rachael wrote:Dou itashimashite?
What does that mean?

Linus Van Pelt wrote:... My guess is maybe since your friend was with her boyfriend, and he was family, she was treated as family.

Marsupialized wrote:You people wanna see some bad manners... sit with me for a few hours.

Linus Van Pelt wrote:My train story: Japan, a nearly empty platform. We come up to the platform just a minute or so before the train is scheduled to arrive. An elderly couple is sitting in the seats on the platform. While they are still sitting down, my girlfriend (now wife) and I stand on one of the markings on the platform that show where the door is going to be. After a minute, we hear the train coming. The elderly couple stands up, and the man goes to the marking down from us (about 20 ft.) and the woman goes to the marking right behind us. The man says something to the woman to the effect of, come down here with me, and she says something to the effect of, no I'll stay here. I, my girlfriend, and this lady are the only people standing on this marking. Using my Japanese Psy-powers, I know that she is standing there because she wants to get on the train not only before me, but in front of me. This is how elderly Japanese women roll. Sure enough, as soon as the train pulls up and the doors open, she tries to shove her way around me, but I'm too fast for her. I step forward, and a bit to the side, and she has to actually get on the train after the person who was in line in front of her (the indignity). To this day, I'm not certain whether I was myself rude in my small battle against rudeness. Either way, I don't have any regrets.

cjh wrote:A really lovely quirk I discovered when I moved to Birmingham is the ubiquitous habit of saying thank you to the bus driver ('thanks bab/droiver'!) as you get off.

Cranius wrote: Japanese oldies have their own allocated 'silver seats'.