The phrase "in a New York minute" won't get you very far in Japan. And you can hide behind the "gaijin" excuse, but the legendary notion of Japanese punctuality is real...
I remember the first couple of days, we were kindly being chased by the assistants a few minutes before each meeting, to make sure we would show up on time. Maybe we foreigners (and I would like to exclude the Germans from this lot) have that kind of reputation... And when a train is scheduled for 8:59, it's 8:59. So everybody's watches are remarkably synched.
I hesitated before posting this story, but I figured the purpose of this blog is more than news & entertainment, it is also a small record of my first impressions, funny or not, discovering a new country.
Tonight, the train back to the hotel inexplicably stopped longer than usual at one of the stations. Or rather: the conductor announced something, people around me sighed, and I didn't catch a word of what was said. A few minutes later, the train went on, and an ocean of people stormed into the car at the next station. It took a few "sumimasen!" for me to get out of the train... On the other side of the platform, I saw another train which was stopped midway along the platform. I found out later the cause of the delay (my fear proved accurate), that someone was involved in an accident (emergency responders and firefighters were active around the halted train). I don't know any more details, but I do hope that this person is alright...
I was warned about
such incidents occurring on the public transportation system. What I also heard was that commuters then form a line at the station master's window to collect "late slips" to present at their office. Some companies still have employees clocking in and out of the office, and the station's note exempts tardiness (assuming you arrive 10 mins late and the slip says the delay incurred was 10 mins). So, this is what it looks like in practice: (though I wonder why people were collecting those slips in the evening... surely the wife at home won't request a late note?)
On another note... :
I remember the first couple of days, we were kindly being chased by the assistants a few minutes before each meeting, to make sure we would show up on time. Maybe we foreigners (and I would like to exclude the Germans from this lot) have that kind of reputation... And when a train is scheduled for 8:59, it's 8:59. So everybody's watches are remarkably synched.
I hesitated before posting this story, but I figured the purpose of this blog is more than news & entertainment, it is also a small record of my first impressions, funny or not, discovering a new country.
Tonight, the train back to the hotel inexplicably stopped longer than usual at one of the stations. Or rather: the conductor announced something, people around me sighed, and I didn't catch a word of what was said. A few minutes later, the train went on, and an ocean of people stormed into the car at the next station. It took a few "sumimasen!" for me to get out of the train... On the other side of the platform, I saw another train which was stopped midway along the platform. I found out later the cause of the delay (my fear proved accurate), that someone was involved in an accident (emergency responders and firefighters were active around the halted train). I don't know any more details, but I do hope that this person is alright...
I was warned about
such incidents occurring on the public transportation system. What I also heard was that commuters then form a line at the station master's window to collect "late slips" to present at their office. Some companies still have employees clocking in and out of the office, and the station's note exempts tardiness (assuming you arrive 10 mins late and the slip says the delay incurred was 10 mins). So, this is what it looks like in practice: (though I wonder why people were collecting those slips in the evening... surely the wife at home won't request a late note?)On another note... :
I hereby shamefully admit I got corrupted by my coworkers today. I went to McDonald's. Aaack! Wait!! I didn't eat any junk food! Why would I do such a thing when Japanese food is both yummy and healthy? It was for coffee!! (or in Brooklyn-ese, cawfee). We had vouchers!! Come on!!
I just realized today that if I move into Atago on November 24th as planned, this basically robs me of a long weekend here (Friday Nov. 23rd is a public holiday)... So I don't think I'll be able to explore cool cities in Japan for the weekend. Oh well, I guess I can do a day trip to Yokohama or Kamakura... any travel buddies out there?
That's it for today!!
I just realized today that if I move into Atago on November 24th as planned, this basically robs me of a long weekend here (Friday Nov. 23rd is a public holiday)... So I don't think I'll be able to explore cool cities in Japan for the weekend. Oh well, I guess I can do a day trip to Yokohama or Kamakura... any travel buddies out there?
That's it for today!!
7 comments:
konitsua !
you should climb up the mount fuji this week-end!
Cornichon-wah a toi aussi!
I wish... you can only do Mt. Fuji in the summer, it's very cold up there.... I'll have to wait for next year!
I can't wait for cherry blossoms and Fuji-san hike!!
cornichon wah toi même , non mais !
le jour de mon anniv' ,en plus ! y'a plus de respect ..
et la cérémonie du thé ? you have do to it !
i don't have the english for , sorry !
sayonara !
Koaaa?
C'est ton anniversaire??
Happy birthday to youuuu!!!
Fais bien la fiesta, gros bisous de tres loin!!!
India is definitely on the other spectrum than Japan on tardiness. There is a concept of Indian Standard Time. It says, if the party is at 9 p.m, the right time to arrive is 2 hours after. So all appointments are assumed to have a 2 hour buffer. Maybe infrastructure can be attributed to this.
I think there is also a notion of "Latino Time", also with a 2-hour buffer...
The Japanese are also like the Germans in that few of them cross the street at a red light... I had to break the good old NY J-walking habit!
Anyway: mieux vaut tard que jamais!
Post a Comment