Charles Haynes wrote: > there. I love Japan, and my mother is Japanese, but that doesn't blind me to its > faults.
What I love about Japan is its past (Kurosawa movies, just to start with). And I do have several Japanese friends due to being active in the asiapac network operator community. Been to Tokyo a time or two .. ditto Beijing. I still prefer Taiwan though, the people seem a lot friendlier there than in China or Japan (or HKG for that matter, where I've had some fun experiences of that sort myself, having worked in hkg for a couple of years, then for a HKG company for the last 7 years) > and there are (a very few) parts of San Francisco I would not usually > visit, or not visit after dark. [Though the best Pakistani-style food (Shalimar) is > in a slightly sketchy neigborhood (Jones and O'Farrell) and I visit there regularly > late at night with no worries. Some of my friends think that's crazy.] Chinatown, winos .. yes, O'Farrell has all those besides the imposing (and quite nice) Hilton San Francisco. And Jones is on the outer edge of Fisherman's Wharf with some other nice stuff nearby. Those two streets are just on the border between "nice" and "not nice" > On the other hand, I walked home from work down the length of Infantry > Road at 2am a week or two ago, and almost without exception everyone I've mentioned > that to thought it was a bad idea and I shouldn't do that again. That stretch > of Infantry Road seems like the "heart" of the city and should be relatively safe, yet Well, 2 AM walks around anywhere in India aren't really safe. And 2 AM in residential colonies? Well, you had better hope that you are very well acquainted with the various packs of stray dogs in the area, even those that are in the habit of looking cute to bum food off people at street eateries and tea shops. > roles, or sexism; or sexual orientation and sexual minorities. India > has an absolutely horrible track record in those areas. Contrariwise, I think > India does much better in it's treatment of age - at least in it's treatment > of older people. I would rate India as very similar to China and Japan on most gender issues. Gays / transsexuals etc? Well, yes there's a more than horrible track record, especially if you are poor. If you're rich and gay, well.. http://www.rediff.com/style/may/07sylvie.htm > woman and consider the differences in experience in the US, and in > India. India is completely unsafe for someone like that. Very true. srs
