After weeks of CSR research, which was a quite solitary task and also offered me a good deal of freedom in planning my own work days, I was quite surprised to receive a very detailed daily schedule for my week with the strategic branding office. It turned out very well, as my sempai Obukuro-san had arranged for me to meet with virtually all the managers of the branding office, to talk about all aspects of corporate branding strategy, from unifying the company’s outward appearance to legal protection of its trademarks. Of particular interest was the CSR-hearing he had organized for me with several people from the CSR department. I had prepared a list with questions in order to get additional information for my CSR report and got some interesting new ideas with regard to the role of CSR in Japan.
In between meetings, Obukuro-san and I brainstormed about a survey that will measure the level of employee satisfaction at Hitachi. Employee satisfaction is an important part of the internal perception of the Hitachi brand, which is why the internal branding department wants to find a way to take stock of the opinions and wishes of employees. As a framework for our brainstorm we used a theory proposed by Frederick Herzberg, one of the most influential psychologists in the field of business management of the 20th century. According to this Motivation-Hygiene theory, people are influenced by two factors: satisfaction, which is the result of motivator factors, and dissatisfaction, which is caused by hygiene factors. Hygiene Factors are the most important of the two, and include pay and benefits, relationship with co-workers and job security. If these factors are absent or inadequate, they will cause dissatisfaction, but they are so basic that they are usually taken for granted and do not provide additional job satisfaction. For this, one must turn to Motivator Factors such as achievement, recognition, promotion and growth.
In addition to these two factors, we distinguished between issues that are company-related (management, decision-making) and those that are workspace-related (relation with boss, co-workers). In a free brainstorm we came up with 60 or so questions that we wrote down on post-its and later organised into groups such as "love for the company," "leadership opportunities," "work-life balance" etc. From each of these 27 groups we created a representative question, which resulted in a wide variety of questions, ranging from "Have you got a clear idea of your career development within the company?" to "Can you have fun with your colleagues?" Whilst coming up with these questions, we found that many issues related to employee satisfaction are culturally determined. When I proposed and explained the idea of an ergonomically suitable work space, my colleagues were surprised and said that this usually isn’t something Japanese people would mention when thinking about job satisfaction. But when thinking about all the physical complaints that can result from bad posture and/or excessive use of the computer, such as Repetitive Strain Injury, it is surprising that the Japanese, with their long working days, don’t really see this as an important issue. On the other hand, a typically Japanese question asked whether employees were able to say something or give their opinion during a team meeting (instead of remaining silent and just listening to what the boss has to say). Compared to the situation in most Dutch organisations where everyone is more or less free to give their opinion whenever they want to, this is a fairly Japanese question. As the team is thinking about using similar surveys for the overseas offices in the future, thought should be given to this issue.
All in all, it was a very interesting week, which ended with my first presentation at Hitachi, in Japanese of course, using Japanese PowerPoint slides. I had prepared as well as I could in the limited time I had, and judging from the reactions I was able to get my key points across. Thanks to Obukuro-san’s help, I got the specific business terms right, as well as some pretty daunting grammatical constructions. I am very thankful for all his help and I must say that this week with the branding office has passed very quickly. The goodbye-dinner (admittedly a little strange after only four days), was great fun. We went to a very nice Japanese restaurant close to my work place which I have to go back to, as the food & atmosphere are great, and the prices reasonable. After that, we went to Tokyo Tower which I had only seen from a distance until then, and we actually took an elevator up this Eiffel tower replica. A typically Japanese thing to do (apparently, Tokyo tower is something of a dating spot for Japanese couples), but I really enjoyed it. I hope my week with the Advertisement department will be as much fun!
Posts tonen met het label tokyo. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label tokyo. Alle posts tonen
maandag 9 juni 2008
maandag 19 mei 2008
XVII. Quake
It is almost surprising how easy it is to get back into Tokyo life after a week of sleeping on tatami and eating wafu food. Big city life can be addictive, and sometimes it takes travelling through a countryside devoid of functioning ATMs or subways to fully appreciate its comforts. I was just getting back into the work-eat-sleep-study routine when early Thursday morning, a fairly large earthquake hit. It had a force of 6.8 on the Richter scale, and although the epicentre was off the coast of Ibaraki-ken, this was the strongest I’ve experienced so far. Although it was quite scary at the time, being woken up by my shaking bed, I must say that I usually don’t worry about the possibility of an earthquake. Of course, seeing the devastating results of the recent quake in China has made me very aware of how serious a matter it is. Yet, living in modern and comfortable Tokyo I do as the Japanese do: I am aware of safety precautions, but I go about my day-to-day business, not worrying too much about a possible quake. Of course, the earthquake in China has been big news with Hitachi as well, as the company has many factories and offices in China as well as Chinese employees working in Japan. Luckily, my Chinese colleagues have not lost any friends or family members in the quake, but they are understandably worried. Hitachi has pledged financial aid to the stricken area (as it has also done in the case of Myanmar). It makes me proud to be a (distant) member of the Hitachi family...
Other than that, the week after Golden Week has been fairly quiet. Walking through Marunouchi on the 7th, I did see several pro-Tibet protesters, who had turned up in response to the Chinese president’s visit to Tokyo. Apart from the Tibetan flags and banners, the demonstrators, standing in central Marunouchi, looked surprisingly like ordinary salarymen, dressed in suits and greying around the temples. Apart from that, the only big thing this week for me was the Tokyo International Singers concert on the 10th. It was great; the choir sounded a good deal better than before Golden Week, and the concert hall was quite full. Biggest and best surprise for me was to see the seven smiling faces in the front row, all belonging to fellow JPP students. The choir will give another concert in July, singing lighter repertoire such as songs from musicals and popular Japanese songs. Invitations will follow!
Other than that, the week after Golden Week has been fairly quiet. Walking through Marunouchi on the 7th, I did see several pro-Tibet protesters, who had turned up in response to the Chinese president’s visit to Tokyo. Apart from the Tibetan flags and banners, the demonstrators, standing in central Marunouchi, looked surprisingly like ordinary salarymen, dressed in suits and greying around the temples. Apart from that, the only big thing this week for me was the Tokyo International Singers concert on the 10th. It was great; the choir sounded a good deal better than before Golden Week, and the concert hall was quite full. Biggest and best surprise for me was to see the seven smiling faces in the front row, all belonging to fellow JPP students. The choir will give another concert in July, singing lighter repertoire such as songs from musicals and popular Japanese songs. Invitations will follow!
vrijdag 21 maart 2008
IX. Museum
Living, working and studying in Tokyo is a typical case of “work hard, play hard.” Work hard: although my working hours are more than decent and the work itself is very interesting, I am genuinely tired each night. At Hitachi, I have been working on my Corporate Social Responsibility research assignment, drawing up a framework and research questions. I’m very enthusiastic about this research project and don’t mind a little 残業 to make a deadline. Apart from this research, I sometimes get additional tasks such as translating or doing some research for projects that the team’s members are working on. The newspaper cuttings and magazines that are read by my colleagues are also passed onto me. I try to read most articles and grasp at least the essence of what is written, but I find my lack of kanji-knowledge renders me virtually illiterate. Especially since when someone reads parts of the article out loud to me, I can understand what is being said. This can be frustrating at times, although I try to give it a positive spin, trying to memorize new kanji as I encounter them in e-mails and the like. When it comes to using the Japanese-language version of Windows I can generally circumvent the problem as I have enough experience to know where I can find commands, even though I can’t read the kanji.
Play hard: whenever I have an afternoon to spare, I try to go and explore a new part of Tokyo. Last week on Wednesday I met up with some other JPP students for a drink at one of our favourite cafes in the Shin-Marunouchi building. An essential part of the Tokyo experience: drinking coffee & tea on the 7th floor terrace with CoolJazz floating out of the speakers and a view of the Marunouchi skyline. That day we also explored Ueno, strolling around the Tokyo University campus and having dinner at a dodgy izakaya crammed with blue-collar workers. This Wednesday was memorable as well. Although I must admit that I don’t know a lot about video games and had expected to hear a bit more about the company during our site visit to Sony ComputerEntertainment, it was nice to see how advanced the latest game computers are. I loved the idea of linking PS3’s worldwide to create a supercomputer capable of the most intricate calculations. It rather reminded me of SETI, a project that uses linked-up PC’s in order to scan the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life forms. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it is, in fact, a serious research project by the University of California, Berkeley.
Inspired by futuristic ideas, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi. It was terrific! We had an amazing view over Tokyo and saw some great pieces of art. The visit reminded me of how much I love modern/contemporary art and so I decided to spend part of my free (but rainy) Thursday at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, which was equally impressive. This is one of the things I love about living in a metropolis like Tokyo: there is such a large volume and variety of museums to choose from and you can pretty much go and visit one whenever you feel like it as some stay open until late. It is nice to get out of the city once in a while, like I did last weekend when I went for a hike at Mount Mitake, but museums and cultural life in general keep pulling me back to the city. There are more cultural things I still want to experience, such as a tea ceremony or a Kabuki play, so I’ve started to compile a list- I don’t want to miss a thing.
Play hard: whenever I have an afternoon to spare, I try to go and explore a new part of Tokyo. Last week on Wednesday I met up with some other JPP students for a drink at one of our favourite cafes in the Shin-Marunouchi building. An essential part of the Tokyo experience: drinking coffee & tea on the 7th floor terrace with CoolJazz floating out of the speakers and a view of the Marunouchi skyline. That day we also explored Ueno, strolling around the Tokyo University campus and having dinner at a dodgy izakaya crammed with blue-collar workers. This Wednesday was memorable as well. Although I must admit that I don’t know a lot about video games and had expected to hear a bit more about the company during our site visit to Sony ComputerEntertainment, it was nice to see how advanced the latest game computers are. I loved the idea of linking PS3’s worldwide to create a supercomputer capable of the most intricate calculations. It rather reminded me of SETI, a project that uses linked-up PC’s in order to scan the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life forms. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it is, in fact, a serious research project by the University of California, Berkeley.
Inspired by futuristic ideas, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi. It was terrific! We had an amazing view over Tokyo and saw some great pieces of art. The visit reminded me of how much I love modern/contemporary art and so I decided to spend part of my free (but rainy) Thursday at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, which was equally impressive. This is one of the things I love about living in a metropolis like Tokyo: there is such a large volume and variety of museums to choose from and you can pretty much go and visit one whenever you feel like it as some stay open until late. It is nice to get out of the city once in a while, like I did last weekend when I went for a hike at Mount Mitake, but museums and cultural life in general keep pulling me back to the city. There are more cultural things I still want to experience, such as a tea ceremony or a Kabuki play, so I’ve started to compile a list- I don’t want to miss a thing.
woensdag 20 februari 2008
V. Choir
Time flies when you’re having fun. As I am writing this, February is half past. I can’t believe that the last two months of studying Japanese are drawing to a close, and that in two weeks, I will begin my internship with Hitachi. Although I am sad to leave the Ajia Kaikan (or more precisely, its terrific location in central Tokyo), I am looking forward to having my own small appartment in the Hitachi dormitory and starting “normal life” as someone who works in Tokyo. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I am well and truly settling into the Tokyo lifestyle, discovering where to shop, what to eat and, most importantly, how to make friends. So far, most social activities have been limited to trips and evenings out with other JPP students or other international friends. Apart from the Japanese language teachers and the JNI staff I had hardly met -let alone talked to- Tokyoites in a social setting. Until last Sunday, that is, when I went to do what I always do after moving to a new place: join a choir.
The Tokyo International Singers are a large choir consisting of approximately 80 members. About half of them are Japanese, whilst the other half hails from all possible countries of the world. Musically, TIS are also an interesting group, as they aim to perform large-scale pieces on a high amateur level. Last semester they performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (which, coincidentally, I have been singing simultaneously in Leiden). Now, rehearsals have started for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. The rehearsals are structured in an interesting way: each Saturday, Sunday and Monday members of the choir can attend rehearsals at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Centre at Yoyogi Park. Attendance is required at least once a week, but members can pick the day which suits them best. This arrangement struck me as strange. Usually, even choirs of this size rehearse once a week on a fixed day and time. But in fact, it’s a very sensible way of organizing rehearsals, since many of the choir’s members are hard-working Tokyoites or English-language teachers who have to work at night or during weekends. This goes to show that even when it comes to organizing Western-style activities, there is a Japanese solution that may seem rather farfetched at first, but is actually very efficient.
Other main events in the past week included the JPP site visits to Taisei Construction and the large drainage pipe near Honancho. I very much enjoyed visiting Taisei’s beautiful office overlooking Mt Fuji, and I was amazed at the ingenious solutions the company has come up with to improve the working conditions of its staff. This is what I really love about the Japanese: their ability to look at things differently, to continually improve upon existing ideas, their drive for perfection. The drainage pipe I found less subtle, but equally impressive. As both my father and brother are engineers (TU Delft, of course), I’ve seen my fair share of civil engineering landmarks. Yet to be standing in a tunnel this long and wide, realising that in summer it will fill up with water, was pretty cool.
Finally, I made another daytrip in anticipation of the upcoming trip to the Kansai region. Together with another JPP student and a friend I went to Kamakura. As I love to go hiking and the weather was great, we put on our walking boots and planned a route past several temples, following a hiking trail through the hills (mountains? or is that a Dutch perspective?) up to the giant bronze Buddha. The temples were spread apart further than in Nikko and were more sober in their design. There were also fewer tourists, which definitely gave Kamakura a more relaxed feel than Nikko. Except at the Buddha statue: coming down from the idyllic hiking trail, we were slightly disappointed to see soo many souvenir shops and large groups of people wanting to have their picture taken with the Daibutsu. Yet the statue itself is fascinating, not in the least because it has withstood 750 years of war, earthquakes and fire. I’m very curious to see its rival, the Nara Buddha- now I can compare…
The Tokyo International Singers are a large choir consisting of approximately 80 members. About half of them are Japanese, whilst the other half hails from all possible countries of the world. Musically, TIS are also an interesting group, as they aim to perform large-scale pieces on a high amateur level. Last semester they performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (which, coincidentally, I have been singing simultaneously in Leiden). Now, rehearsals have started for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. The rehearsals are structured in an interesting way: each Saturday, Sunday and Monday members of the choir can attend rehearsals at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Centre at Yoyogi Park. Attendance is required at least once a week, but members can pick the day which suits them best. This arrangement struck me as strange. Usually, even choirs of this size rehearse once a week on a fixed day and time. But in fact, it’s a very sensible way of organizing rehearsals, since many of the choir’s members are hard-working Tokyoites or English-language teachers who have to work at night or during weekends. This goes to show that even when it comes to organizing Western-style activities, there is a Japanese solution that may seem rather farfetched at first, but is actually very efficient.
Other main events in the past week included the JPP site visits to Taisei Construction and the large drainage pipe near Honancho. I very much enjoyed visiting Taisei’s beautiful office overlooking Mt Fuji, and I was amazed at the ingenious solutions the company has come up with to improve the working conditions of its staff. This is what I really love about the Japanese: their ability to look at things differently, to continually improve upon existing ideas, their drive for perfection. The drainage pipe I found less subtle, but equally impressive. As both my father and brother are engineers (TU Delft, of course), I’ve seen my fair share of civil engineering landmarks. Yet to be standing in a tunnel this long and wide, realising that in summer it will fill up with water, was pretty cool.
Finally, I made another daytrip in anticipation of the upcoming trip to the Kansai region. Together with another JPP student and a friend I went to Kamakura. As I love to go hiking and the weather was great, we put on our walking boots and planned a route past several temples, following a hiking trail through the hills (mountains? or is that a Dutch perspective?) up to the giant bronze Buddha. The temples were spread apart further than in Nikko and were more sober in their design. There were also fewer tourists, which definitely gave Kamakura a more relaxed feel than Nikko. Except at the Buddha statue: coming down from the idyllic hiking trail, we were slightly disappointed to see soo many souvenir shops and large groups of people wanting to have their picture taken with the Daibutsu. Yet the statue itself is fascinating, not in the least because it has withstood 750 years of war, earthquakes and fire. I’m very curious to see its rival, the Nara Buddha- now I can compare…
IV. Countryside
Week 5 in Tokyo went by so fast that I didn’t have time to reflect, let alone write on, all the things I did. Luckily I have the photos to go by. This week was the first time I ventured outside of Tokyo (not counting my foray into the Kichijoji suburbs). On Saturday, I went to meet an Australian friend who has been living in Tokyo for over a year now, and a German friend who stopped by on her round-the-world travels. We went to Yokohama for the day, which was great fun. As it was just days after the beginning of the Chinese New Year, we decided to go to Yokohama’s Chinatown. Unfortunately we didn’t come across any celebrations, but we did visit several beautifully decorated temples and sampled all kinds of Chinese dishes in an all-you-can-eat restaurant. I have had Beijing Duck before, but never just its skin. What can I say… at least it was served in a nice sauce. Other highlights included the giant prawns and the mochi filled with azuki paste. The rice cakes were covered in sesame, and hot! Which is the best way to eat them, as it keeps the azuki filling from being too overpowering. After enjoying Chinatown’s many attractions (including a shop stuffed with panda bears and Hello Kitty), we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building near Shinjuku to enjoy the alledgedly amazing view. Allegedly, because when we got up there, it had started snowing. As the world down below turned into a fairytale-like scene with lights in the trees adding to the effect, the tower itself was surrounded by a thick white fog. Luckily, there were several amazing toy/gadget shops on the top floor of the building, stocking everything from tap dancing Disney dolls to electronic pets and musical piggy banks.
The next day, I went to study in Kanda, around Jimbocho, where the area is filled with second-hand book shops. One of them also had an entire floor devoted to English-language publications, from obscure books on gentleman’s fashion or Britain’s gardens to well-thumbed editions of Catcher in the Rye and the Graduate. I spent some time browsing through books in the shop, which was clearly modelled after British second-hand booksellers’shops –including heavy dark-wood book cases reaching up to the ceiling. This is an area many students frequent as well, and so I ended up memorizing my kanji surrounded by Japanese students at a nearby Starbucks, where I sat at a library-style reading table, complete with desk lamp. That night, I had my interview with Yanagisawa-san about the practicalites of my internship. There was a lot to discuss, but so far everything looks good. I’m really looking forward to working at Hitachi, and quite curious about what life in a Japanese company dorm will be like.
As this was a long weekend, I boarded an outbound train once more early Monday morning. With a couple of other JPP students, I went on a daytrip to snow-covered Nikko. Arriving at Nikko after the two hour train ride was simply amazing. The sky was a bright blue, the snow lay thick around the area, and behind the Chalet-style JR station we could see a nearby mountain range. As we had only one day, we decided to forgo the waterfalls and focus on the Tosho-gu complex instead. Walking up from the station we first passed the Shin-kyo bridge, which, with its red-laquered wooden structure and the mountains in the background, very much looked like the mental image I had of Japan before coming to Tokyo. The temple complex itself was equally wonderful: the elaborately decorated roofs were covered in thick snow blankets, and the setting in the middle of the woods added to the atmosphere. There were quite a lot of tourists, but not as many as we had feared beforehand. Of course, after visiting the temples, we climbed up the two hundred steps to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s tomb. It was surprisingly sober compared to the temples below, but the light coming through the trees in the grove was simply amazing. Having spent the best part of the day temple-viewing, we were chilled to the bone by the time we went back down into the village. We had dinner at a quaint little restaurant- which later turned out to be listed in all major travel guides. It was run by an elderly woman who turned out to be a great cook, and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with visitors’ thank-you notes, drawings and meishi. The food was quite simple (yakitori, tsukune, soba) but the taste was amazing.
All in all, Tokyo still is an amazing city of which, despite my best efforts, I’ve only seen a tiny portion. Yet it was a terrific idea to leave the city for a change. Living in a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo, sometimes it seems like I’m not living in Japan at all, what with all the Western-style clothes, food and shops. The fresh air, the change of scenery and the historically interesting sights of Nikko have really done a world of good and made me very curious about what the rest of Japan might look like. I can’t wait to venture outside of Tokyo again.
The next day, I went to study in Kanda, around Jimbocho, where the area is filled with second-hand book shops. One of them also had an entire floor devoted to English-language publications, from obscure books on gentleman’s fashion or Britain’s gardens to well-thumbed editions of Catcher in the Rye and the Graduate. I spent some time browsing through books in the shop, which was clearly modelled after British second-hand booksellers’shops –including heavy dark-wood book cases reaching up to the ceiling. This is an area many students frequent as well, and so I ended up memorizing my kanji surrounded by Japanese students at a nearby Starbucks, where I sat at a library-style reading table, complete with desk lamp. That night, I had my interview with Yanagisawa-san about the practicalites of my internship. There was a lot to discuss, but so far everything looks good. I’m really looking forward to working at Hitachi, and quite curious about what life in a Japanese company dorm will be like.
As this was a long weekend, I boarded an outbound train once more early Monday morning. With a couple of other JPP students, I went on a daytrip to snow-covered Nikko. Arriving at Nikko after the two hour train ride was simply amazing. The sky was a bright blue, the snow lay thick around the area, and behind the Chalet-style JR station we could see a nearby mountain range. As we had only one day, we decided to forgo the waterfalls and focus on the Tosho-gu complex instead. Walking up from the station we first passed the Shin-kyo bridge, which, with its red-laquered wooden structure and the mountains in the background, very much looked like the mental image I had of Japan before coming to Tokyo. The temple complex itself was equally wonderful: the elaborately decorated roofs were covered in thick snow blankets, and the setting in the middle of the woods added to the atmosphere. There were quite a lot of tourists, but not as many as we had feared beforehand. Of course, after visiting the temples, we climbed up the two hundred steps to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s tomb. It was surprisingly sober compared to the temples below, but the light coming through the trees in the grove was simply amazing. Having spent the best part of the day temple-viewing, we were chilled to the bone by the time we went back down into the village. We had dinner at a quaint little restaurant- which later turned out to be listed in all major travel guides. It was run by an elderly woman who turned out to be a great cook, and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with visitors’ thank-you notes, drawings and meishi. The food was quite simple (yakitori, tsukune, soba) but the taste was amazing.
All in all, Tokyo still is an amazing city of which, despite my best efforts, I’ve only seen a tiny portion. Yet it was a terrific idea to leave the city for a change. Living in a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo, sometimes it seems like I’m not living in Japan at all, what with all the Western-style clothes, food and shops. The fresh air, the change of scenery and the historically interesting sights of Nikko have really done a world of good and made me very curious about what the rest of Japan might look like. I can’t wait to venture outside of Tokyo again.
III. Settling in
It is strange to think that I’ve now been living in Tokyo for a month. The days are still passing way too fast, but the settling in has begun. I’ve now built up a routine of studying, shopping, going out for dinner, and I don’t need a map anymore to find my way around the JNI/Ginza area. As I usually prefer to go out and study in a café rather than staying in my Ajia Kaikan room, I try to combine exploring new parts of Tokyo with making my homework- until now it works out rather nicely. I am also busy looking for a choir in Tokyo. At first I wanted to join a university choir in order to meet some Japanese people as well, but as these choirs appear to be performing at a high level I don’t think they accept members for shorter periods of time (at least, the choirs I used to be in generally didn’t). So now I have sent an e-mail to the Tokyo International Singers, a choir which is at least partly Japanese. I hope to hear from them soon.
Apart from settling in in Tokyo life, I am also getting used to the way lessons are structured. At first I didn’t always know how to prepare or what was expected of me during tests, but now I am getting the hang of it. All in all, the language studies are coming along well. I am a big fan of the red 3kyu grammar book. I wish we had received it earlier on in Leiden! With its concise and clear explanations, examples, overviews and useful exercizes, it has become my Bunpo Bible. I use it all the time. I am also quite enthusiastic about the JETRO text book. I know that some of the other JPP students might disagree, but for me, learning business terms and practicing dialogues (making a business phone call, introduce oneself properly etc.) are very useful. Those newly learned words also come in handy during company visits, such as today’s visit to Canon. I am, by the way, quite a fan of these company visits. They are generally fun and they break up the week nicely, so that each Thursday I come to the language lessons with renewed enthusiasm.
During the weekends, I try to relax and catch up on my sleep, but of course I also want to see and experience as much of the city as I can. Each weekend comes with its own adventures. Last weekend, for example, almost all of us JPP students went to sushi-chef Suzuki-san’s restaurant, where he had prepared a huge multiple-course meal. It included salads, roast beef, Dutch cheese (!) and of course sushi and sashimi. But the most important course of the evening was the tuna head steak. It was brought in on a huge platter, and although cooked, still very much looked like what it was: a fish head. Including the eye. As he scooped up generous bowls, Suzuki-san explained that this was a special dish one rarely finds in restaurants. We now know why. The fish itself is quite tasty, but the texture of skin and eye ball sent shivers down our spine. Of course, since Suzuki-san was so proud of this dish, we felt obliged to help ourselves to seconds. Luckily our bravery was rewarded with very good sushi indeed.
On Sunday, we had snow. I decided I had to go out and experience Tokyo dressed in white. Together with Vivian I went to the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was cold, it was wet, but it was gorgeous as well. We took lots of pictures and almost had a snow fight, if only it hadn’t been snowing so hard… Maybe next time.
Apart from settling in in Tokyo life, I am also getting used to the way lessons are structured. At first I didn’t always know how to prepare or what was expected of me during tests, but now I am getting the hang of it. All in all, the language studies are coming along well. I am a big fan of the red 3kyu grammar book. I wish we had received it earlier on in Leiden! With its concise and clear explanations, examples, overviews and useful exercizes, it has become my Bunpo Bible. I use it all the time. I am also quite enthusiastic about the JETRO text book. I know that some of the other JPP students might disagree, but for me, learning business terms and practicing dialogues (making a business phone call, introduce oneself properly etc.) are very useful. Those newly learned words also come in handy during company visits, such as today’s visit to Canon. I am, by the way, quite a fan of these company visits. They are generally fun and they break up the week nicely, so that each Thursday I come to the language lessons with renewed enthusiasm.
During the weekends, I try to relax and catch up on my sleep, but of course I also want to see and experience as much of the city as I can. Each weekend comes with its own adventures. Last weekend, for example, almost all of us JPP students went to sushi-chef Suzuki-san’s restaurant, where he had prepared a huge multiple-course meal. It included salads, roast beef, Dutch cheese (!) and of course sushi and sashimi. But the most important course of the evening was the tuna head steak. It was brought in on a huge platter, and although cooked, still very much looked like what it was: a fish head. Including the eye. As he scooped up generous bowls, Suzuki-san explained that this was a special dish one rarely finds in restaurants. We now know why. The fish itself is quite tasty, but the texture of skin and eye ball sent shivers down our spine. Of course, since Suzuki-san was so proud of this dish, we felt obliged to help ourselves to seconds. Luckily our bravery was rewarded with very good sushi indeed.
On Sunday, we had snow. I decided I had to go out and experience Tokyo dressed in white. Together with Vivian I went to the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was cold, it was wet, but it was gorgeous as well. We took lots of pictures and almost had a snow fight, if only it hadn’t been snowing so hard… Maybe next time.
vrijdag 25 januari 2008
I already had a blog. But...
... it's in Dutch. It has been up and running for the past 3 years and I'm pretty proud of it. You can find it here. Why I started this new blog? One of the reasons is that from January to August 2008, I am living, studying and interning in Tokyo, Japan. Which is cool in itself, and very cool to write about. Until now I've kept (most of) my friends up to date through my Dutch blog and, having limited time to spare, have been reluctant to translate or rewrite my blog entries into English. But, as I now have to write weekly reports in English so that the people of the people of the Japan Prizewinners Programme can keep track of what I'm doing, I figured I might as well upload them to this blog, thus offering my international friends a small and hopefully interesting glimpse into My Life In Tokyo.
As for the name of this blog? Stupeur et tremblements was written by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb and has been one of my favourite books on life in Japan ever since one of my friends from the EP suggested I read it. It has also been made into a wonderful film.
As for the name of this blog? Stupeur et tremblements was written by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb and has been one of my favourite books on life in Japan ever since one of my friends from the EP suggested I read it. It has also been made into a wonderful film.
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)