I love about the States!!! (And yet, just about everybody I know in Japan has one – even the elementary school kids in my English classes. Maybe I need to keep looking . . . )

6 & 7. Churches

Linda — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:21:00 +0000

6. There are so many churches in America. I grew up attending a Lutheran church that was just across a small side street from a Baptist church; there was a large Catholic church catty-corner across the major road, and just a bit farther up was a Presbyterian church. In Japan, there are still many towns with no church at all – no opportunity for the people to encounter the Word of God, no freedom of choice – to choose to follow Christ or to choose to reject Him.

7. The church buildings in America usually have a dedicated sanctuary, designed to lift your thoughts towards the Most High God. In Japan, space is so critical and the price of land so high that it’s almost unheard of to have such a worship room; most that I know of, even the loveliest, are “multi-purpose” with budget constraints that dictate that decorating be kept to a minimum. Or they might be rented apartments that provide housing for the pastor during the week, and (cramped) space for worship and Sunday School on Sunday, and other outreaches during the week. I admit that I often covet those nice facilities when I am in the States – I covet them for Japan, but (repenting continuously) those buildings are a great blessing, and I can also enjoy them and give thanks for them. One of my favorites is a converted bowling alley, that seems to have endless space, and a parking lot that alone is larger than any church property I know of in Japan – by far! What a great idea to renovate such a space, what a blessing that it was available.

5. Celery

Linda — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:42:52 +0000

Celery is one of my favorite vegetables, and the celery in both of my countries is very delicious. The reason this makes my American list is price. In Japan, in general, celery is about $1/stalk. In the States, I love being able to buy a whole big bunch of celery for – hmmm, I can’t remember the price right now, but it has to beat the price in Japan. I mainly like it plain, chopped up in salads or cooked in things, but I also like it with cottage cheese or peanut butter. My favorite part are the tender, inside stalks that are a lighter green and sweet to the tips of the leaves. But I even like celery when it is a bit bitter. Celery always seems like something so healthy to eat, since it is on every diet in the world.

4. Cottage Cheese

Linda — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:31:35 +0000

This entry appears in both blogs (#8 in the Japan blog) – I guess I just really like cottage cheese. Japanese cottage cheese is very good, I think the taste is the same but the texture is so different that whenever I am in the States I really enjoy good old American cottage cheese – not to mention the large containers and the reasonable price. Those large, luscious, moist curds – yummy! I will occasionally eat cottage cheese with catsup – something I have never done with the Japanese version – nor does the idea appeal to me, although I have had the Japanese kind with tomato sauce . . . Anyway, as an American born and bred, American style cottage cheese will always be “the real McCoy” to me.

3. English!

Linda — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:48:36 +0000

I can understand everything all the time! I can read every sign, I can peruse books in the bookstore, I can eavesdrop! Actually, the sea of English can sometimes become overwhelming; I’m not used to understanding everything, and find it quite easy to filter out Japanese. But what a treat! TV! Radio! The library! Heart-to-heart conversations! Talking at my usual pace, being able to use all the nuanced expression still at my disposal (you lose a little living overseas – “use it or lose it” seems to apply to language, even one’s native language . . . ), being inwardly thrilled hearing a richness of vocabulary I’ve almost forgotten. Language is an incredible thing, and I love the effortlessness of using my native one!