Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 22:09:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: 2007 Worldcon
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

"Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net> wrote:

> Most Americans of the mundane sort are uncomfortable in non-American
> cultures.  (This is why American hotel chains make their foreign
> hotels indistinguishable from their American hotels.  It allows
> tourists and business people to find a reassuringly "American" home
> base on their travels.)  There was a time when most fans Weren't
> Like That, but I think that time has pretty well passed now, at
> least when we speak of the 8,000+ who attend US Worldcons.

Ah, for the good old days, when fans were real fans...

I wouldn't mind staying at a Japanese-style hotel, sleeping in space
little bigger than a coffin, and getting a shower down the hall.  In
fact I wish I could save money by staying at such hotels at American
cons.  I don't need all that space unless I'm hosting a room party.
I don't need a TV, or a full length mirror, or a private bathroom, or
a mini-bar, or a window.  I just want a warm, clean, quiet place to
sleep for five or six hours, a place to store my bag, and to be able
to take a hot shower once or twice each day.

What I think I would dislike most about a con in Japan is all the
tobacco smoke.  That, of course, was originally part of *American*
culture, not Japanese.  I also disklike high prices for everything.

But I don't think it's fair to accuse me of any sort of xenophobia,
neophobia, or mundanity, just because I'd prefer a Columbus Worldcon
to a Japan Worldcon in 2007.  Very likely in another decade I will
prefer a Worldcon in Japan, especially if my financial situation
improves, if the current airline security hysteria dies down, and if
Japan follows the rest of the world in smoking only alone or among
consenting adults.