As much as I like Japanese products and entertainment, I don't like the culture there at all. xD;; Like, the day-to-day business. It's too... uptight for me. Felt like everyone had their panties in a very painful twist. <_< But I'm an outsider, so I guess I wouldn't know in-depth details. The lady we stayed with was pretty good about telling us little things though, and I'm sorry, but there is no way I'd be willing to fix up my hair like all my friends, whether it looks good or not. <_< That'd be drop-dead scary. Although I really really like how clean it is there. It's so nice compared to my favorite countries. x_o
As such, my favorite country of all is Taiwan. Even though it's grueling hot and humid there, and the trash/sewage system REALLY really sucks, and some taxi drivers are pretty wild with their driving and road rage (hahaha, it's pretty entertaining sometimes though, as long as they take it outside of the cab.) there's so much to see, so much to buy, and everything is really cheap. The trends are amazing, and even the country side is fun. Although Taipei is definitely the best. Haggling over prices looks really embarrassing, but if I knew enough chinese to convince the shopkeeper that they'll still make a living if they drop a few hundred Taiwan Dollars, I would shoot for the chance anytime.
God if only they sold manga here for the Taiwanese Dollar Equivelant of $5, like they do in Taipei. x_x If only, if only. Then I'd have a collection as wide as my cousin's. :<
I like the USA too, if you ignore the politics. (I abhor politics in general, so really. :/) I like our views on education better than the other countries I've been to. I do not advocate sticking up student names on a list from the top student to the worst student in class, because I don't like losing by even one when it comes to academics, and staying up all night in tutoring classes for a subject I understand already anyway is not really apart of my agenda. xD;; The girls I've seen and the black circles under their eyes are... frightening, to say the least. *Traumatizing. xD;;*