Off to Japan...

[Fretty]

Why do they stare? I dont know. We are obviously foreigners so it depends on where you are in the country. In Nagano, which is fairly rural, they just dont see foreigners. In Kyoto, people barely noticed. Nobody is openly hostile regardless.

I'm just not used to that concept I guess, as I live in Canada where multiculturalism is at it's highest. Not only do I live in Canada, but I live in the town of Markham, which is the rural outskirts of Toronto (20min drive to the heart of Toronto, due to traffic mainly). I've been here my whole life, I remember when it was primarily farmland, I remember when the mall was first being built, etc. As it's grown, we have seen the second largest influx of asians, more specifically Chinese, in the whole country (Vancouver being number one from what I've heard). The ratio in our "small" town of almost 600,000 people, Chinese residents make up 2/3 of the population. The other 1/3 is a mix of pretty much everything else the world has in it.

So as you can assume, seeing people of any culture here pretty much has no effect on me. If they are walking the streets with a map in hand and appear lost, sure I'll help, but in no way do they look any different to me than anyone else in Markham/Toronto.

At the same time, I have NEVER been to a place where I've been the minority. I have been to Bahamas and such, but on resorts, where of course it's no surprise to see tourists there, haha. I think I'd like to visit Japan, not just for the beauty of the land, but also for the cultural shock and the feeling of being distinctively the minority for the first time in my life. I think that would be quite the experience.