Because I’m fortunate enough to flit back and forth between the U.S. and Japan several times a year, I get to enjoy the best of both sides of the Pacific. I’ve lived in Japan so long that there’s always some reverse culture shock waiting for me when I go home again. For example, after getting used to the smaller but quite adequate portions served in Japan, some of the food amounts in America really floor me. In Japanese restaurants, you nearly always pay for your meal at the cash register as you leave, but in the U.S. you usually ask for the check and pay at your table — I sometimes have to think deeply to figure how which to do. Although Japan has been getting rid of more places where smoking is permitted, it’s still okay to smoke in most restaurants. Forgetting where I was, I once strode into a Denny’s in San Diego and asked to be seated in the non-smoking section, receiving a funny look from the employee, since all the seats are non-smoking in California. Reorienting myself to driving on the right side of the street, instead of on the left as in Japan, is not as difficult as you might imagine, despite the fact that I am mildly dyslexic. The trick is, no matter what country you’re driving, you should be closer to the center of the road than the passenger seat.
