I was up at the crack of 6:00 a.m. The sun here gets up well before me though... it wakes up at about 4:30 a.m. and is shining at full bore by the time I`m awake. Sort of like the Japanese people, I guess.
I really wish they hadn`t given me a guys uniform. Not that I`m complaining though--having a uniform means that I didn`t need to bring a weeks worth of business clothing in addition the casual clothes (mostly capris and t-shirts) I brought.
They just handed me the company principles. THere`s a meeting in 10 minutes. Gotta go.
Monday, June 29, 2009
homestay
I'm at the Masahiro's house tonight and they are *such* a nice couple. They're both very easy to talk to and have an interest in learning English. I always feel a little more comfortable when my host family is willing to learn English because I feel like I can give back to them a little more, instead of just giving them a small gift of American chocolates (even though Malleys is great stuff).
I asked why the government official had come by the office today, and Yoshida-san (the husband) explained that they had a stockholders meeting that morning. He said he thought it would be nice if Bushu interns could sit in on the meeting, which they have once a year, but the schedule usually doesn't work out.
We had katsu, tofu, rice, miso and salad at dinner, which was topped off with an tasty and adorable fruit and pudding cup for dessert. Delicious. Breakfast, however, is at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow. Yikes. After that, I'm supposed to bike with Yoshida-san to Bushu Gas. It's about a 10-minute bike ride. Another worker from Yoshida-san's section, Tobisawa-san, guided me on the bike ride to the Masahiro's house. Japanese streets are really small (about the size of an American road's lane), but you don't fully realize how small until you're riding your bike on it with all kinds of cars weaving past you. That was a little scary. The bike the company is letting me borrow is battery-powered though, so that's really cool.
So tomorrow I return to Bushu Gas for what I'm told will be a more general tour and orientation. I'll have my uniform ready (thanks to Watanabe-san, who hemmed my pants to a more fitting length, and to Fujimura-san, who found me a new pair of shoes because, although I gave the company my Japanese shoe size, the shoes they gave me were men's and not women's), and will go to the locker room to transform from regular gaijin to intern gaijin.
It's so late here now. おやすみ :D
I asked why the government official had come by the office today, and Yoshida-san (the husband) explained that they had a stockholders meeting that morning. He said he thought it would be nice if Bushu interns could sit in on the meeting, which they have once a year, but the schedule usually doesn't work out.
We had katsu, tofu, rice, miso and salad at dinner, which was topped off with an tasty and adorable fruit and pudding cup for dessert. Delicious. Breakfast, however, is at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow. Yikes. After that, I'm supposed to bike with Yoshida-san to Bushu Gas. It's about a 10-minute bike ride. Another worker from Yoshida-san's section, Tobisawa-san, guided me on the bike ride to the Masahiro's house. Japanese streets are really small (about the size of an American road's lane), but you don't fully realize how small until you're riding your bike on it with all kinds of cars weaving past you. That was a little scary. The bike the company is letting me borrow is battery-powered though, so that's really cool.
So tomorrow I return to Bushu Gas for what I'm told will be a more general tour and orientation. I'll have my uniform ready (thanks to Watanabe-san, who hemmed my pants to a more fitting length, and to Fujimura-san, who found me a new pair of shoes because, although I gave the company my Japanese shoe size, the shoes they gave me were men's and not women's), and will go to the locker room to transform from regular gaijin to intern gaijin.
It's so late here now. おやすみ :D
blogging live from Bushu Gas Company
I`m now sitting at my own official desk at the Bushu Gas Company. Did not know I was going to end up here today, much less at my own desk, with my own computer, welcome sign, 3 newspapers (all Yomiuri Shinbun), with my own business cards (which is probably the biggest deal of them all... I remember learning that students such as myself really shouldn`t have their own meishi/business cards). It`s difficult typing on this Japanese keyboard.
OH, and I might be leaving soon with the person from my first homestay family by bike soon. Good thing I decided not to wear a skirt after all.
The weirdest thing is probably watching everybody work and sitting here and passing time by reading the paper, checking my mail and writing this. Everyone is genuinely busy and works at a very fast pace. From what I`ve learned today, I`m in the HR group right now. I`ll eventually study with all of the major groups in the company while I`m here. I keep feeling like I should ask for help, but I honestly know I would slow these fast-paced people down.
So, the person from my first homestay family, who is the boss of the group I`m currently with、just came over and gave me some really interesting news. "You`re a journalism major, right?" he asked. He explained Bushu Gas has no relation to journalism, but that he can try to introduce me to a newspaper, online radio and TV company in Saitama. I think he`s on the phone with them right now because he`s definitely talking about me. I keep hearing a lot of dates, days and "Sou desu ka?"s so we`ll see how it goes...
So today the internship finally started (obviously). I was told I`d be going to my homestay family`s house first, but didn`t know I`d be going to my company today. I found that out on the car ride there. Just like I didn`t find out my homestay family wasn`t at the welcome party until halfway through the party. I can definitely see what Mike, another intern, joked about with "gaijin telepathy," one of the few Gaijin Smash powers that the Japanese people think foreigners have, but don`t. Gaijin telepathy is where they assume we know some important details (like whether you`re going to the company today instead of tomorrow), so they don`t actually tell you, leaving you in a perpetual state of ignorance. Another good example for just this trip was that the program directors assumed we knew what days to where nice clothes or casual clothes and the required degree for dressing up. You learn to think of and ask about these details ahead of time, but it`s just another disconnect to watch out for in my still-awkward Japanese communication abilities. (By the way, if you have time, check out the above link for more of the gaijin powers... they`re pretty funny, and very true).
I got a pretty cool welcome from the company though. I pulled up in the car with two people from the HR division who I met at the welcome party (I have to remember to write about that, too), and was met with a small group of people in the Bushu Gas uniform. They were clapping enthusiastically and made me feel welcomed and embarassed. I was ushered to a small room upstairs to wait for further directions, which was a really silent, polar opposite to the welcoming chaos downstairs. While I was waiting this older man in a suit and a man in a Bushu uniform came to the doorway. I stood up thinking this was the company president and starting the usual greetings, but noticed his business card was not at all from Bushu Gas. As they were departing, the Bushu Gas worker mentioned he was from the "lower house," and I realized I met someone from the Japanese House of Representatives. Yikes. This Representative was the reason that everyone in Bushu Gas was so busy today.
I really need to start writing down some of the minor details from conversations I have throughout the day because by the time I get to a computer, I never remember them.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
more sightseeing!
Today we interns and Kubo-san of Saitama City's business department went to a festival, an Edo-style town called Kawagoe-shi (which is where Bushu Gas, the company I'll be working at, is located), and ate at Mexican restaurant "Casa de Rafa." I also finally got a prepaid phone all on my own!
The flower festival, which celebrated the marigold-like safflowers, was interesting. Apparently, safflowers not only look pretty, but can be used to produce oils for cooking and lip gloss. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but we took a few pictures as we walked through a field of safflowers and then had noodles for lunch.
After the festival, we went to Kawagoe-shi. We went to a museum that explained Kawagoe's annual festival, which is on July 26th-27th, and visited a few of the shops around there. Kawagoe has a *lot* of candy shops, so we got to see lots of cool Japanese candies. It was ridiculously hot out, so we stopped to have some "ice candy"--ice cream candy that is essentially a popsicle. Our flavor choices were truly Japanese: red bean, green tea, milk and pumpkin. I chose pumpkin and it was *really* tasty. Aside from the candy shops, we saw a store full of these incredibly creative wooden toys and a 1,000en (about $10) shop. We also saw the town's belltower, old brewery, and many signs for the Japanese TV drama, Tsubasa, which takes place in Kawagoe, or at least a town like it. We also saw NHK mascot Domo-kun and got a picture with him.
Dinner was interesting and consisted of a few courses. First was chips and salsa. Then was cheese-covered chips (so nachos, I guess), and then a salad that we were supposed to roll into tortillas. Next was a selection of beans, chicken, cheese and lettuce that we also rolled into tortillas for soft tacos. THEN was the Mexican rice. Finally, there was the tiniest, most dainty scoop of vanilla ice cream with mint leaves for dessert. Crazy take on Mexican food.
My Japanese seems to be returning pretty quickly. Because Kubo-san was with us for all but one hour from 9:30-8:00, we talked a lot. We stuck to pretty simple subjects most of the time, but also had a few more difficult conversations (i.e. about illegal immigration in America and Japan). Kubo-san has been spending a lot of time with us recently and must really have a heart of gold to keep entertaining and taking care of us gaijin. I'm trying to keep a list of new words I learn in a small notebook, so hopefully I can make that a habit.
That's all for now. I'm beat. Jet lag is still getting me down. >< Hopefully I'll remember to unload and add some pictures later.
The flower festival, which celebrated the marigold-like safflowers, was interesting. Apparently, safflowers not only look pretty, but can be used to produce oils for cooking and lip gloss. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but we took a few pictures as we walked through a field of safflowers and then had noodles for lunch.
After the festival, we went to Kawagoe-shi. We went to a museum that explained Kawagoe's annual festival, which is on July 26th-27th, and visited a few of the shops around there. Kawagoe has a *lot* of candy shops, so we got to see lots of cool Japanese candies. It was ridiculously hot out, so we stopped to have some "ice candy"--ice cream candy that is essentially a popsicle. Our flavor choices were truly Japanese: red bean, green tea, milk and pumpkin. I chose pumpkin and it was *really* tasty. Aside from the candy shops, we saw a store full of these incredibly creative wooden toys and a 1,000en (about $10) shop. We also saw the town's belltower, old brewery, and many signs for the Japanese TV drama, Tsubasa, which takes place in Kawagoe, or at least a town like it. We also saw NHK mascot Domo-kun and got a picture with him.
Dinner was interesting and consisted of a few courses. First was chips and salsa. Then was cheese-covered chips (so nachos, I guess), and then a salad that we were supposed to roll into tortillas. Next was a selection of beans, chicken, cheese and lettuce that we also rolled into tortillas for soft tacos. THEN was the Mexican rice. Finally, there was the tiniest, most dainty scoop of vanilla ice cream with mint leaves for dessert. Crazy take on Mexican food.
My Japanese seems to be returning pretty quickly. Because Kubo-san was with us for all but one hour from 9:30-8:00, we talked a lot. We stuck to pretty simple subjects most of the time, but also had a few more difficult conversations (i.e. about illegal immigration in America and Japan). Kubo-san has been spending a lot of time with us recently and must really have a heart of gold to keep entertaining and taking care of us gaijin. I'm trying to keep a list of new words I learn in a small notebook, so hopefully I can make that a habit.
That's all for now. I'm beat. Jet lag is still getting me down. >< Hopefully I'll remember to unload and add some pictures later.
Friday, June 26, 2009
first day ^^
Woke up at 6 a.m. and went back to sleep until 8 a.m. Pretty rare for the first day in Japan, rather than waking up at 5 a.m. and not being able to sleep afterwards because of jet lag. Brief summary of the day's events:
+Saitama Prefectural Government Building - The building was very large, but very old. The workers at the business department we visited kept laughing and saying that if there were an earthquake, the building would collapse.
+Lunch at pasta place
+Saitama Shintoshin tour – Super Arena, John Lennon Museum (why the John Lennon Museum is here, nobody knows. なぞです.)s
+Softbank store - mega-fail on trying to register by myself. I need a foreign registration card to get the prepaid phone USIM card I want, and it's going to be impossible for me to get one. I have a lead on Craigslist though.
+Bonsai - we saw lots of little bonsai trees! Some of them were worth up to $1,000! I took two pictures, and then found out that wasn't allowed.
+At dinner at a really nice restaurant at a hotel in Saitama Shintoshin
+Hotel - We watched a travel show about onsens. The onsens were in really spectacular places--one was in a beach with red-colored water, one was in a cavern and the other was one that was only reachable through an incredibly treacherous, 10-mile path on mountain cliffsides. Extreme stuff just for a bath. :D
+Saitama Prefectural Government Building - The building was very large, but very old. The workers at the business department we visited kept laughing and saying that if there were an earthquake, the building would collapse.
+Lunch at pasta place
+Saitama Shintoshin tour – Super Arena, John Lennon Museum (why the John Lennon Museum is here, nobody knows. なぞです.)s
+Softbank store - mega-fail on trying to register by myself. I need a foreign registration card to get the prepaid phone USIM card I want, and it's going to be impossible for me to get one. I have a lead on Craigslist though.
+Bonsai - we saw lots of little bonsai trees! Some of them were worth up to $1,000! I took two pictures, and then found out that wasn't allowed.
+At dinner at a really nice restaurant at a hotel in Saitama Shintoshin
+Hotel - We watched a travel show about onsens. The onsens were in really spectacular places--one was in a beach with red-colored water, one was in a cavern and the other was one that was only reachable through an incredibly treacherous, 10-mile path on mountain cliffsides. Extreme stuff just for a bath. :D
Thursday, June 25, 2009
back in Japan
After getting out of Narita Airport Customs and onto Japanese ground, it took:
3 minutes to find my guide Kubo Kayako and get to her car
4 minutes to receive my first schedule
4.5 minutes to fail at speaking Japanese to the driver who was driving me to Saitama-shi
6 minutes to see rice paddies
8 minutes to see a love hotel
10 minutes to spot somebody riding a bike
Some things about Japan just never change.
I made it to a very nice room in the Royal Pines Hotel in Saitama-shi and am going to set out soon to find a Softbank store. (Also maybe try to weasel free internet from Testsuya Fukuda, the manager at the Business Establishment Division’s Industry and Labor Department. I met him at the hotel and he helped get me checked in). We’re supposed to go out for a nice dinner and sake tonight, which sounds fun and maybe even relaxing.
I hardly slept at all on the plane—a few hours at most. I watched a few movies and American TV shows in Japanese with no English subs, played Disgaea until my PSP battery died and talked to a nice guy next to me.
I fell asleep on the car ride to the hotel, too, even though I was trying really hard to stay awake as we drove on the highway that seems to skirt around Tokyo. From the car it was difficult to recognize any landmarks, except for the glaringly obvious Tokyo Disney.
Well, it’s 4:41 p.m. local time. I gotta get going if I want to get stuff done and rest a bit before 8pm dinner. And I need to find a vending machine for a drink—the flight attendants plain forgot our row during the last round of drinks before we landed.
It’s so exciting to be back!!!
またね。
3 minutes to find my guide Kubo Kayako and get to her car
4 minutes to receive my first schedule
4.5 minutes to fail at speaking Japanese to the driver who was driving me to Saitama-shi
6 minutes to see rice paddies
8 minutes to see a love hotel
10 minutes to spot somebody riding a bike
Some things about Japan just never change.
I made it to a very nice room in the Royal Pines Hotel in Saitama-shi and am going to set out soon to find a Softbank store. (Also maybe try to weasel free internet from Testsuya Fukuda, the manager at the Business Establishment Division’s Industry and Labor Department. I met him at the hotel and he helped get me checked in). We’re supposed to go out for a nice dinner and sake tonight, which sounds fun and maybe even relaxing.
I hardly slept at all on the plane—a few hours at most. I watched a few movies and American TV shows in Japanese with no English subs, played Disgaea until my PSP battery died and talked to a nice guy next to me.
I fell asleep on the car ride to the hotel, too, even though I was trying really hard to stay awake as we drove on the highway that seems to skirt around Tokyo. From the car it was difficult to recognize any landmarks, except for the glaringly obvious Tokyo Disney.
Well, it’s 4:41 p.m. local time. I gotta get going if I want to get stuff done and rest a bit before 8pm dinner. And I need to find a vending machine for a drink—the flight attendants plain forgot our row during the last round of drinks before we landed.
It’s so exciting to be back!!!
またね。
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