I recently returned from a holiday in my native Scotland, having last been there more than two years ago. This time the weather was good almost every day and the farmers were making the most of the sunshine, using their huge tractors to prepare their fields for planting.

After visiting friends and family in Scotland, I borrowed my mother's car and drove over 1,600 km to see several friends around England. It was while I was south of the border that I was rained upon for the only time during my four-week vacation. But that long journey gave me the opportunity to experience driving conditions in Britain.

The best thing about expressways over there is that they are free and rarely congested. In addition, the driving style is a bit more relaxed and orderly; you don't see cars switching from lane to lane as if the driver was in a video game and "undertaking" rather than overtaking other vehicles.

On regular roads, drivers frequently let others go in front of them and adopt a more laid-back driving style than in Japan. While they regularly obey the speed limit in towns, which is rigorously enforced by the police, they accelerate once out in the countryside. I was one of the slowest drivers on the road but quickly got up to 100 kph.

The politeness experienced when driving is to be found when walking around, shopping or eating out. Obviously, shop assistants are polite to customers in Japan, but it's a more robotic, strictly defined style than found in the United Kingdom. There's more of a friendly, personal touch over there. And in turn, the customers are very polite to the people serving them.

As in the Japanese countryside, people there are more likely to speak to strangers than those living in the cities. Fortunately, my family and friends tend to live in the country, giving me the opportunity to observe and enjoy such personal touches.

Talking of which, greetings among friends have become more continental. It used to be that the men shook hands and the women were largely ignored, but now women are hugged and often kissed on the cheek. What with the range and quality of the food improving, plus the spread of sidewalk cafes, it's getting more like France.

In the United Kingdom, you have to be over 16 to buy cigarettes and 18 to buy booze; newspapers are getting thicker and thicker; the metric system is finally catching on; and paper money is a lot more grubby and tattered than in Japan. I noticed a greater variety of wild birds in Scotland. And there is a lot more livestock to be seen in Britain, with new-born lambs and calves making their appearance during my visit. Wild rabbits abound and birds of prey, particularly buzzards, have made a strong comeback.

While the newer houses in Scotland may not be better built than in Japan, at least they have central heating and double glazing so are prepared for winter weather. They are usually carpeted throughout. I never gave that much thought until I returned with a pair of moccasin-type slippers with hard plastic soles, which allow them to be used outside if need be. I had worn them soundlessly in Scotland and England, but on the wooden floors of my house in Doshi I sound like a tap-dancing pony.

In quite a few of the houses I visited I noticed old clocks on display that didn't work. I noted that the trash is not usually separated and everything tends to go into the one plastic bag for disposal. Bottles and newspapers are recycled in some places. At my Doshi home, food and vegetable scraps are destined for the compost heap, cardboard, paper, plastic foam and PET bottles are collected for recycling, and we take aluminum cans to a facility in Tsuru-shi.

Although I had a tremendous holiday and enjoyed the quality of life in Britain, it feels really good to be back home in Doshi.

If you have any comments please e-mail me
at jtweekly@japantimes.co.jp.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 24, 2003
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