A taste of Japan IT: My Obento Box

The major project that consumed my time in the month of November was my Bento Box. The idea was that we needed a 'big' update on my Japan team for the global team (rest of the world, US/UK and beyond) and I was told I was allowed to do anything I wanted, and write about whatever I choose. Instructions like these, I have to say.. I absolutely love. They make work so much more worthwhile. And as I am the communications person for the Japan IT team, my team here has put their trust in me to produce something interesting on their behalf.

I'm not sure if pulling things out from the depths of my imagination was quite what they expected, but when you give me a bit of freedom.. I'm going to run with it. That's what we American do. Give me liberty or give me death! Don't. Tread. On. My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. Hm well, that last one doesn't fit into the entire American liberty theme I was going for, but the words still resonate with me and my intentions.

Anyways, it occurred to me when people in the United States or United Kingdom think of Japan what they often think of are a few things, samurai, sushi, kimonos and when they dine out at a Japanese establishment-- bento boxes. These little boxes have a variety of food conveniently divided up into sections of the box. My goal with this was to take Japan IT, a team that normally people establish relationships by e-mail and not through face-to-face interaction and to make them real. With this project I decided as I was given the green light to do anything, I was going to give the global team everything.

I made multiple videos of my team, interviewing them on things I thought would be interesting. I went to lunch with people and would ask they what they like to eat while capturing their meal on camera. I figured, what do people enjoy more during the day than your mid-day meal, where you can take a break from work, and this would be a commonality that everyone in my company the world-over can relate to. I took pictures of events we did outside the office, a team BBQ, fireworks party, and wrote updates to some of our projects. Finally I created a few tables and resources where you can find basic Japanese phrases and click on the link to hear it pronounced. I find my U.S. and U.K. colleagues are always great about trying new things, and will make the effort to try out a little Japanese if they feel confident enough. I hoped these resources would increase understanding to how things generally operate in Japan.

When it came time to review the concept I had spoken with my department manager in early November as I was still gathering the content for the bento box. When I explained what I wanted to do, at first he was hesitant. The past updates for other teams and regions had always been straightforward write-ups, nothing quite so visual, so it caught him off-guard as I began to explain. As I continued, my enthusiasm clear, he nodded and finally said, 'I'm not sure exactly how this will come out, but this is what you do, so I trust you.' Those were the most reassuring words, and after hearing that, it furthered my momentum on this project.

It was further exciting because as I continued interviewing my team and speaking with my boss at length about what I was doing, the office began to really get into it. Though they also weren't quite sure how everything was going to fit together, they also began to catch my enthusiasm. Especially my manager, he was great. Initially when I began with this project he was surprised anyone would care what we eat for lunch here, or would care to see the pictures of our team events. Yet as time went on, he would begin to stop by my desk to ask, 'what about this, would people be interested if we shared an update about this?' It's a nice feeling to get everyone involved, that's how I like to work best, on projects that allow me to work with a variety of enthusiastic people.

When the project was done, it was wonderful to watch the videos and other various things I had created for the bento box in a meeting together with my team. Though it was cringe-inducing to watch their own interviews (it was funny to see people sinking into their chairs when they came up on the screen) people came up to me to tell me afterwards they had never seen anything like this for Japan, and thank you for taking the efforts to create it. It was an incredible feeling to hear that.

Following the posting of this bento box to my work blog, the global response has been better than I had expected. It seems like people are really interested in getting to know my fabulous Japan IT team, and I'm so happy to be the conduit for it. That was the reason I came here, and to deliver on what I intended to bring. Words don't compare to the actual feeling of this happening.

Update: Top Secret Project

As you may have noticed, following my top-secret project post, I went into blogosphere hiding for a little while. I wish I could blame it on the fact that I had been so busy with my social life, and doing great things all around Tokyo that I couldn't post, but the fact was that I have been quite busy with work during the week and spending Q.T. (quality time) with my relatives all around Kanagawa and Mt. Fuji.

Sadly, I have not been so busy picking out what kind of dog I want for my office. Though the idea piqued the interest of the head of IT here, ultimately after speaking with his department heads he concluded that a dog might not be the best fit for an office in the middle of Tokyo. I understood his position, and knew it was a long-shot anyways, but I really appreciated the fact that he had gone to the extent of thoroughly researching the concept. In our meeting where he broke the news, Mr. Japan IT was well-armed with facts and research, how it had worked in other offices (they were usually based in suburbia, and smaller companies) how the public transportation system wasn't a factor in bringing the animal(s) to work, etc. He presented all of this not in a manner that would bring me further down, but in such an articulate and factual manner that I walked away feeling great respect that he had taken my borderline absurd proposal seriously. I appreciated it.

It hasn't been all bad either. Following that meeting I have been able to set a once-weekly standing meeting with Mr. Japan IT, so that we can discuss what else I can do to kick butt and take names. What I can continue to contribute and how I can make Japan IT a better place. Last week he even invited me to work on a top-priority project with him. So though I am without a dog in the office, I am doing my best to take this in stride. Afterall as things tend to go in life, sometimes when a door shuts, a window opens.. or something like that. And in this case, though I didn't get the office pet I'd hoped for, it's allowed me to find new opportunities with Mr. Japan IT. And that is exactly the kind of thing I'd hoped to do while working in Tokyo.

Earthquake? What earthquake?

I speak with great frequency with my Mom and grandmother since I have been here in Tokyo. By the power of Skype, I actually see my mother so often that I can confidently say that I see her more now than I ever have since I left the house for college. Being a Mom, of course one of things she does best is to worry about my well-being. When there's a typhoon headed towards Tokyo or I am getting very stressed out about work, pretty much anything there is to worry about, my Mom is excellent about worrying on my behalf. With the worrying comes the inevitable calls, comments, questions, messages by all channels at her fingertips.

Contrary to what you might think, I don't mind this too much. It actually is kind of nice to have someone that cares so much about you they send you messages warning you of impending natural disasters. However, since making my home in Tokyo the most often recurring theme in my mother's worrying has been towards earthquakes. Now having grown up in Vermont and living the last 7 years in Philadelphia, earthquakes were never something I had to deal with. They were something that happened in movies and far outside my realm of reality. So everytime I speak with my Mom and she warns me to be conscious of my surroundings and to make sure I open my door when there's an earthquake (so if the building structure shifts, I can escape) I assure her, of course I will.. don't worry.. I'm an adult, I can handle this. You worry too much. I'll be alright. Don't worry!

Well last night, I was in a deep-sound sleep when I was slighly roused by my bed shifting and moving under me. I thought it was a vivid dream, and I allowed myself to wake up maybe 10%, but as usual like when the phone rings when I'm sleeping, I try to hold onto the majority of my sleepy state to ease back to dreamland.

Haha you might say that I value my sleep above most things, and if you were to say that.. you'd be right. So anyways, there I was kinda lucid, slightly-aware that my bed was moving. At first I thought.. 'what is this, some kinda Paranormal activity?' Then I realized, 'No, no you're silly, you watch too many movies.' Then my mind wandered to, 'do I hear any alarms or people running around in panic in my building?' I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. So then.. still lying in my bed in my almost-comatose state, I began thinking, 'Man, this is totally an earthquake. Mom would be so disappointed in me right now.' Then I drifted back off to sleep.

Over the course of the night following this, I had convinced myself that I was having a really vivid dream when I imagined my bed moving. It probably wasn't real. So when I got into work this morning I was catching up with Mayumi-san about the weekend, I asked her if there was an earthquake last night. She told me there was, and it originated in Chiba. We looked it up online, and the magnitude in the Tokyo-area was 2. Crap.

After getting over the shock of my failure, and that I could actually convince myself that my bed moving was a dream, I've decided I can do a better job next time there's an earthquake. So sorry Mom, I let you down this time.. but next time, I promise I'm going to make that getaway. Promise. You don't have to worry.

Top Secret Project

I have been working on a variety of different communications projects for the Japan IT organisation.. but by far the most interesting one on my plate is my 'top secret project'. I call it this because I've been doing my best to keep it underwraps, it's slightly absurd. Allow me to backtrack a bit.

In the Philadelphia office, people interpret the work-life balance my company promotes by working from home and by taking advantage of flex hours and working on a timetable where they can arrive earlier or leave earlier during the day to spend more time with their families. In Japan, there are flex hours and people do take advantage of them as well, but there isn't working from home.

I imagine the objective in other local offices of my IT organization are similar to what I've encountered being in the U.S. and in Japan. As long as you get your job done, and manage your responsiblities, the company will work with you and you can utilize your flex hours. However, in Japan I have witnessed and continue to be shocked by the sheer number of people in the office at any time. Early morning, late in the evenings I see people typing away at their computers and reviewing documents, working hours here are a bit longer then in the U.S. You have to work at least 7 hours minimum in the U.S. (I would work 7:30am-3:30pm with 1 hour for lunch), while in the Tokyo office most work from 9am to 5:45pm (again 1 hour for lunch). With flex hours for example, I can come in at 8am and leave at 4:45pm.. core hours are 10am to 3pm. If I work overtime, it accumulates so that I can arrive by 10am and leave at 3pm if I choose.

What has continually shocked me is when I happen to find myself working late on a Friday, it will be 6:30pm and the majority of people will still be working around me. It's curious. In addition, as living in Tokyo is so expensive most Japanese don't do it and so they often have commutes that can take up to 2 hours. This is totally normal!

Having witnessed the incredible working hours and drive of my colleagues around me.. made me realize something. They need to have a little more balance in the office. I am from the school of thought that it's not healthy to immerse yourself so deeply in your work that it consumes most of your energy, your time, and your life (apparently a hallmark of my generation). Unfortunately, this is the nature of the world. In order to succeed, you must sacrifice and compromise your personal time, your family and your life at times to meet your professional responsibilities and to succeed.

Still, I never quite let go of personal perspective on life.. and this comes through in my work. As I have recently demonstrated with my 'top secret project'. From the first month I have been in the office, I've been telling my neighbor in the seat next to me that we need to have some life in the office. And how great would it be if we could adopt an animal to live right between us?

She laughed and played along, saying we could name our pet Pochi. Since then, from time to time I would mention our dog Pochi and it was always something to make us smile in the middle of a busy workday. Well recently, my imagination breathed new life into this concept.
Oracle Japan Hires Dog

In conversation with my neighbor as we laughed about Pochi one day, Tomoko mentioned that Oracle (another company) had a dog. She sent me the link for the story, and to my surprise, it was the Japanese office of the company. Well well well....... seeing the possibility that one Japanese company could accept the idea of having a dog in the office to boost morale and employee productivity, why can't my Japanese office as well?

I brought up the idea to Tomoko to my left, and Tomoko behind me. They are my friends, we have been working together on planning some IT Training Sessions for our Japanese users, so I have felt comfortable talking to them about the strange things that pop into my head. They both laughed (naturally) and then agreed, if Oracle Japan could find a business reason for a dog, why not our office?
I shared how one of my U.S. roommates had worked in a company that allowed people to bring their dogs with a 3 strikes policy. If they fight, can't control their bowels, or disrupt the work place 3 times, they aren't allowed again. I used this example to illustrate that it can be done, that some places are okay with allowing a dog in the workplace to soothe and interact with employees.

At this point, with both Tomokos' support, I tried to pawn off the actual suggesting of the office dog to one of them to ask our department manager. I feared that asking for a dog would undermine my credibility, because as it is now I'm afraid of not being seen as a capable member of the team due to my constant laughter and energy in the office. Why would I think they look at me like that, you ask? Well, early this week I finally admitted how eerily alike my personality is with Mayumi-san's 7 year old son. Then a discussion began among a few colleagues to whether I am a 7-year old or 5-year old in personality. It ended up agreed upon that I am 9. Haha, it was all in good fun.. but you see my point.

Anyways, the ladies pointed out accurately that if someone was to ask for an office animal, it would have to be me. Tomoko #1 Told me that I'm the one that's always introducing the new and innovative ideas so it would make sense to come from me. Tomoko #2 said if she suggested it, our department manager wouldn't think she's serious.
Okay, okay.. I get it. It's on me to see if we can make this a reality.

It just so happened that at that moment, my manager asked me to help him with a bit of English translation on an Excel spreadsheet they were submitting to the Global IT team. I took this opportunity and bided my time.. When we got to the point in the conversation that we were just about done with the translation, and I saw an opening to ask, I went for it. From a hypothetical standpoint. I mentioned the Oracle dog to see what Kawai-san thought of it. He burst out in laughter, and spoke of it with great amusement. Hmm. I asked if we could have something like that, he laughed again.. and didn't think I was coming from a serious place, so I took that as attempt #1 and began plotting a new strategy.

I realized that in order to seriously propose this animal in the office I would have to come armed to the conversation. With any solid proposal you have to be ready to answer questions and address the other party's concerns. In this case, the concerns that I could project were.. Poop. And HR having a problem with it. And where the dog would sleep at night. And who would be responsible for the animal.
So. I sent an e-mail to HR.

'I have been thinking lately that what the 6th floor needs is a little life. We all work very hard on our computers all day, and something is missing from our interactions. In the U.S. my roommate works in a company that allows people to bring their dogs to work with a 3 strikes policy. If that dog gets into fights, or can’t control his bathroom urges 3 times, then he isn’t allowed to return. It had crossed my mind I would like to something like that here, but the magnitude of the concept was too much to imagine and I had forgotten the idea.
Until I saw this- http://weekly.ascii.jp/elem/000/000/026/26613/?inb=tw

Oracle has a dog named Candy. Having an office pet (if no one objects) boosts employee morale and productivity. It is a good idea I didn’t want to just suggest it without checking with you first. I know it sounds silly, an office mascot, living creature, but I would like you to consider the idea sincerely. Yes, imagining an animal at work makes me smile, but I think it’s got merit. The animal wouldn’t have to come every day, and I’ve spoken with an employee who is looking for a pet they would like to adopt so perhaps if this idea is okay she can be the true owner responsible for the pet afterhours.

So please ignore the absurdity of my suggestion, and please consider it for what it is. Thanks!'

The response was positive. My Japan HR contact was curious and interested and did not outright deny my idea. I found that to be a step in the right direction. She asked that I ask the department manager next.
'Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful idea with me. Personally, I love animals, especially dogs and I love your idea.

However, bringing dogs to work does not quite work in GSK-J environment… trust me, I wish it did. Also, commuting in Tokyo is not as easy when you have your pet with you, especially on a crowded train.

But I do like your point of view about needing a little life and trying to change things. I would strongly suggest that you talk to Kawai-san about how you feel about the situation and good idea may come up through some discussion. I am very interested in how this goes too!'

Hmm.. okay perhaps 'does not quite work' isn't completely promising, but it also isn't an outright no, so I brought the idea to my department manager.

With both Tomokos watching with a smile on their faces, I asked Kawai-san if he had a few minutes to talk to me. I sat down and dove into the proposal. 'So remember when we talked about Oracle Japan having a dog...?' When I got to the part about our office having our own little guy, he laughed (of course). The rest of the conversation, the smile danced on his face. He went through a series of expressions..looks that bespoke what was going on in his mind. I interpreted the looks as, seriously? Wow. Interesting. Hmm.

I asked him if he had a dog at home, trying to figure out if he is a dog lover. Finally he shared that his teenage daughters at home are trying to convince him to get a cat.. but he used to own a dog as a child so a cat just does not seem enticing. Bingo.

Kawai-san also didn't outright object to this. He just pointed out his concern for hygiene, but then after sharing my positive points he added one of his own. It could be a great way to help us to connect with different departments, and teams in our building. He followed with that this is an idea that I should speak with the head of IT about.

Okay. So later that afternoon I had a meeting arranged with the head of Japan IT to talk about communications. He's a very interesting man, and I always enjoy speaking to him. A Frenchman in the middle of the Japanese office, he always maintains his sense of humor and talking to him is always educational and insightful to how the business and being foreign in this culture can be.. and funny. For example, knowing the Japanese tradition of gift-giving, on my 1st day in the office I arrived with Philadelphia pencils for all the staff, books in Japanese on Philadelphia for my section manager, department manager and head of IT. When I gave the gift to the head of IT, he said, 'A book in Japanese! Thank you. I can't read Japanese.' Together we laughed, so it wasn't a problem and later I imported the same book in French for him and retried the gift-giving with greater success.

When I met with him later we chatted a bit and caught up, then I told him it was time for a very serious proposal. I went for it with the leader of IT looking at me with a straight poker face. After I finished my pitch, he looked at me thoughtfully and after choosing his words he said. 'No, we should get a tiger.' My eyes widened. 'Huh? What? Why?' He looked at me solemnly, 'I was born in the year of the tiger.' I cocked my head to the side. 'Oh. I was born in the year of the cow.' He nodded and said, 'Well, not all of us can be lucky.'

We debated the topic a bit more, and he agreed there was merit but he had a few concerns, what happens if the dog bites an employee? What if other people in the building would like a dog, and they raise the issue to the president of Japan and he takes issue? Ultimately, we decided that the head of IT would talk it over with all of his IT Department Managers and then we would decide from there. If the idea gains momentum after this talk, then the next step is to talk it over with the head of Japan HR.

That's where I'm at now, and that's the top secret project.

Photo journal on Facebook

I haven't been writing as much for my blog as I'd like to be lately, but I have been posting numerous pictures to my Facebook. I've created albums with hundreds of pictures, as a photo journal. If you would like to see my pictures, go on Facebook.

Here is a video from the Hanakoganei omatsuri (fall festival) I had recently attended. The pictures that go with this video are on my profile. The quality isn't like the other ones because I took this with my digital camera rather than with my digital recorder.

Today's Lunch

I had delicious tempura at a small place in Yoyogi today.

The weather is perfect today, it's a crisp autumn day, the kind where you have difficulty motivating yourself to get back to work after breathing the fresh cool air outside. Indeed, after the lunch I wasn't prepared to return to work just yet, so I headed towards the Meiji Jingu, a few minutes away from work.
My grandmother told me once, a place like this gives you strength, and indeed after stepping foot inside I felt my stresses melt away. Nature restores your inner peace.

This is just a brief video I took while there to see if it's possible to capture the atmosphere. You don't even have to watch, just listen.

Sneaky Ninja Mosquitos

Tokyo is beautiful. What I have been lucky to have been enjoying the last couple of weeks since the end of the hottest Japanese summer on record has been the start of the cool, breezy and comfortable Autumn weather.

The temperatures have been hovering around the low 70's(Farenheit) and in the low 30's (Celsius) though they have been fluctuating to very unseasonably hot to kinda rainy and cold. Still the weather's been nice enough that I have still been sleeping with my balcony door cracked open for the nice cool night's breeze.

When in Philly something that I wished I could change about my beloved city were the nighttime bug sounds. The lack of bug sounds was something that I missed so much it felt as though it would drive me to near-madness, though before my move to Tokyo I had been in Philly for about seven years. To sleep with open windows with a breeze blowing in your window and the sound of crickets filling the darkness has always been a seasonal thing that I grew up with. These sounds were something that I would fall sleep to, relax to, and they'd ease me to the unburdened sleep of youth. In Philly I would be fine through winter and spring, but come summer.. subconsciously each year something was off. Yearning so much for the nighttime bug sounds I had grown up with, it reached the point that I was listening The Beatles' Abbey Road, the Sun King medley (mellow guitar and cricket sounds) on repeat before bed.

I love that at my place in Tokyo I finally have the best of both worlds. At night I fall asleep when my door is slightly ajar, listening to the sounds of the crickets chirping below and the cars racing along the roads in the distance. It's an entirely new melody to carry me off to sleep, and I like it. This combination of natural scenery and man-made has been unexpected for me. I have continually been surprised that the greenery around Tokyo is common, and often is grown in strategic places but in a beautiful, unrestrained manner that reflects sunshine back into the world. The daily peace of mind it gives me to pass by the trees, plants and flowers nourishes my soul, and leads me to believe that perhaps more cities should focus on balancing nature within their confines. Have more trees, more plants, more life in the world, it makes me feel more human, and on a sunny day less like a person that spends most of the week staring at a computer monitor. Who would've thought my move to Tokyo would allow me to live in one of the biggest cities in the world and feel like I am more in touch with nature?

Another aspect of nature-city balance of Tokyo that has consistently caught my notice, has been the ninja mosquitoes. I have labelled them as such for the following reasons. 1) They are so stealthy so much so that I have found about 9 bug bites since my arrival, but have yet to seen 1 mosquito. Anywhere. 2) This is the homeland of the Ninjas. These mosquitoes have obviously learned their crafty, quiet ways to ensure a flourishing existence. Though I don't mind mosquito bites so much, I just can't get past the fact that for the 9 bites they've given me I have yet to slap one of them down. I feel that this is another part of the balance between man and nature. You know, you win some you lose some, but for every few mosquitoes trying to draw my blood if I can slap one down, I feel satisfied. Stealthy ninja mosquitoes really are a small price to pay for the nature around me, so while I continue to enjoy the leaves changing with the Autumn weather, I will remain alert to skillful ninja insects.

Super Mario Love

It's been some time since I have last posted. Sorry about that, I have been pretty busy with work as the way that I have seen Japan IT often operate requires one person to be responsible for the work of an IT team. I have been working as the Japan IT communications team, and between the event planning, news writing, video editing, scheduling, coordinating, meetings, and such I have had to put my blog on the back burner.

Today I woke up inspired. I had a dream.. I wish I could say it were as magnanimous as something Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed up, but sadly, no. My dream was about the Super Mario Brothers 25th anniversary! Since I had noticed signs around Tokyo heralding the anniversary.. I have felt more than ever that it wasn't just sheer coincidence that I should be in Japan during this glorious occassion, but an aligning of the stars.. and destiny. After all, Mario turns 25 this year, and so am I. And here I am in Tokyo.. Mario's hometown. It doesn't get better than this.

My love affair with Mr. Mario + friends began when I was very young. Some of my earlier memories are of my brothers and mother working together to defeat Bowser and his minions.. and inevitably beating the game. We had Mario 1, 2, 3.. this happened game after game. I fondly remember playing with my little brother, and when the game wasn't starting up right, pulling the cartridge out of the console to blow and blow the dust out. I still think that part of the reason I am doomed to terrible eye sight and contact lenses is because of my thirst to win at Duck Hunt by getting up very close to the TV screen to shoot them down. Yes, I was coniving, I was a cheater, but I also won everytime, and that was satisfying. Playing Super Mario Brothers was something that my family was able to get together and enjoy hours doing. We even nicknamed a couple of our neighbors, Mario and Luigi because they resembled Mario and Luigi (I just recollected that, and seeing it in writing with everything else just made me laugh out loud!!) As I grew older, Mario has always been in the background, from the Virtual Boy game system, to the Game Cube, to the Wii.. Mr. Mario has often been the theme to many a family Christmas.

As I have grown up, little by little I realized how much Mario's theme song constantly tinkering in the background has affected my psyche. My personalized Google theme is of Mario and friends(I just thought it would be something I could often look at and never tire), my ringtone for a while was the Mario theme song(it's cute, and a song I could never tire of), and when my brothers and I unite for a few solid days of uninterrupted bonding around Christmas, Mario (and a sense of competition) is the glue that keeps us awake into the early hours just trying to get to the next level of the game.

So my Mario dream from last night wasn't too unusual. It was a strange dream that incorporated different elements from my waking life. I had visited a Japanese architectural museum this past weekend where I walked through a public bathhouse for the first time (these were common in the past, not anymore). So my dream was that there was a giant celebration for the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Brothers in a giant open public bathhouse. No one was taking a bath or anything, it was just a white, tiled, high-ceilinged venue that everyone gathered together in. The party consisted of games, drinks, people laughing and having fun. Haha, it's funny to describe something like this with others.. but this dream had reminded me that I must find out about the Mario 25th Anniversary!

I found this link today>> http://www.nintendo.co.jp/mario25th/index.html

So that is my first step. Though I doubt my dreams will come true in such a way, I look forward to finding out more about how I can celebrate Mario. He is just so darn cute. Love you Mario!

Where's Sara?

Can you spot me in the crowd...? Haha, i found this picture online in the 'Japan tour' collection of photographs from the MadLib show I went to a few weeks ago. Of course I am there, rocking my Phillies hat (there is a disturbing NY trend here with too much Yankees/Mets gear everywhere, I do my best to counteract it.) And of course I am chatting with a new friend I made in the crowd.

I don't think I had mentioned that evening out on my blog already. It was in my first weeks here and I had heard that MadLib a consummate music producer and flawless DJ would be playing in Shibuya. Of course I had to see him. The only issues were this: 1. I had no companions to accompany me. 2. I couldn't read the website well enough to understand how to acquire tickets. 3. I didn't know where the show was as Google Maps and Japanese addresses are oftentimes incompatible when you copy and paste them from the webpage (I am still getting the hang of the address format to manually enter it).

The first step to addressing my dilemma was to find someone that could help me to find out how much tickets were and how I could get one for me. At this point I had been getting to know people in the office around me, so based upon the friendship I had begun to forge with Aoki-san who sits behind me in the office (open floor plan, no walls) I knew her to be a consistently happy person who is very sweet, always smiling and willing to chat with me about whatever. I had also recently discovered she had a passionate love for the music of Eminem (I didn't see that one coming). So I enlisted her help in finding the valuable information I needed. I found out you can go to the convene (convenience store, they are always in close proximity, usually within a 1-3 block radius of wherever you may be) to a kiosk there to pick up your ticket-- super convenient as Japan always is. Next she went out of her way to print out a map for me and to break down how to ride the subway there. I was really touched by her thoughtfulness in helping me to figure it out (Aoki-san had plans and couldn't join me for this show). Later I even received an e-mail from her on the day of the show, and her day off, with the number for an English-speaking taxi service in Tokyo. Next, I went later with Yumi that evening on a journey to Shinjuku so we stopped by the Lawson convenience store for the ticket. It was only 3,000 yen, the equivalent of $35. Cheap! No ticket fees.. it's a beautiful thing to be rid of the Ticketmaster monopoly and their aggravating 'non-refundable, per ticket' processing fee + convenience fee. I can already feel that I am going to spend more time out here listening to live music than I did in the U.S.

Finally, I realized.. I am in Japan, it is still a city so I have to be guarded against weirdos and idiots when out at all times, but gradually came to see that it's not quite the same as being in America. After chatting with Aoki-san and a couple other office friends I came to realize how Japan really is regarded as a safe place, consistent with everything else I had read and heard previously. However, with my personal walls I had built through my time growing up in the good ol' USA I was very wary of stranger danger. Especially to be a female, young and on your own.. even with friends I am very aware of my surroundings and don't feel safe being on my own at night. Don't get me wrong, I'm independent and don't have a problem with venturing on my own, I actually quite enjoy it, but come nightfall the idea of going out on my own always has been attached with the shadow of sinister promise.

Thinking to myself that Tokyo is a huge city the equivalent of New York City or London, I'd have to be crazy to go out on my own at night, right! Well.. it has continually thrown me off how safe Tokyo is (for the most part, it's still a city and there never fails to be crazies even here doing bad/stupid things), and so the idea of me going out on my own wasn't as life-threatening as I had expected... I decided to take a chance. It blew me away. Tell someone in Philly you're going out to a hip-hop show on your own, they'll tell you no way, no how, and if you really have to go, watch your drink and wear a bullet-proof vest. In Japan you tell someone you want to see a hip-hop show by yourself, the reaction I got was, 'WOW! Where is it? Who's playing.. that sounds so exciting!! You'll have a great time!'

That night (the show was a Friday) I was coming off a long day at work, and due to my acclimating myself to the Japanese environment still at this point by Friday of the work week I was quite zombified. It was the speaking of Japanese for hours at a time and being in a new place that required a great deal of brain power of me and would just leave me drained by the end of the week. I went home for a nap before the concert. I had anticipated getting there at 11:30pm, unsure of what to expect, so I set my alarm for 9:30pm and laid down to sleep.

Sometime later..... my eyes opened in the still darkness of my apartment. The single source of light came from the glow of my electronic clock beside the bed and the only sounds I could hear were from the bustle of Friday night in the city outside my balcony door. Uh-oh. Something was wrong. I knew it before I looked at the clock.. I mustered up the courage and looked at the blue backlit screen. 12:54. AHHHHHHHHHHH!! LATE!

I threw on a tank top, shorts and my Phillies hat and got my things together. When I went downstairs I was lucky to catch a cab right away outside of my building. Since Japanese addresses are confusing even for the drivers, I handed over my previously prepared map and address and we took off for Shibuya. My driver was really cool and we chatted along the way, he wasn't really sure where we were going in Shibuya either, but fortunately most taxis here have their GPS equipment faithfully running. I made it to the show around 1:45, just in time to grab a drink at the bar and get ready to take on what would lie ahead. MadLib took the stage sometime around 3am, and the the party went on to 5:30 in the morning. Another reason to love Japan. While the bars in Philadelphia close around 2am, in Tokyo you can get away with napping until 1 in the morning and then be able to enjoy a full evening (or early morning).

First-hand I was able to witness why there's no fear to going to a hip-hop show in Tokyo on your own. People aren't pushy in the crowd, they aren't disrespectful of your space, many are there to dance and enjoy themselves, and all around there is a good appreciation for the feelings that are generated within from quality music. Even the younger people in the crowd, from what I saw that night they weren't acting self-involved as I have often witnessed at concerts in Philly. Have you seen this type of concert-goer before? They come to shows with their friends and make spectacles of themselves for the attention it gets them or get too drunk they spend the night slumped over in the corner. Granted, we all have our moments where we act less than favorably, but this character archetype is so predictable it's painful. I sincerely hope that's not just an American affliction. It was just nice to be in a crowd of people that just wanted to enjoy themselves.

See the miserable looking girl in the white shirt in the very front of the picture above? I saw her standing there with that aloof expression on her face for at least an hour. I eventually staged a coup and bumped her out of the way because 1. you can't be listening to great music and not dancing.. especially in the very front of the crowd and 2. many [Japanese] people are not well-equipped to confront my persistence and gregariousness.. especially when they don't see it coming. Regardless the musical genre of your preference, it is a crime against music to come to a show and focus your attention on cultivating an image of being cool rather than actually being cool and having a good time.

I can assure you that after the DJ threw on some Al Green and James Brown it ensured that I would be walking away from that evening with some bruised knees. That's just the price you pay for dancing in the front against the barricade to some seriously good jams. No worries though, a little bruising is a small price to pay for a fantastic night out by yourself.

Godzilla

Today i created a slide presentation for a department manager in my office. He is doing a quick talk on his experiences to a global audience so he needed my help in crafting his 1 slide and speech due to my communications skills. This guy has been so much fun to work with. Of course I have been zany, friendly and myself.. and while he is a serious albeit a friendly Japanese manager we have gotten along great. So anyways.. he asked me dress up his slide a bit and make it more fun to reflect the light-hearted presentation he wants to give.

I created the slide with a few different backgrounds, but my pride and joy was the slide with the roaring Godzilla background (and a few airplanes flying at his head).

Fact: He loved it.

It is now 6:31pm on a Friday night in the Japan office. I'm getting ready to shut down my computer, although this place is still hopping. I just wanted to share that the Godzilla slide has single-handedly made my day. :)

今日の英単語 English Word of the Day

Just an update on one of my projects in Tokyo. I work in IT so the terms I use are often IT-specific. I choose a word, write it in Japanese (with some help), draw a picture and post to the Word of the Day blog I created for my team. The response so far has been good. People tell me how they enjoy the pictures, and I continue to find additional illustrations throughout the day. In addition, I've felt encouraged by the fact that some colleagues I haven't spoken to at all yet (many of my IT colleagues haven't quite reached out to me to hold a conversation yet, and I don't want to force it) have told me how they are looking forward to the new word tomorrow.

Photo journal

Sometimes I can't help but feel I'm missing something..

All before lunchtime today, communications have left me feeling a little confused.


M-san: Hi Sara san. how are you?

Sara: Hello! I'm well today, thank you. I hope you're having a good day 2.

M-san: HAHAHA

--------------------------------------------------

In response to a Japanese colleague's long e-mail about training which he wrote in near-perfect English.

I sent this e-mail-
Sara: Your English is fantastic!

From him-
Hara-san: Ummmmm….. thank you

I have to wonder does he intend it to come off in the way an American would interpret it, that my comment was unwelcome? Or is he trying to be casual? Everytime I've spoken with Hara-san, he's been a polite guy. Perhaps he might have a good grasp on the written language, but not the cultural nuances that are associated with it.. or does he?

As these encounters show, navigating the English language barrier can be tough even in a quick exchange. With responses that leave me unsure of what's going on, I just remind myself of the reality of the situation. Usually in times like this, I'll just remind myself of the words of 3 great men.. It's Tricky.

English Word of the Day

My job in my office in Japan is to help them to improve communications. Realizing just how difficult it is for people to communicate with the native English speakers has been a real eye-opener for me. For the last 3 1/2 years I've been in various communications roles in my company. For 2 years in Global IT Communications, then to helping out the e-Search team (Think search functionality like Google for our company intranet) with communications.

In all of that time, I had been striving to better connect our colleagues with better information to develop a sense of team. Little did I know that know matter how many news articles, or flashy adverts I'd create for the new things we were doing, if they were written in English the chances were they were widely overlooked by the global audience. Why is this? Because the people at our sites around the world don't speak English as their first language. When it dawned on me how the Japanese IT users were pretty much never reading most e-mails and news being sent out unless they were in Japanese (seeing something you don't understand allows you to be desensitized to it, those that can read English, it takes them 3x longer then the usual English reader to comprehend the information.. what's the motivation for them to exert such energy?). In addition I realized I have consistently been guilty of doing the things you shouldn't be doing when communicating with people in other parts of the world.

1) Speak too fast. I find it quite annoying when I hear people speaking to someone that may not speak English as their first language at a snail's pace. You know what I mean, 'Weehhheeerrree aaarreee yoou trrrryyinng tooo gooooooo?' They're not dumb, they just don't speak English. What I mean by speaking too fast is when you're on the phone with someone, do you realize how much more difficult it is to comprehend what is being said when the sounds and words you're hearing aren't familiar and second-nature to your experiences? When you can see someone's mouth moving, and read their body language and facial expressions, now that makes a difference. However on the phone, you're out to sea without a life preserver. So in speaking on the phone or even in person with a person from another country, take the time to enunciate your words and speak at a slower (and considerate) pace.

2) Don't use slang, long wordy words. Slang is slang for the reason that it's something everyone understands, at least everyone in that culture. One of my colleagues in Tokyo told me how recently everyone was mystified when on a conference call a woman in Ireland said, 'let's not beat around the bush'. Hah! I had to laugh at that because when else would you think that 'beating around the bush' or '24/7' or 'that'll come in handy' would mean nothing? We use slang so often and so regularly that it's very much apart of our language and difficult to separate from the 'real' English.
As for those wordy words, what I mean by that is.... well, I am a lover of the English language. I enjoy any opportunity to enumerate my appreciation for communications through language. Haha, okay, take out the word enumerate and it would be understandable to one of my English speaking colleagues in Japan. That's what makes it so difficult! You can speak with words that may not seem difficult to you, but are in fact to other people. In communicating with people from other countries, you really have to step up your conscientiousness game. It's not easy to work together, but imagine how much worse it is when you don't even know how to begin understanding someone in conversation? Just be aware of what you are saying and doing as proper communications requires greater awareness to what you're saying and how it's received.

3) In written communications (say if you're writing an e-mail) make sure you proofread before hitting send. This is a major part of the being aware aspect that I vouch for. I saw a colleague spend 40 minutes studying an e-mail before finally asking me to read it and wanting to know what a revolve ticket was. After reading and reading for context, I realized that the issue at hand wasn't a revolve ticket, but in fact a resolve ticket. The nature of the Japanese is not bother someone with what they consider extraneous queries, so it really is on the other side too to make sure they're holding up their end in the conversation.

Even for the Japanese that are adept at speaking in English, these things make communications all the more challenging. With a little patience and understanding we can all work together to communicate better.

As the people in my office are always interested in improving their English, and trying hard to learn themselves, I have started the English Word of the Day on a whiteboard in the office.


My neighbor, Tomoko made the sign at the top for my project. It reads 'English word of the day by Sara Rabeito'. Haha, if you say my American name to the Japanese, that is how they hear it.

Yesterday we began with 'commute' and with help from my colleagues I wrote in Kanji and hiragana the Japanese word for it, 'tsuukin'. I drew the bus below, and over the course of the day people becan to anonymously contribue as little cartoon images began to pop up in the windows. The front window had the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon {everyone knows big D, he's as famous as Hello kitty.. This is my favorite tidbit about him: 'Although he can hear perfectly well, Doraemon has no ears: his robotic ears were eaten by a mouse, giving him a series-long phobia of the creatures.}' but I'm not sure what that other thing is in the back. After that first word, I realized it was a fantastic feeling to know that perhaps I can make even a little bit of a positive impact in improving communications for my colleagues....... even if that impact is felt with just 1 new word a day.

Doraemon:

Fresh out of the bookstore

I visited the Kinokuniya bookstore last week, a huge bookstore with 8 floors. The 6th floor is dedicated to foreign books so you know what that means.. a lot of magazines and books in English! The purpose of this visit was beginning to study the 3rd alphabet of Japanese, so I picked up a few books related to that and sights to see while here. Of course with all of the books for learning I was going to need something that would be the exact opposite of that.

My purchases:
1) Eyewitness Travel: Japan
2) Tokyo's 25 Best- What to See/Where to Go/What to Do
3) Basic Kanji Book Vol. 1
4) Kanji Flashcards Vol. 2
5) Sh*t My Dad Says

Observation: The Hair

I have seen some strange hairstyles since I have arrived here. On both men and women, and actually more on the former. Riding the subway each day is still one of the best parts of the day as I get to see a little slice of life with each different person around me. Families, the elderly, kids, school girls, hipsters, foreigners, it's a little bit of everything.

And through it all I continue to find the hairstyles utterly riveting. Many of the men here love to stand out with their personal style, and that is reflected very much in the hair. I have seen things that border on mullet, but the rest of the person doesn't quite match the American mullet ideal. For example yesterday I saw this guy who had long wispy bangs, hair worn long to his shoulders, dyed a reddish hue and wearing a white tee-shirt, jeans and sandles. The entire look was very thought-out, and for this guy it was his personal man-style Japanese look. I'm still growing accustomed to the male ideal of what looks masculine. Forever I have been used to the American ideal that is commonly the strong, manly, and not too primped look. Here it is exactly the opposite. In fact, the more you style your look, the better you appear. I have even encountered a man with startling sculpted eyebrows. That one was a little scary.


This is an ad I pass by every day in the train station on my way to work. It's an ad for Softbank, one of the major mobile/cell phone carriers in Japan. They provide the service for iPhones, and as most people have an iPhone, you know they're getting major yen. Anyways I look at this ad daily, and the obvious attempt by each person to be tremendously appealing makes me laugh. It's the expressions on their faces, you can just hear them saying to themselves as they pose.. 'Think sexy! Be sexy! Look sexy!' Except for that 2nd guy from the right. He's the Mona Lisa of the bunch, I can't read him.

Even though it's the recorded 2nd hottest summer in Japan(!) the women here know no limit to their personal perseverance for looking good. Even when it's 90 degrees at 8am on the morning commute, you will see women wearing their hair down even though you know it's got to be killing them. They spend so much time straightning, curling, styling their hair that when I see them I have to wonder how early they had to wake up that morning to complete their look for the day. Still they find the will to rock their high heels and let their hair down even as they are trekking in the intense, hot sun on the way to work.

Another hair thing I continue to notice is that the women all detest having hair on their arms. The ideal look is no arm hair, and so they all get rid of it. I haven't seen a single woman who has any hair on their arms, but for the men they don't hold the same regard for their arm hair. I continue to find this amusing.

Finally, I'd like to just point out that there are disturbing number of hair scrunchies all around me. Know what a scrunchie is? It is a fabric device for putting your hair up. You've seen it before. It's reminiscent of the 80's, when leg warmers were commonplace, Dirty Dancing was the soundtrack to every teen's heart, and the Reagans ran America. Yes.. in the U.S. all the ladies know, if you're rocking the scrunchie it will date you, and make you look exactly the opposite of hip.

In Japan, scrunchies are normal. It's strange.. the 1st scrunchie I saw I had to fight the abhorrent feelings that surfaced and the 'ew' that tried to escape my lips. They are everywhere, so while I am far from embracing them I have tried my best to tolerate them.. just as I am sure the Japanese are tolerating my apparent disregard for my appearance with my arm hair (it's not like I have Robin Williams arm hair) and hair tied up I walk to work in the hot sun.

Observation: Love for JJ

The Japanese love Jack Johnson's music. Mostly anywhere I go, I keep hearing Jack Johnson in the background. From the florist, to a boutique, to Uniqlo,to an Indian restaurant, to cruisin' in my cousin's car, to the French restaurant I went to last night. They LOVE Jack Johnson!

An unexpected hole in the pants

This one time I was putting together some thoughts for a post on how the opposite side of the world is really an opposide kind-of place when in a twist of irony worthy of an Alanis Morrisette song circa-1996, I found an enormous hole in the seat of my black pants.

I was wearing bright pink underwear, and there was no escaping the size of this hole [if my pants were the United States, this hole was comparable to the size of Texas]. Basically the entire backside split on the seam.. thanks a lot for your cheap sewing Kenneth Cole, and it was so large that when I discovered it I actually gasped. Making this situation even more interesting was the fact that this was the first day of my 2nd week in the office. What better way to spice up your Monday then with (insert title of this post here).

Once I discovered the lack of cohesion between left and right side of the backside of my pants, I made a face that I imagine was a lot similar to the face Archimedes made when he figured out how to use water to measure density [before shouting 'Eureka!', duh], or Madame Curie realizing she discovered new ground in physics or chemistry. A face that looked a lot like this.



After this I sat for a solid minute thinking, considering what my options were. I'm new to this desk so the safety pin reserve is nill. I have just received my stapler 2 hours ago, and don't have any staples [I was desperate]. I have no extra pants or anything, even long sleeves to wrap around my waist. What can be done?!

Casually I lean over to the left and ask my neighbor, who has been a terrific and reliable source to the ins and outs of the office, 'Excuse me, I have a hole in my pants. Do you have any suggestions for a quick fix?'

She laughed for a few minutes at my misfortune, which was understandable, and then offered a sewing kit she kept in her desk in case of emergency. Then I asked if she might have a safety pin so I could walk to the bathroom discreetly without having to advertise the pink underpants. 'Safety pin? What is that?' That was one of the few moments where I felt a deep and profound dislike for our language barrier. Then as is often the case in Japan there was the lightbulb, and 'ooh, you mean a pin!!'. Well she didn't have one either, so she offered her cardigan for me to wrap around my waist. I took it, and the sewing kit and was off!

When I got to the bathroom I heard the electronic toilet flush sound effect happening and I silently laughed to myself. Making the mental note that this needs to be mentioned in the opposite blog post, I found an empty stall and set up my top-secret sewing operation. While I was sewing, it took me a bit of time as the hole was larger than I had first thought it to be and also to ensure that these pants wouldn't fall apart in the behind again, I sewed the seam twice. The fact that I was working on this so long, I didn't want people to think it was strange that someone was camping out in a stall....So I thought I'd give it a shot and utilized the flushing toilet sound effect when I would hear anyone come in.

As I was nearing the end of my last minute secret bathroom sewing session, I heard the door creak open. Bam! I hit the flush sound button, and then realized someone was trying to talk to me over it. I asked in Japanese, 'excuse me, what?' not sure who it was or what they wanted. Whatever was said was repeated, but the flushing sound was so powerful it drowned them out again, at this time I also noted how ridiculously loud the sound effect is. As we both realized that we couldn't hold a conversation until it finished, we waited. And so for about 15 seconds there were two people waiting in the bathroom with the sound of a fake toilet flush filling the air. After it finished she repeated herself again.

'I have the safety pin for you.' It was my neighbor, helpful as ever.. and she had asked around for a pin for me. At this point I had just wrapped up, thanked her for her help and accepted the pin from under the door as I donned the new and improved pants.

Freshly united backside in effect, I made my way back into the world. Casually stopping by the colleague's desk who had lent the safety pin, I dropped it off with my thanks. She curiously asked what had happened. 'Oh nothing Yumi, just a regular Monday in my life. No worries.'

Digging a Hole

Remember when you were little there was always some kid [I'm onto you..] who'd say you could dig a hole in the ground, and if you dug far enough you'd get to China? Maybe no one actually said this, but it was a common grade school-age urban legend that everyone had heard, and the basis for at least a couple of episodes of various Nickolodean shows. I'm pretty sure I remember the Rugrats going for that hole to China.

Well it occurred to me in the last couple of days, if you were able to get past all that liquid hot magma, and dig through to the other side of the world AND managed to land in Japan and not the floating plastic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, then the Japan experience would really feel like an opposite experience from everything you have known. Not only is it on the opposite side of the world, but it is a culture in many ways opposite to American culture.

1) Cars drive down the other side of the road [very strange the first time you see it, but you could also point out this is something in England they do as well]. To make it even weirder, when you're in a car, the drivers side is on the right side, and passengers ride on the left.

2) The language is traditionally written right-left, top-bottom. Books begin in what an American would expect to be the back of a book and read to what we would expect is the front. Opposite to the nth degree! Things have been changing lately, while written language can still be found right-left, top-bottom, it's common now to find things written in a Westernized left-right.

3) Work hours are different. They work 9am-6pm, with a 1 hour lunch break. This is standard [at least at my company], and even if it's a holiday weekend, they work until the clock ticks 6pm. I am still becoming accustomed to this. I'm trying to adjust my body to the idea of 6pm happy hour... but we are not there yet. And also, I haven't made friends with anyone that does happy hour yet.

[At this point, I had to interrupt jotting down these ideas for this post because I discovered a gigantic hole in the seat of my new pants. I had to take a break to sew up the seat of my pants. How's that for irony? That's another story, but it leads me to a couple other additional observations.

4) Electronic toilets + bidets and flushing sound effects. The toilets were the biggest thing to get accustomed to in my first days. They are called washlet toilets, equipped with feminine bidets, seat warmers, bum washers and on different toilets I have see deodorizers for the air [this was a public toilet, for the benefit of the next guest I presume] and also electronic flushing sound [again I've seen this in the public toilets, to mask the sound of whatever you're doing and allowing the user to retain their modesty.]

5) Hand sanitizer vs. mouth wash. I don't see much hand sanitizer use as you do in the U.S. There, you can hardly stop by a convenience store or drugstore without seeing a huge rack of sanitizer for sale, which is not true here. However in Japan I've noticed that they are majorly into mouth wash, gargling and oral healthcare. After meals when I return from lunch with my colleagues, people all go to the bathroom to brush their teeth or gargle before carrying on with the day. I like this post-lunch break as it's quite refreshing to go back to work with a clean mouth.

6) Napkins vs. warm towel. It isn't customary here to place a napkin in your lap to eat, in fact there really aren't napkins at all, but moist towels handed out at the start of a meal to wipe your hands. From what I've discerned, you use this throughout the meal to dab at your mouth as necessary.

7) Smoking vs. non-smoking. In the U.S. you can't get away with smoking in most public places, in Japan you can't escape the smoke in most public places. I'm told they're now moving towards more restrictions on smoking but at the moment there are a great number of smokers in Japan, and whether you're seated inside or outside of a restaurant, it's common to find people smoking near you. Even if there is a smoking section of a restaurant, keep in mind that space is limited in Japan so while you may be seated in the non-smoking section you're still close to a cloud of smoke.

8)Addresses are written backwards. Addresses are written as: Japan, prefecture, city ward, block address [I live on the 1st block of the main Roppongi road. Hence, Roppongi 1-chome (1st block) in my address.] Also, even the Japanese need maps to navigate new areas.. the streets mostly don't have names, and they aren't numbered. You have to meet at land marks when you plan to meet with people in new areas.

9) Respect your elders. In the U.S. it always makes me uncomfortable when I see a younger person taking up a subway seat when there is an older person, or weaker person forced to stand infront of them. It's common though, but I can never get used to it. It's nice to see in Japan they have a specially reserved seats for the elderly/pregnant/handicapped in the corner of every subway car.

10) Care about your appearance in public. No matter the weather, the distance, the number of stairs, I see the majority of younger Japanese women traveling in high heels! It's amazing their ability to withstand the elements and the stairs [not to mention the excruciating pain of being in heels all day]. Often if I see a female who dresses with care for style, they will most likely be in high heels. Even most of the men here carry their things in very stylish messenger bags with matching shoes. I love this attention to detail, as I am enjoying dressing for the day as I can really go all out in what I choose to wear to work and on the weekends. You really can't do that so much in Philadelphia, and it's something that I had forgotten I enjoy. Also, rarely in the Tokyo-area that I live do you see women going out without make-up on.
In fact, even at the convenience store you'll see the clerk in full make-up right down to their fake eyelashes.

11) In case of emergency- dial 119. This one speaks for itself. :)

The Great Revelation

In speaking with my department supervisor today I had a major epiphany. I had gone to him to ask his opinion of the best way for me to solicit feedback from the rest of my department. There are only about 20 or so of us, and I know in traditional Japanese culture negative feedback isn't something they easily give. Yet in doing communications here between Tokyo and the rest of IT, I need to identify what their needs are, and what they desire that would allow them to connect better with their colleagues in the US/UK. After a quick discussion we began to speak about my language skills and I jokingly told him how I know my conversation is very casual at best in the office.

His response to me finally woke me up to the reality of how I am perceived. From day 1 I have been my usual self, I've been boisterous, friendly, and me! And although I knew of the Japanese culture, the ideal to fit in rather than being an individual, I thought that I was seen for being a person that has quite a bit of energy. My boss is a very kind person, and very polite but something about how he averted his eyes and agreed that I simply didn't know any better shocked me. I finally realized with a 100-watt light bulb glowing over my head, that they perceive me as the American who spoke a bit of Japanese, but that doesn't quite fit in. I knew this but through my mind began to flash the reality.

Effectively, I'm loud and a bit rude to this culture. A few examples come to mind, when people say hello they give a quick silent nod and avert their eyes, I in turn give a quick wave {seriously--- why do i do this? I'm like Forrest Gump} and a big smile all the while giving serious eye contact. Anytime someone leaves a place everyone says goodbye at the appropriate level dependent on situation or person's rank, I don't know any better so I continually say 'bye-bye' in every single situation {I figured it was universal}, and I sit in an open floor plan office where there are low partitions and people sit across from each other, but when I receive an e-mail that strikes me as funny I don't hesitate to laugh out loud in the middle of my office around the others working.

Instead of being seen as the American that can speak Japanese as I had thought, I'm perceived more as the American who can speak Japanese, but with the manners of a small child. Truth! My lack of refined office-level Japanese, my constant laughter, tendency to speak my mind and effervescent attitude all stand out from the standard Japanese culture.

Now I know what you're thinking, it's okay, just be yourself! They'll accept you for you! This is true, however I'm not satisfied with this. When I lived with Baba and my family in Vermont, Baba did a fantastic job of keeping me in line with my Japanese and teaching me how to be refined and to be an elegant lady. When I moved to Philadelphia seven years ago I embraced the opportunity to be anyone I wanted to be. I burped, I laughed loudly, and as I spent those years learning better who I am, I let my Japanese manners go. I liked it very much, having the freedom to be anything I wanted to be and with no one telling me I couldn't.

Now here I am in Japan, and having the overwhelming realization that I have indeed let myself go. Around the people I work with, I come off as a bit rude by Japanese standards with my aggressive eye contact and general disposition. I'm sure it'd be fine if I didn't adjust, but for me personally that's not what this experience is about. I am here to assimilate as much as I can, and to be taken seriously. Being looked at as an American with child-like manners and level of speak are not good enough, my measure of success is to immerse within this culture and to do well. Yes I may be an American, but I am also Japanese [to some degree] and I've had that in my upbringing.

What has helped me have this epiphany is that today I finally cracked open my Business Passport to Japan book. Now as I have already mentioned, there was Japanese in my upbringing so while reading this book, the topics weren't new to me. They only served to get me thinking a bit more about how I am in the office, and to make me start seeing the bigger picture. That's the thing in being in a new place, I was seeing things from my American perspective, and not the Japanese. When I stopped and began to see myself from the other point-of-view I can see how I appear very unaware of others. This is contradictory to the main tenet in Japanese culture. You are apart of a group, a team and you should always act in a way that is polite to those around you. I had been doing this- by American standards. I had not differentiated it in my mind. Instead, the reality is that I type very loud, I laugh very loud in the middle of others working, and I hold conversations about personal and random things [it was about Michael Jackson today, I was asking people if they liked him-- unanimously yes]. My Japanese is a type of language you would use at home, when you are very comfortable in others' company, not in the office. In Japanese culture there are words such as kohai- to be less experienced or knowledgeable, a newbie if you will and senpai- an experienced senior. These words are very reflective of Japanese culture, in a way that is a bit different from America. You know your place as a kohai or senpai, and so when you speak or ask a question as a kohai you show respect to those with experience, showing that you are aware that they are doing you the favor of imparting their wisdom. A very basic concept when you consider it, but unless you live it each day, easy to ignore. I have been doing a poor job of this, yet everyone has continued to be incredibly patient, generous and nice.

There is this one lady at work, she has been so wonderful to me. We go out to lunch with a group daily, and even from last week I can reflect on how appalling my table manners must have been [It's hard to know how to elegantly pick up and put down your chopsticks, how to properly consume your rice with other things, to cut up your fish, and to eat your soup. effectively-- every aspect of eating out has been challenging for me, I don't feel that I ever quite meet the Japanese standard]. Yet Mayumi-san has been continually gracious. Another aspect of the culture I am acclimating to is that no matter how much you ask people to please honestly tell you when you're doing something wrong, they hardly ever will for fear of being rude, making you feel bad, or worse- embarrassing you in front of others. So they have continued to allow me and my boorish behavior to coexist with them. So anyways, I was telling Mayumi of my struggle to learn the language, and when I arrived at work yesterday there was a bag on my desk. Her 7-year old son has been learning the alphabets (there are 3, remember?) and had mastered hiragana already, so she had brought in his hiragana learning toys for me. We had always joked about how I should be taking lessons with her son, who is in kindergarten, but the fact that she trusted that I really do want to learn it was very touching to me that she would be so kind. She sat down with me and explained how the games work [they are like playskool toys where you touch the buttons on the toy and they speak letters then words outloud], and seemed unsure of whether I would actually want them or she should give these toys to another colleague's 7-year old son. I happily accepted the gifts, and am faithfully playing at home. I think this is also a reflection of my overall perception, the fact that I read at a very grade-school level. Actually, it is less then grade school however I continue to try my best and to learn as much as I can each day. With people like Mayumi around to support me I am hopeful that I can continue to make progress.

Additionally what this story has reminded me of, is the fact that it has a tendency to throw me off the fact that I can have a terrific rapport with someone, yet when i mess up my language or actions they won't let me know. I think it's second nature to Americans that when you become friends, there's an expectation to look out for each other with such faux pas. Unfortunately I let myself get really comfortable from day 1, and I've been overzealous to use my Japanese with everyone that it's come off a bit crass.

I just want to do a better job of showing them the same respect that they show me. And through practice, reading-reading-reading [i have a lot of notes from my 3 weeks with my lovely Japanese tutor, she taught me the ins and outs of polite conversation but I haven't studied up on those since our lessons last month] I hope to improve to a level where I can be...... I'm not sure what the word is. I want to be me, I just want to be a me that can fit in and be respected by those around me at work. At the end of this experience living and working in Japan I want to know that I gave it everything I have, anything less would be an utter injustice to this opportunity.

The important thing to also remember when being in a new culture is to not take yourself too seriously [as much as I sound like I am, I promise I'm not!] and to not be too hard on yourself. As in every other part of life, there are ups and downs, so I just continue to have to remind myself that there is a silver lining. After lunch with another colleague today, I saw it once again.

1:36pm Mizuno-san Hi Sara san


1:36pm Sara Hello again


1:36pm Mizuno-san it was really nice to get to know you.


1:36pm Sara I feel the same way. Thank you for today.


1:36pm Mizuno-san i feel like we are already friends now.
i just wanted to tell you that


1:38pm Sara I can't tell you how glad I am you think so because I feel like that too. I had to stop myself on the elevator from saying how I was glad we were friends...!
I can't wait until the next time we go to lunch. After your vacation of course.


1:39pm Mizuno-san one of my teachers told me once..
if you can eat together with somebody, just two of you,
it tells you that you two are friends.


1:40pm SaraI will remember that. Enjoy the rest of your day, and have a fantastic vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing you again!


1:42pm Mizuno-san if you feel awkward or uncomfortable in any way if you are eating with that person, you two are just acquaintance, but not yet friends.
* while you are eating..
and i felt quite comfortable during the lunch today.
looking forward to talk to you again!

My Friend Yumi

Well after tonight, let's hope she still wants to be.

Work has been pretty good all week. It's been tiresome though as I've been speaking Japanese in the office, and working hours are longer than what I'm used to. I want to improve my language skills, and as my favorite Anchorman, Ron Burgundy has taught me, 'when in Rome.' .......Hmm.. actually I don't think R.Burg knew what that meant when he used that, but nonetheless I am immersing myself in this new culture.
So while I've been wanting to post updates to my daily escapades, my schedule has mostly consisted of getting out of work, eating some food and falling asleep rather early. Today I had gotten myself into a bit of an adventure that made me want to finally take the time to sit down and write a little something down.

Even before I began in the office on Monday this week, I had received a few e-mails and online messages from Japanese colleagues eager to meet me. They had heard I spoke a bit of Japanese and were interested in meeting this American new to their office.

From Yumi I received this: "Hello Sara,
My name is Yumi and I am a member of EUS Japan. I heard that you are already in Japan and will show up our office on Monday, Aug. 9th.
Unfortunately, I will take a day off on Monday, 9th. It is sorry that I cannot see you on your first day.
My desk is just in front of yours (we will be face to face, of course there is a low partition in between ours). I hope I can support you on Tomoko's absence.
My team and myself are looking forward to see and work with you soon!"

It was so nice, and I was excited to meet her. When she arrived in the office on Tuesday, we chatted a bit, and I found out she has the ability to speak and write in English a little too and has already helped me with some translations I was working on. That first day she invited me out to lunch with our colleagues, and little by little each day we've chatted a little more. Well tonight, around 6pm when everyone was getting ready to head home, she asked me if I had plans after work. I wasn't feeling as tired as usual, and interested in doing something outside of my usual routine so I agreed to join her in a trip to nearby Shinjuku.

I had already heard quite a bit about Shinjuku, but didn't realize it was so close to our office in the Sendagaya/Yoyoyi area of Shibuya. Shinjuku is a major shopping area in Tokyo, to give you a better idea about it this Elle Decor Goes to Tokyo article has a nice quote that sums it up, "When most people picture Tokyo- the city portrayed in movies and pop culture- they're probably thinking of Shinjuku and Shibuya, the manic, densely populated areas that reputedly inspired Ridely Scott's film Blade Runner, and where Sofia Coppola shot much of 2003's Lost in Translation." It took us about a ten minute walk from the doors of GSK to reach Shinjuku, maybe even less. When we reached it, we went to the famous Tokyu Hands store.


Nine glorious floors of everything you could possibly imagine or want . The Japanese love their department stores, and as I have found they often do things keeping convenience in mind. This building that housed Tokyu hands with its nine floors of home goods, crafts, hardware, etc. also housed a luxury department store. So you can ride the escalator up and down and find home goods and such in Tokyu Hands on one side and Chanel, Louis Vuitton, upscale cafes and stores on the other. All of this based beside the major subway and rail stop-- Shinjuku. Convenience maximized.


Well it was a very brief trip because Yumi just needs to pick up some gardening gloves, and I just wanted to look around. We rode up to the 6th floor and found her gloves, and then I went off in search of a good frying pan. After determining kitchenwares were on the 4th floor, we got on the down escalator. Nothing out of the ordinary here right? Well it would've been except that Yumi didn't know yet that an adventure with Sara requires you to always be on-guard for the unexpected.

As we reached the 5th floor, Yumi was infront of me and I turned and some (cool) thing on the 5th floor [I think it was a clock--- oh man in retrospect, was it worth it?] caught my eye, and I yelped, 'Wait Yumi let's check out the 5th floor!' I did this as I was about to step onto the escalator and fortunately there weren't people directly behind me as I stopped, but I looked down and realized poor Yumi was on the 2nd step of the escalator already going down. Even as I write this now and relive the moment I'm in tears from the hilarity.. You could actually see Yumi processing what I said, realizing I was not riding the escalator down and frantically stepping up the moving escalator.

Now pause for a moment. Have you ever seen someone try to climb up a moving escalator? If you move at your normal speed to go upstairs you will only continue to go down, so you adjust and move a little faster but you're only fighting the rapidly escalating escalator. I failed to mention earlier, how teeny tiny Yumi is. She reaches perhaps to or a bit past my shoulder, and I had put her into this predicament.

Inside of Tokyu Hands, that's Yumi in the center with the ponytail. She is smaller than the other Japanese people around her.

So here we were, me watching, my mouth agape as Yumi goes from comfortably riding the escalator to seeing that she is on the 2nd step and has a fighting chance. I suspect if I hadn't said something at that exact moment, she would've reached the point of no return and ridden down to come back up. However that wasn't the case and as I watched her process and assess the situation.. she made the choice. She was going for it. So with that Yumi stepped up, but the quickness of the escalator got to her, lost her balance for a bit when I saw an older gentleman from the corner of my eye reach out to her to help but she admirably recovered and fought, moving faster and faster to combat the steps that just kept coming at her, and the people boarding the down escalator.

For the record, watching someone unexpectedly fighting in the opposite direction of a moving escalator with people coming at them.... there are no words.

[I can't fight the laughter with every word I type.]

It was just something about being in this extremely proper culture where things happen as they're expected to, and to see how I unintentionally threw a wrench into that. To see someone thrown for a loop while in a situation they've been in countless time before and forced to react quickly, I couldn't help myself from laughing even as I was silently cheering her on.

Simultaneously I remember just watching this in awe and in disbelief that after such a brief amount of time knowing each other, I had already impacted her life by inflicting such trouble with something that should have been so simple.

Yumi powered on though and eventually fought to the top, and from that moment I knew she had passed a test of sorts.. she had persevered and had survived an incredible test of will and spirit. This person would be able to survive sitting across from me for the coming year, and because of this I feel comfortable titling this post, 'My Friend Yumi'. Together we've overcome a bit of hardship, and for me at least, forged a bond. I'm looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead, and to see if Yumi has any tests of fortitude in store for me (probably not). And by the way.. to cook up some fantastic things in my new frying pan.

P.S. As she walked me to the subway station next door, I had to have my picture taken outside Chanel. Thanks again Yumi.

A walk in Minato-ku