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