What's Jappening?

As I'm writing this, I'm actually working on a reflective essay for my uni, but it's got me thinking a little bit about culture shock. Prior to leaving for Japan, I was very anxious. I was told by lots of people that I would experience culture shock and, whilst that's totally ok, it was also something I should be prepared to experience. The truth is though, now that I think back, I don't think I ever really experienced culture shock. If you do a bit of reading online, you will quickly see that culture shock is usually broken down into stages ( thanks Wikipedia ): The Honeymoon Stage: Every little thing is amazing and exciting and life is as if you were looking through rose tinted glasses. You may remember this phase from your last relationship The Negotiation Stage:  The honeymoon period is over and all those little quirks that you used to love now kind of piss you off and remind you of how they were better back at home. This is the phase most commonly referre

So term has ended and, before long, I'll be heading back to England. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing my dog after what feels like forever, as well as his new little brother whom I can't wait meet, but I'm somewhat less excited about starting my third and final year at uni. When did that even happen? So, in true denial style, I've decided to do a little pros and cons comparison of England and Japan by listing what I think each country could learn from each other. Let me just say here and now that I love both England and Japan very much, and these are just little things that I think could make each country even better. What England could learn from Japan: Separate bag-packing areas at the checkout - I'm certainly not the only one who finds the process of packing your bags after you've paid at the checkout intensely stressful. You're trying to pack your bags properly whilst also taking the change and receipt from the checkout person whilst