Script
Hey Stephen. Happy Tuesday! It’s a little cold out here isn’t it. I didn’t really have a lot of culture shock coming to Japan. You know I came, and I was like “Ooh Japan a lot of big cities, kind of like San Francisco. But the last time I went back to San Francisco, I did... there were maybe like 4 things that kind of I forgot about. Once I remembered them I was like... ooooh, this is not good! You should definitely be prepared for this. So dude you ever forget to tip? After living in Japan for 2 years, A measly 2 years! Pretty much every time I go back to America, I forget to tip. I really don’t have a good excuse for it, you know, being American, I should remember how to tip. But seriously... why? I hate tipping. Tipping sucks. Tipping is... ugh its awful. I don’t get it. I think Japan is way better with their non-tipping strategy. That just makes more sense to me. I mean, I understand when I got over there I don’t want to be cheap. But really, its so much more expensive to eat in America than Japan. On top of that you have to tip?And its like… Before it used to be like 10%, but now its 20%... 20 is the normal. One of the things I did get used to in Japan. Is people don’t smell. What is with that? I don’t know…I smell all the time, so I don’t get it. But going back to America, man Pyeewwwie! Everybody smells! People either smell really good. Or they smell really bad. But either way, its like a lot on both ends there’s like nothing in the middle. It’s just smelling great, smelling bad. Not smelling anything is not an option. I use this(deodorant ). I still do, I smell so I got to do something. This is like the lease smelly thing I guess. People still complain. My wife complains, yeah people don’t. It’s just my wife. And my kids… And me and sometimes me.. Last one is, nothing is open at night in America. At least San Francisco Like almost nothing. Everything closes so freaking early. As soon as it get darks, everything shuts down. Even some bars are open, but barely. Even restaurants they close pretty early. Like 9 o’clock they are done, they are closed. I don’t know - I guess I got used to Japan where I can go pretty much anywhere, and something is open. Like convenient stores are always open. I guess that’s true in America too Alright this isn’t a shock, I mean everybody knows this. Convenient stores in America... they are not convenient. They should just remove that and just put “stores,” because basically if there is something that you want… the convenient store doesn’t have it. That’s the easy rule of thumb! If you want something, the convenient store doesn’t have it. I just don’t have really good experience from a convenient store. Except for one. 7-11 they have these really spicy hotdogs. They are so good! Why doesn’t Japan have the spicy hotdogs? They got like, the American corn dogs right... So this is like the second time I’m filming this but its important okay. Toilets in America, especially the public ones, they are cold. Sometimes dirty, sometimes clean. But there COLD!! No privacy man. They are open at the bottom. The doors, right, the doors! You can see through them. Like that (shows crack with hands). They’re not rounded. They’re not rounded! You can see through them…It’s awful! So stephen you have have that situation where you go to a restaurant And the waiter is always talking to your wife or your Japanese friend and not you? How does that make you feel? I don’t know. For me it still kind of happens. But I don’t care. I let my wife decide what I want to eat. I don’t want to decide what I want to eat every again! That reminds me of one more culture shock thing, that I completely forgot about. When going to restaurants in America, I open the menu and theres no pictures! There’s no set! There’s no special of the day where you can see what it looks like. Or a model outside of what the food looks like. I’m just like....I have to read the menu!? I have to understand all these French terms? Ah man, no! No way! I’m just like “ what do people like? I’ll have that” Or I’ll let my wife decide for me. Because I (am) can’t be bothered. I really can’t be bothered to read the entire menu and then decide what I want to eat. I’ll just look around what other people are eating or just let my wife decide. You are definitely, probably, not going to like that answer : ) Alright, see you Thursday man!
Vocabulary Match
Rule of thumb, corn dog , complain, to tip1. ___________ = express dissatisfaction or annoyance about something
2. ___________ = a hot dog covered in flour batter, fried, and served on a stick. (Kind of looks like a corn on the cob 🌽)
3. ___________ = Money that is given to someone for a service
4. ___________ = a broadly accurate guide or principle
Comprehension Questions
What shocks Mason when he goes back to America?
Does Mason like tipping?
Discussion Questions
Have you ever made a mistake tipping?
What type of culture shocks have you experienced?
Do you spend time reading the menu at restaurants?
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