I absolutely agree with you about not speaking the language. I guess I was asking if you would adapt, period. I can't stand it when people move to another country, and especially where "American practices" aren't recognized, yet the person doesn't conform. I find it incredibly rude.
You and I are on the same page.
Turbo - I went to several places. We had a train pass for the Shinkansen and I'd say we hit almost every stop. Most of our time was spent in Kyoto and Tokyo, but we also spent some time checking out smaller towns. Nobody even gave me a dirty look while I was there. One thing that blew my mind is when we were down in the subway, looking at the map to try to figure out where to go. This woman and her child (maybe 10 years old?) came up to us and asked us if we needed any help. We told her we were looking for some specific place. She sent her son off with us to show us where to go... Up, out of the subway, and down the street. The Mom didn't follow. She waited at the subway for her son to return. She f**king sent her 10 year old with some strange foreigners to help them out, without worrying that we were bad people.
Another time, we were looking for something, and a random man asked us if we needed help. We told him what we were trying to find, and he told us to come with him. We hopped on a subway train, rode it a few stops, got out, he brought us up out of the subway, and walked about 10 minutes with us. He then asked us if we were ok and needed any more help (we didn't - he brought us exactly where we wanted to go). He then went back down to the subway to go wherever he was going before..... HE actually hopped on a train and walked us across town to help us out.
Another time, when we were up in this small mountain town, we were going into a shop because they had these cool wood art things... Walked in, looked around - nobody was there. We left.. went to another shop... same thing... Then another shop... same thing. Finally, we noticed that the shops were all closed. The shopkeepers had gone home... and I s**t you not - There were no locks on the doors - none of them. They all just trust each other! I could have walked out with anything I wanted in any of those shops and nobody would have stopped me!
Another time we went to a very formal, traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. I did a lot of research beforehand, but we still made mistakes.... and yes, we were the only white people there. Everyone just smiled when we messed up, and helped us do it the right way so that we could learn more about their culture and wouldn't be embarrassed.
The list goes on and on... The culture is so drastically different from American culture. The people are there to help each other... it's not like America where it's "me me me", in Japan it's "us." Truly amazing. I've been to a LOT of countries, and nothing holds a candle to Japan.