The terrorism gave a great shock and fear to many people, and it also gave me the opportunity to recognize a part of the American culture, at the same time. There were so many mourning ceremonies at every place in the United States after the terrible matter. All of them were very interesting for me because there were a lot of differences between American ceremonies and Japanese ones.

At first, it was the most surprising thing that this prayer service was an interfaith service. It shows that the people who assembled there would pray for the victims and think about their future without reserve between the religions. It makes me surprised because I thought people who have a religion kept other religions off. In Japan, it seems that as we call the people who are not Japanese but live in Japan "foreigner", so there are some ill feeling between the religions. On the other hand, there are a lot of races in United States. To be done such a prayer service in general may be caused by this sort of thing.

I was very surprised by the quote of the Muslim man in the article, because he had never felt any insufferable emotion since the terrorist attacks. The people who were around him might be very calm, rational, and sensible. I thought that in the situation such as panic or war, people tended to do violence or commit murder, whether the person was innocent or not. But in this case, I really respect both of their behaviors. I would like to behave fairly whatever may happen.

In Japan, we have a conventional thought. Almost all ceremonies of Japan follow the formalities. It means that we have to obey a lot of formal ways when we attend some ceremony. For example, we wear suits, hear some long speeches, and do not move. Usually, the ceremonies are so boring that they who attend it forget the purpose completely. On the other hand, Americans do not wear very formal suits, hear some short and impressive speeches or lectures, sing some songs, and express their purposes, such as mourning or will in the United States. They are good at to appeal what they want to do. This is also very different from Japanese. Although it seems to be very important to express one's emotion at the time, in the United States, expressing one's emotion means, "I am a child", in Japan. For example, senior students do not raise their hand even if they know the answer, but they will do if a teacher calls on them. This is related to the national character. I think that Japanese always have at heart whether they behave as same as other people. By contrast, Americans think a great deal of their freedom and their own opinion. The standard of value is different.

In the United States, nobody interferes in his or her behavior or private things. However, if you meet someone on the street, someone greets you whether you know the person or not. I feel this country, as it were, a family. Meanwhile, this is also the fact that they have a few guns to protect themselves. Thus, the United States is a mysterious country, and it is very charming for me.