April 16, 2007
When I ordered a calendar from J-List a while back I was put on their mailing list. Every day or three, I get an e-mail with observations about Japanese culture as seen by the (white) owner of the business. Usually they're trivial things, sometimes they cover big problems like bullying in schools (worse, in some ways, than in the States), and sometimes they have something that applies to me, half a world away from J-List's headquarters in Gunma Prefecture.
Today's e-mail was one of the latter:
Historically, the Japanese have placed a great store in what blood type a person is, and some (admittedly silly) people adhere to the belief that the shape and antigen type of your red blood cells can determine your personality. Supposedly, type A folks are straight-laced, serious about everything, very organized, like Felix from The Odd Couple if you're old enough to know what I'm talking about; type B are "my pace," e.g. they go at their own pace, live in their own world, quickly get bored with things that don't interest them, and speak their minds to a fault; type O are very bold, hate to lose and have good leadership skills; and AB people are often so smart they look strange to everyone else.
My blood type? AB-positive. (Universal recipient, yay.) Well, I'm not so sure about the first part of what my blood type says about me, but I'd say the second half is pretty much on the mark :)
