It's Totally NORMal....

If you're reading this post right now, it's because it's a norm of our school culture to stay on top of your homework. If you're wearing clothes while reading this, that's a norm too. Which way do you look when you cross the street? You look left first, then right, correct? Go to the UK and you need to look right first, then left. I can't tell you how many times I almost got hit by one of those big red buses when I went to London because I'm so trained to look left first. This is why they have signs like this painted on their street corners, so that dopey tourists like myself don't end up in their hospitals:This pictures is not even really accurate. They usually post "Look Left Last". Use your imagination (and knowledge that they drive on the opposite side of the road than us) to think of what would happen if you looked left FIRST. If people don't look the right way when they cross the street, it's not just breaking a social norm, it's breaking the social norm called a more. You're causing some major social disruption if you don't look the right way when you cross the street. There is definately a "right" and a "wrong" way to how the chicken crosses the road both here in the US, and in other places around the world. You can go to San Diego and they cross some streets on a diagonal....choose not to take that path and you're slowing down traffic.

Another big norm that we have is going to the bathroom. Yes, it's grody to talk about bodily functions, but take a second to think about how that whole process works. I don't need to go into the details as we're all potty trained here. Now here's what a toilet looks like in Japan:

???? How on earth does that work? Well, you squat. Think about it. People in Japan traditionally don't sit on furniture, why would they sit on a toilet? If we went to Japan, especially after the long flight to get there, I'm sure we'd have to go...imagine walking into a bathroom and you see this? Confusion and pandemonium! If you understand Japanese culture, however, you realize not only are they germ-conscious, they also are big on preserving resources, and these potties use less water than ours do. Now I've done it. You'll be thinking of sociology the next time nature calls :)