I love bowing. Everyone bows here. You bow when you say “thank you”. You bow as a greeting. You bow when you say “Excuse me”. I’m sure there are other bowing conditions. But those are the basics. My favorite thing about it, is that you don’t have to have anything in common in order to use the bow. I don’t have to know a word of Japanese in order to say ‘hello, have a nice day’ or ‘thank you’. All I have to do is smile and bow. It’s so unbelievably pleasant.

Also, one of my favorite things in Asian countries (other places too) is getting to unprove the idea that americans are all arrogant and ignorant who think they’re better than everyone else and fail to attempt to learn other languages or understand other cultures… When you’re the only white person around (it probably works with any minority situation), people watch you. On the train, people stare. Walking down the street, people look from their cars. It’s weird, but when you’re one of the few around who are noticably different, you automatically have attention drawn to yourself. “Who is this whitey and what is she doing here?” I don’t know if people can tell which “white” country I’m from. But… the point is, there is a certain stereotype for americans abroad. And it’s not a good one. I’ve seen and heard of it in every country I’ve been in… So, my goal, anytime, especially when I’m in other countries, is to represent both my country and my God well… not only because that’s always my goal, but even moreso because america is often equated with christianity in a lot of other places in the world. How tragic to misrepresent my God because I misrepresented my country in acting like an arrogant, loud idiot with no sense of culture, history, geography, or language. [That sounds harsh, I know, but I seriously can’t stand the kind of americans who go overseas and act obnoxious, and trust me, there are many – p.s. don’t be one of those. We, in the ‘international studies’ department of A&M, call those ‘Stupid Americans’] Anywayyyyy…

But this is in part why I love bowing so much. To smile and bow in passing, can at times say, “Hi, yes i’m different, but i am here, enjoying it, and even though i don’t speak your language, i respect you and your culture. Have a nice day.” I’m sure it doesn’t say that to everyone. But, at the least, it is a sign of respect. And respect is important here. Korea was similar… Anywayyy I don’t know if that makes sense. But the point is, I love bowing.