In Japanese class, we ended up getting into a long argument--half in Japanese and half in English--because the teacher brought up the question of being too direct and how that's not correct in Japanese. Immediately the other American goes off into a rant about how it's impossible to understand what people want and how you should just be positive instead.
I.E. the teacher explains a situation where your friend looks over at a ramen restaurant and says, "I'd really like to eat Ramen..."
Other American says: See! How on earth are you supposed to know what people want???? Why can't they just tell you directly?!
Me: Um, your friend is saying she wants to eat ramen. That means she wants to eat ramen. How is that not clear????
At the end of the class, the last question on our quiz was, "Which restaurant is better? A delicious but expensive restaurant, or an expensive but delicious restaurant?"
I managed to get the right answer, which was that the last adjective had the strongest emphasis. So I turned to the other American and said, "See?? Now you can understand. Japanese people don't say they hate a restaurant. They just say it's delicious BUT expensive. It's clear!" Meanwhile, the teacher started nodding, so I think I got it right. But the other American was unconvinced...
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