It's interesting for me to have this pointed out. I've read posts from English speakers trying to learn Japanese complain about Japanese culture being very indi

It's interesting for me to have this pointed out. I've read posts from English speakers trying to learn Japanese complain about Japanese culture being very indirect and subtle, but the same complaint can be applied to our own culture. As a teenager, I stayed in Spain for a month living with a host couple, and I remember the wife telling me that I said "por favor" too much (like asking "could you please pass the salt?" at dinner) asked for things too much, and generally acted overly polite. For example, it's apparently more common in Spain to order food at restaurants like "Give me a coffee (please)" and not "I would like a coffee, please". All this was in Spanish; I'm just translating what we said into English.