I've always been a firm proponent of the 'they're not behind, they're different,' philosophy. I stand by this idea, as I can't think of a single girl in England who turned herself bright orange (by choice, not by drinking too much sunny delight) and then willingly electrocuted herself.
This was a thing, some time ago.
It has come to my attention, however, that certain fashions manage the transition, and that it takes a few years for that process to occur.
One of the cool things for the kids now, is the rubber band bracelet (?) things that show support for a charity. I was given one in my first year of rugby at university, supporting post-operation troops. Help for heroes is a charity that works to provide healthcare for individuals who have served and suffered.
During the trip to Japan, this idea has undergone a few changes. The shape has changed, no longer being a uniform width, but having wider parts facing upwards, allowing more writing to be embedded onto the face of the rubber.
The second transformation is the cause. They no longer support charities (I've never seen anyone put change in a charity box, and the only charity box I've seen has been at a convenience store (see: twenty four hour corner shop (sic))) instead preferring to advertise the childs favourite cartoon.
I feel it apt, at this stage, to point out that men and women of all ages watch cartoons. They're not all cutesy, painfully dull, IQ sapping Disney style feel-good festivals of medicority. Think of the scene in Kill Bill, for example, where the gangsters roll into a families' house, murder everyone, then set it on fire. This scene didn't pass the censors, so they remade it in a Japanese cartoon style (way to go censorship. We have Disney to thank for the Western perception of cartoons being benign.) and (Side-note The cartoons aren't normally that detailed - they're made on shoestring budgets with fierce deadlines.) you can often see ultra violent cartoons of that nature on late night TV.
P.S Good luck reading that last paragraph; it ended up being far more complicated than I had planned.
Anyway, the bracelets were a stupid idea for charity (except for the vain) and they're still a stupid idea. The best fads are pointless, and pointless seems to be universal.
I would normally stop here, but some astonishing things have come to my attention. Firstly, the Human Development Index thinks rather poorly of England (or more specifically, the UK) ranking it one place above Singapore. Singapore being a developing nation means England, by rights, should be classed as one too. Some of the other countries that rank above the UK are frightening (Spain, unemployment capital of Europe and south korea, a third world country.)
On the note of south korea, I just finished reading an article by a new recruit to the BBC Asia team. She recently arrived in sk, and was greeted with typical hospitality. If you read the article you will notice that Mr. Bu is on par with the average korean. That is to say, he's an asshole, and is a perfect representative for koreans everywhere.
I do feel sorry for their reporter though - she has to endure two years of korea. がんばってね！
On a slight tangent, the scariest bird in the world lives on (above? In?) the Faroe islands:
"Because when you grab them [the worlds' most dangerous birds] they have a tendency to vomit - and they carry bacteria which are dangerous for pregnant women. And my girlfriend is expecting a baby."
Holy crap. Not only do they vomit on you - they kill babies. Why have I never heard of this bird before? What else do they have on those islands? Alley cats that maul grown men? Sheep that attack and destroy cars? These islands were the real-life inspiration for Jurassic park, it seems.
Oh, and one of the sports teachers in my school wears his sunglasses backwards while he's indoors. This obviously ranks above the yanks who wear them indoors, but he stills looks like a colossal cock. P.S I love the hyperbole laden definition from dictionary.com.
#Update# In a hilarious conversation lasting five minutes, I found out (with no irony) that Japan invented cheese. They also invented the round cheeses, often divied into six or eight slices. Despite inventing all cheese everywhere, they only have one type of cheese. It's called six piece cheese, and is the only type you can buy in Japan.
I fear there was some mis-communication, at some stage.
I think the UK is an un-developing nation - we're actually at the top of the country slide index
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