2010/10/17

What is ordinary in U.S. (Arizona) is not ordinary for Japanese

I moved to Arizona from Japan 13 years ago. Before then, I visited Arizona frequently for 5 years on business.
Without realizing, I am adopting the Arizona life style. When we have visitors from Japan, they are surprised to see what I thought ordinary. Maybe I was the same way about 18 years ago. Here are some examples.

I think Sun-Tec people already know how hot it is in Arizona in summer time. Nobody walks outside. First of all, it is almost impossible to walk to anywhere because most destinations are not walking distance anyway. Maybe because of the heat and distance, there are varieties of drive-through services. Japanese people would expect to see many fast food restaurants with a drive-through window, but many people are surprised to see dry cleaners, pharmacies and banks have a drive-through window, sometime even liquor stores.


Bank


Pharmacy

Because of the heat, many houses in Arizona have pools. If you fly into Phoenix Airport, you can see many houses with pools. Even most apartment complex has a pool.

The other thing that you notice from the air is that there are so many golf courses in Arizona.
If you drive 10 minutes, you will find a golf course.


Golf course

Because I started to play golf in Arizona, I am not so familiar with golf in Japan. Here we play 18 holes without a break. No lunch break after 9th hole, or no bathing after golf. But beer after 18th hole is a MUST (maybe only me?!).

Speaking of beer, most beer bottles here are small size, however, you see big bottles of Japanese beer at Japanese restaurants. I have seen American people drinking big bottle of beer straight from the bottle at restaurants, which always makes me feel weird. I believe that we Japanese should have a good table manner here in U.S., and when in U.S., do as the Americans do, however, I am not used to seeing people chugging straight from the big bottle.

M W
Sun-Tec America

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