Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Everything in the world has an exact opposite

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I’m a firm believer in this phrase. This week I happened to walk into a meeting room where there must have been some training course previously talking about different sides of the brain and relative traits. It made me think that perhaps countries are like that also ?

I got to thinking whilst on a recent trip to Italy about different countries being opposite. I find Italy hugely stressful to be in, contrast this to Tokyo that is an absolute dream. I think it’s to do with the organisation and order of things, attention to detail, order, service etc.

Let’s take a couple of examples:

Organisation: You arrive at Pisa airport and it is a shambles. The ambience reminds me of something you’d expect to see in a 1980’s Communist orphanage (you know, the ones that ITV News at Ten show when there’s no other news). Very limited signage to trains etc.

Service: absolutely terrible, no that’s too kind, atrocious is a better term. Each time you’re in Europe and try to get somewhere to eat, you realise how Joseph and Mary must have felt trying to get a place to stay that special night ca. 2010 years ago. The stable = McDonalds, or some rubbish tourist restaurant. I just love the look and hand gesture you get, “No !”, not “I’m sorry”, or “please try xx”. Contrast this to Tokyo where they always seem to be able to find you a seat, and then apologise for not being able to speak perfect English (when in reality their English is way better than you’d get in a coastal Norfolk town !).

Cleanliness: okay in general Italian loo’s are very clean and they do tend to keep things tidy (as appearance is everything). Contrast this to Europe where things are usually a mess (UK being a good example of that). Tokyo is perfectly clean – you even see people sleeping on the streets (not due to lack of money, but too many drinks at the local Karaoke bar !).

They always say that if we were all the same then life would be boring. Fine, but at least it wouldn’t be stressful !!

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