After being in a country like Japan with the La Sierra Chamber Singers, we we were able to witness a peaceful society. We got to witness their culture hands on. From what I saw in the cities and from the people, it is a culture of respect.

People bowed every time they saw a person, acknowledging their presence/existence. I saw cities streets that were clean, I saw food machines that had glass coverings and were out on every corner. If those food/soda machines were here in America, they would be stolen or broken. Most of the machines are usually chained up.

During the trip we also had many people losing personal items including myself. However, we all received our items back in a short manner of time. Here in America, there is a “Finders, Keepers” mentality. We live in a society of corruption and immorality.

I was also able to do some research while looking for a sermon to do for one of the churches we were visiting. I found out that only 1% of the population in Japan is Christian, however that is also their approximate percentage on crime rates.

America is a protestant nation, yet each day we get more news in which a crime has been done over and over. When we were overseas we heard the news of Turkey, Istanbul, and about Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile. Then, of course, the shootings in Dallas.

This all happened in those days we were there. It left us to question how America theoretically is one of the best countries in the world, yet is still shedding blood of its people. People are still oppressed, people are still marginalized. We have so many rights as individuals, that we forget to embrace everybody else's.

It left us thinking that American society is given so many freedoms and rights, that we are sometimes tied down by the corruption of our own freedom. The people of Japan are united as a community, they embrace each other as a society, as a whole. It is definitely something we should think about as people here. Yes, we have a lot more diversity here, yet with more reason to embrace each other as people who want to have a country that can be looked up to.