In European movies, you often see scenes of people seeing someone off on a train. You might wonder if these people bought a platform ticket as you would in Japan but they did not, since on European railroads, anybody can walk through the ticket gate. You should also ask where they get their ticket punched. Besides ticket inspectors on the trains, there are also machines on the platforms that will stamp your ticket However, sometimes you must get on a train without a ticket at all. This is the case with the German municipal railways and subways. You are supposed to buy a ticket from a machine outside the platform and have it stamped by a machine on the platform, but sometimes tourists, without realizing it, walk onto the platform and board the train, and then when they get off, before they know it, they are already outside the gate. If you are caught riding the train without a ticket, you can be made to pay fine of several tens of times the fare, so it's safer to buy a ticket. Japanese people wonder why they don't jus build a ticket gate, and to them the German system is quite strange. However, the local people pride themselves on being responsible citizens who are able to keep to this self-regulated system.
Do you get nervous when a black cat walks in front of you? Do you avoid walking under ladders? If the answer is 'yes' to both of these questions, then you are a very superstitious person. Superstitions can be defined as "unreasonable beliefs, especially about the unknown." Many of them may seem silly to us today, but they still have influence on our behavior. In most cases the reasons behind superstitions can found a long time ago. There are hundreds of unlucky superstitions about black cats. It's a sign of bad luck if they walk in front of you. It's unlucky to step on their tails. They even bring bad luck into a house if they sneeze inside! This unfortunate connection with misfortune comes from the Middle Ages when they thought to be witches' fellows and to be evil. There are practical reasons for not wanting to walk under a ladder, but a more mysterious explanation comes from ancient Egypt. The early Egyptians believed that the shape of the Pyramids had a special power. It considered very had luck to break the 'power' of this shape. And walking under a ladder would break the 'power' because a ladder leaning against a wall resembles a triangle just like a Pyramid.
When it comes to smoking, the world divides into two groups. One group feels it is just a personal habit. They feel it may be harmful, but not especially a problem. The other believes it is a social problem. They think the government should control it. In America, the government had been eager to regulate smoking for a long time. As a result, Americans have one of the lowest smoking rates now. About 28% of men and 24% of woman smoke. Advertisements for tobacco are not allowed on television. Most restaurants have areas where smoking is not allowed. Health insurance rates are lower for non-smokers. On the contrary, in France 40% of men and 27% of women smoke. Government regulations on smoking are regularly ignored. Smoking seems to be a part of social life. Smoking even gives an intellectual impression.
Smoking may be a personal choice for people around the world. But research on the problems caused by smoking is showing that smoking is not just an "individual" issue. It has wide-ranging economic, social and health influences. The more we find out its problems, the more serious we may become about stopping the habit.