Go live in a college dorm. I lived on the same floor as political extremists, homosexuals, heavy drinkers and drug users, emotional headcases and people with criminal records. Talk about broadening your horizons.

But I'm sure it's not the norm. It's so cal after all. As far as Japan is concerned, the only one that surprised me was the race one. This is a country that still has problems letting Japan born Koreans vote, and makes white people famous if they can just speak the language. For stuff like political extremism or criminals, I guess it all goes back to social harmony (wa) and its role in traditional Japanese society. I was also surprised by the lack of AIDS awareness for the most part. It seemed like people just didn't talk about it when I was there.