Free on communication

When it comes to communication, I feel stiff a little in Japan. There is some assumption that people should share personal information or backgrounds at first stage. I mean, people tend to care about job status, the level of income, married or unmarried, the age, and the like. Once people understand the basic information, then they select suitable topics. This is a way to protect themselves. It seems that they tend to classify friends, rivals, and enemies in communication. When I was in the U.K., I felt comfortable. It was easy to make friends much more than Japan. Actually, they tend to ask where I am from, but it is natural. People who I met in the U.K. focused on the topics such as what I am interested in, what kind of thoughts I have, what I want to be in the future and the like. I was delighted to talk about my experiences in the past, and they welcome to listen to. No jealousy, no frustration. I am too sensitive on this, but I felt the communication with Japanese in the U.K., they tend to think of the level. The number of native friends, the way of pronunciation, the speed of understanding in English conversation... it seems like competition. Of course, no need to compete each other. Maybe I am afraid to say that I have some elements to compete with others in my mind.