oops & a funny

OOPS
Sorry the link wasn't posted with my "Japanese Obama" post. I'm not sure what happened to it, but it's there now (unless it's disappeared again as I'm writing this!).

HA HA HA
A really sweet old lady at our church came up to me today to ask how my parents' trip went. I told her my parents were surprised by many things, which she was surprised at. I explained most of the food they had, they tried for the first time. I also mentioned that going to the hot springs (onsen/public bathing) was an experience for them. To this she replied,

"I don't know much of anything about America, but don't they have hot springs in the Grand Canyon?"

I replied, "Well...the problem for us Americans is public bathing. We don't do that. It's embarrassing."

She said it's embarrassing for her and other Japanese people as well. They just say "Oh well, that's the way it is" ("shouganai") and do it anyway.

"Then why do you still bathe naked? (Why not wear something?)"

"It's just our custom."

There you go.



[Maybe that wasn't so funny after all. Oh well. I enjoyed it.]