Can I admit to having a teeny sneaky bit of sympathy for the ranting woman? Because Chad lived in Japan for three months, had a blast, and would like to visit again sometime--and while I might be able to stomach a short visit, the thought of spending any longer period there makes my skin crawl, almost literally. If I thought he'd deliberately chosen to work there knowing this, I would probably say "bye!" and stay in the U.S. by myself.

On the broader cultural interest stuff, yeah, I agree with you (I could hardly not, considering my background). But she's got to be living with a serious level of crankiness now and so I discount the rant down a few notches.