Why is everyone here so nice?

People are nicer in China and Japan than in any other place I have ever been.

In China, well, I cannot exaggerate the generosity of our hosts, the Lius. They put us up, they fed us every day, Yong kept the itenerary full and HE WOULD NOT LET ME PAY FOR ANYTHING. Seriously, it was crazy. I owe him like $600 bucks or something. When we needed to get downtown, the whole family would chip in. Yongs cousin Alex did some key driving. When we were on the buss tour, the other customers looked out for Sarah and I while Yong and Kay were busy making out behind the Buddah statues.

Now we have been in Japan 24 hours, and I have received more random acts of kindness that i can remember over the past two years in the states. The old guy that helped us find our hostel, the girl that helped us figure out the metro fare machine. The metro cop that dealt with our damaged fare card. The waitresses and barristas and everyone else that puts up with our not knowing Japanese (Brendan-syle traveling = learn as little as possible about a country and its culture before the plan lands, thus maximizing the Experienc). The niceness here is off the charts.

Is it Christianity that makes us and Europe so shitty? Before I got to Japan, I thought it might be Capitalism. Also, its hard not to call China capitalist. What is it?

We conquered the metro today and took pictures of buildings. This city is nuts. It reminds me a lot like Berlin, meaning everything is incredibly well designed and thought out. The whole city is a pleasing aesthetic experience.

Sarahs sleeping, and Im supposed to be buying snacks.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. We are winding down. Have I mentioned that our room is a shoe box with a bunk bed in it?