It's late at night, but you only have one chance for first impressions, so here we go...
After a long flight from NY (13h40min), I arrived at Narita international airport, excited like a kid in a toy store... (noticed a fruit & vegetable stall in the airport, I am sure one day I will understand why it's there).
I made my way to my hotel in Tokyo Bay, with beautiful views of the river and the harbor. Slept like a baby, and didn't suffer from the infamous 3am insomnia that hit jetlagged travelers...
Day 1 at the office was memorable. I was introduced by my boss to the Japanese CEO, a very kind and poised gentleman. Then met with the CFO, whom I had met a month earlier in Toronto. I was then brought back to the main floor, where I met the rest of the team (the finance group, merchandising, operations groups all together... lots of new faces and names to remember). I was shown to my new workstation, near the window with Tokyo views, which already had my nameplate (with my name written in English and in Katakana!), my new Japanese PC (complete with Japanese keyboard to enable me to quickly switch from ABC alphabet to Japanese writing... ). The office manager called for a mini-general meeting and everybody gathered at once around him. I knew he was going to introduce me, so I volunteered to state my name and introduce myself in Japanese, the way I had been practicing for weeks with my Japanese teacher in the US. When I started saying "Hello, my name is Mikaela, I am French" (etc...) in Japanese, some expressions of suprise and some smiles made me so happy to have learned a few words in my new country's language and show that, well, at least I try!! (I did get a mini round of applause for that, and I was very moved). When they asked me how I wish to be addressed (my name is full of L's and as such, a torture to pronounce for Japanese people), I said in Japan they can call me Miki... so I am now officially Miki-san!
The rest of the day was spent in meetings with US bankers and lots of number-crunching, which was a great overview of the Japanese situation and the long-term goals. Unfortunately, all the balance sheets and cash flow statements had legends in Japanese, which was a subtle reminder that I have a long way to go before being anything close to fluent in Japanese...
After the succession of meetings, we went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner to eat shabu-shabu (and much more), a real feast. I was always a big fan of Japanese cuisine, and I am very excited to be here and eager to try many new dishes!!
The post would not be complete without the first few impressions:
* Omiyagi: (little souvenir gifts from New York I had brought along and gift-wrapped all night) People didn't expect me to follow this Japanese tradition, so they were surprised and seemed to like the "I (heart) NY" pens and shotglasses and more...
* TV: I can pick up maybe 2% of what is being said... when they throw a number, a "Konbanwa" (good evening), or Furansu-jin (French)... but so far, the immersion method is NOT working (grrr). I hope the learning curve gets better...
* Remember the story behind "Lost in Translation"? I saw lots of ads and billboards with American stars... Tommy Lee Jones for Boss, and BRAD PITT for Softbank! (cell phone carrier). Guess who I will sign up for my new cell phone...
* Cell phones: haven't tested one yet, but when we were discussing Yankees v. Red Sox scores at lunch, a Japanese banker retrieved last night's game scores in a few seconds... (with Matsui and this other Sox guy, the Japanese are crazy about baseball! and on TV they talk about Matsui with so much pride... at least that's what I felt).
* Weather: still beautiful, in the 20's (Celsius) (70's Farenheit?), sunny and just pleasant!
* Office: absolutely beautiful, in a high-rise building a half block from the Kawasaki station, very easy commute.
* People: so kind, so polite, and so elegand and beautiful! A pleasure to be around!
* Cars: yes, they're Japanese, everywhere... Toyota, Honda, the whole shebang... it feels just like when I was driving in Sweden and saw Saabs and Volvos everywhere! I know this is really cliche, but... it's cool! and they have some of the smallest cars I've ever seen! Almost like a Smart, except it's a 4-seater!
* Street signs: I am feeling like an illiterate person. I am regretting not having mastered the hiraganas and katakanas better, because I can occasionally read 80% of a word and get stuck because I forget that one fancy character... The good part is that it's easier to master those characters. The sad part is that I'd then have to master Kanjis (Chinese characters) and that's constant WIP...
* Vending machines: ubiquitous and very convenient! And cheap!! (unless I am calculating wrong, a big bottle of green ice tea is about $1 - $2?
* Japanese toilets: rightly legendary. So many buttons and options to make the whole experience ... well... memorable. Heated seats and more. Will post pictures.
* Elevators: so smooth and fast and well organized!! Press the button, and you know immediately which elevator to wait for, and it arrives really fast! (ADDENDUM to the elevator amazement: if you pressed a floor number by error, just press the number again to cancel!!)
* Misc: by the elevator bank near the window, there is a light signal representing an umbrella. The sign was not lit, so I asked a coworker whether this sign lights up if it rains outside... and indeed it does. So ingenious! And practical!! I really like Japan!!
... I think I'm really, really, really going to like it here ...
2 comments:
Thats awesome. Glad that you are loving it. Nice job on learning the language and introducing yourself. You hit a home run with first impressions. Can you elaborate more on the Japanese Women??
I'm afraid you will have to come and check out the Japanese women for yourself... They're beautiful, and very sweet.
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