58. Back up “beep beeps”

In America most trucks have a “beep” warning signal that sounds when they are backing up, but in Japan all passenger cars also have this feature. At first I found it superfluous but having just gotten back after almost 7 months in the States, I found it a precious and comforting reminder that I was back in my second home.

57. Being called by my last name

I like being called “Miss Karner,” which in Japanese would be Karner-san, where the “san” could also serve, in a different context, as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” (Punctuation wonks: Do I need another period here?) I am called “Miss Karner” all the time in Japan, and if I was Japanese, even close friends would so address me. As it is, being American, they call me “Miss Linda,” which is fine with me, and which actually might have come from their way of putting family name first, so that, to a Japanese person not thinking cross-culturally, “Linda” looks like my last name, and they are, in fact, calling me “Miss Karner.” (Did I lose anybody there?) But my main point is that this form of address seems appropriate for people who do not know me well, such as receptionists, bank tellers and doctors. Calling people by their last names preserves an atmosphere of social politeness and respect for age. It makes the given name special, imbuing it with the intimacy that letting one’s hair down did in America in days gone by. It by no means diminishes the feeling of closeness in a relationship, once you get used to it, while preserving a way for really close friends to express that special bond.