I want to ride Japanese airlines all the time. I mean it. They load a plane faster, with more courtesy, than I have ever experienced from an American airline. And when you reach the baggage claim area, the luggage is already being circulated on the belt, and there are actually airline staff there to help.
Then, in my dealings with the business people at the conference I attended, they were unfailingly polite, and they had smiles on their faces 99% of the time. Honestly! And the bowing? Oh, my! You’ve never felt so respected in your life until you’ve been bowed to five times when you’re being thanked at the end of your presentation, with two sets of applause. [Sure it was courteous applause, but it was applause.]
And then. And then.
And then these same reserved, polite, efficient people go out to a large restaurant, take over a dining hall, and go crazy! Did you know they play “Rock, Paper, Scissors” as a party game? They do! Did you know it can also be a drinking game? It can! Did you know that 40-somethings and 50-somethings can cheer on other 30-40-50-somethings as they engage in beer-chugging contests? They can, and they do!
If you ask me what the best part of the trip to Japan was, I won’t talk about that party. But if you ask me what the most surprising thing was? Well, that’s pretty much it.
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