Link of the day: о Японии

[jsn]

Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore

Every once in a while, you're outside, and you find a huge crowd of people in suits and ties. They take up all of the sidewalk. They're all drunk. They just got out of a mandatory company party in the nearest wooden-submarine-like Japanese restaurant whose menu consists of whatever fell off the garbage truck as it peeled away from a flock of particularly aggressive crows that morning. They're standing a circle, completely of their own accord. The boss is nowhere in sight. Someone in this group of juniors influenced them all to get into this circle. Anyway, they start chanting something. You can hardly understand what it is, even if you fluently understand the language. What the hell are they doing? The chant soon becomes a scream. This group of maybe forty young men and women in suits are screaming in unison.

What the hell is that about? The answer is: nothing. They're screaming for screaming's sake.

[длинный rant (на английском) от человека, который долго жил в Японии (работал в индустрии видеоигр) -- о том, что его неприятно поражает в устройстве японской жизни, via HackerNews].

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Зачем же странствовать далеко

[trurle.livejournal.com]

Strange things happen in foreign countries

And then he says something about not wasting time and effort on people you don't know. If someone spends any time and effort to be with you, then you know they're a friend. This, to me, seems very strange. By this logic, you can only make friends with people you're forced into contact with, such as at work or school. Eventually, you get to know them, and at some point you can decide to be friends outside of this normal situation