(A little bit of offtopic fun from the forums!)

Something that came up in the comments for this post was the fact that, in the TV report that I described, they're really proud of a positive aspect of Japanese culture (bentos) gaining popularity overseas, but that maybe people in other countries (specifically the US) may not be so proud of aspects of their culture being 'exported'. Since there are people from all parts of the world here, I thought I'd throw this out. Two part question!

• What aspects of your culture - your country, your region, your race or religion, however you define "your" culture - are you proud of being exported to other cultures? What do you want to see exported more?

and...the flip side

• What aspects of your culture are you ashamed of being exported or wish weren't exported?

(ETA: Let's stay away from attacking other people/countries/cultures. Any such comments will be deleted. We don't want things degenerating into a mudslinging contest, k?)