Anonymous A started this discussion 2 years ago#113,135
I never understood why anyone takes a beach vacation. What the fuck do you do? Just sit there in a chair all day? I could not imagine anything more boring.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 2 minutes later, 15 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,253,465
@previous (B)
I want to go to an entirely other culture, walk its streets, meet the people, experience the culture, see the sights, eat the local food. That excites me.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 22 minutes later, 38 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,253,467
@previous (A)
I don't see the appeal. I think it's a misconception that all cultures are equal. Some are genuinely shit and have very little going for them. A lot of the time when I hear people talk about "culture" outside of the developed world, I hear people talk about what amounts to little more than people coping with poverty. Now, perhaps, that could be interesting and eye-opening. But I find it often amounts to little more than people in these countries just accepting it (at best) or, by lowering their moral standards at worse. It's the same pattern everywhere.
As far as the developed world goes, there's very little distinction aside from the superficial. That's even true for a place like Japan, which has the best claim of having a "culture" truly of its own.
Food is the best argument to travel. But I live in NYC. I can find food from anywhere in the world by people from everywhere on earth. And, from my experience, food in NYC is consistently better than anywhere else. No such guarantees when you travel. There's no room for low-quality food in NYC.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 8 minutes later, 46 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,253,468
@previous (B)
Even the best NYC ethnic food is Not the same as food IN those countries. Also, even poverty cultures teach you something, and often, you learn a bit of the language, and the people are great. Every culture has something to offer. Beats sitting in a fucking chair 12 hours a day.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 11 minutes later, 57 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,253,469
@previous (A)
It isn't the same. That's right. It's often better in NYC. I've done the whole travel and experience the culture thing. And after a while, you realise that if you go off the beaten path and eat food "that the locals eat", I'm talking about 2nd and 3rd world countries here, it's often shit. If you were able to sample all the food in most of these countries and pick out the top 10 or so meals, then you'd be on your way to describing typical NYC quality.
Another little detail that's different about food in NYC: you aren't going to get food poisoning.
> and the people are great
Stay for a month or two. Go outside of the tourist areas and live there and you'll find this isn't true at all. In a lot of the 3rd and 2nd world, people tend to be highly religious and, if not quite religious, then highly superstitious. None of that bothers me. But the problem is that tends to be correlated with a culture that's highly judgemental and only welcoming in the most superficial way possible.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 1 minute later, 59 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,253,470
@previous (B)
Having lived in NYC and traveled the world, I can say that the food in NYC is good, but it's not always authentic. Also, it might be good to a white, American palate, but the food in other countries is often much more representative of that country's culinary values. Anyway, fair enough. I just hate beach vacations.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#1,253,473
@previous (A)
It's not always authentic; I'll give you that. But it's not hard at all to find authentic food.
No offence but you sound like you haven't traveled very much, much less spent any significant amount of time outside of wherever it is that you're from.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 59 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#1,253,481
@previous (B)
I've lived several years in Asian and Europe, one year in South America teaching English, never lived in Canada but visited many times, same with Mexico. And I have probably been to 25 Euro countries, yes. I would have to count them up. What about you?
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#1,253,491
@previous (B)
You mean the one stone two birds thing? No idea what it means in regards to foreigners. I also forgot to mention that I lived in Rwanda for a year.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 23 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,501
@previous (A)
No, that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the one that specifically refers to foreigners. What do you think of it?
How did you get the money to travel so extensively? Teaching English does not pay very much. It's often a job I hear people get when they can't get jobs doing anything else, i.e., the type of job people get whose only marketable skill is knowing English and being from an English-speaking country.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 25 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,503
@previous (B)
I am not aware of the idiom you are talking about. Sorry. I did pick up some Japanese, but I am far from an expert and have lots to learn. As for money for travel? I guess I was very fortunate to have had a trust fund growing up.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 6 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,506
@previous (A)
How is it that you lived over a half year in Japan but never heard of this expression? It's something literally every foreigner I've ever met who's lived in Japan has told me they've heard. Japanese people love to tell it to foreigners and I struggle to imagine how you or anyone that's lived in Japan wouldn't have heard it.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,508
@previous (B)
What can I say? I had Japanese friends, and they were friendly and helped me to learn a little Japanese. I mean, living in a country does not mean you learn every phrase. I also lived in a smaller village mostly, and they were very polite. They did not talk about "foreigners" but treated me like family. *shrugs*
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 2 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,518
@previous (B)
Ena is a tiny fishing village. The people there truly treated me like family. I was a single guy, and they had me to dinner in the houses almost nightly. They did not talk about "foreigners" and Japanese. Sure, they asked me about my country, but they were just really friendly. Sorry I did not learn your big city, Tokyo slang.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 21 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,531
I also lived in Ena. I then traveled and lived in several other locations in the country, small towns to big cities. Ena is where I heard about the proverb the most. It also, just so happens, to be the origin of the proverb. Very surprising and, frankly, unbelievable that you never heard it.
Anonymous B replied with this 2 years ago, 5 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,253,534
@previous (A)
I did. You didn't. You failed to recognise one of the most basic, most common, sayings of not only Enu but Japan itself. You are a liar and a fraud.
Fishermen love the proverb. You're full of shit. You sound like you've never even been to Japan. You probably live within 100 km of the town you grew up. That's how knowledgeable you seem about the world.