Long time, more trains and planes.
I wrote something about not knowing if the updates here would be short and frequent or long and far apart in the first post. Well, I think we are starting to see a pattern. At least the blog is still alive, I think.
October consisted of more than three weeks in hotels. This had a reason, but we will get to that later.
To pick up where I left of last time, Yoggi did bring some licorice. Then he of course ate half of it himself, but nevertheless a nice gesture. He also did a very good job of generally bumming around in Japan. Good times with some general sight-seeing and a couple of very late nights on the town. Only downside to the visit was that he won the Pro Evolution series. Might be a while before I will get a chance to even that score. Hopefully I can squeeze a visit in around new years.
I've also been in the land of lederhosen and bratwurst. In the Ruhrgebit to be more exact. Reason was work of course, no person in their right mind would ever go to the Ruhrgebit for holiday, right? However, it is not really the dark, dirty coal pit that it is supposed to be. Still not holiday material, but charming in it's own right. While there I met a colleague from Russia who I somehow manage to keep running into. First Belgium, then Stockholm and now Essen. But the company only has 3000 employees, so I guess it makes sense as a statistical anomaly.
As always, these half week intercontinental adventures are pretty devastating when it comes to jetlag.
Soon after Germany it was time to leave Nagoya behind again for what should have been a nice and clean eight day operation installing systems in Yokohama. It however turned out differently and had me at one point wondering if I would be stuck in cheap business hotels for eternity. To cut a long story short, first six days went more or less according to plan. On the seventh day the customer did not rest, they instead ran into problems. This in turn meant that we got tied up in the factory first proving that our equipment was doing it's job correctly and then providing support in the form of hanging around looking concerned. I am all for being supportive to the customer, but also very much against spending resources where they clearly are not productive. This made the "detention" very frustrating, even more so because of a complete lack of schedule.
On the bright side, I got to try out a couple of hotels in Kawasaki, one in Shin Yokohama, one in Tatchkawa and then of course the capsule hotel in Tsurumi. Turtle Hills in Kawasaki was a bit original, and Tsurumi is one of these places you drive through without even thinking about it (didn't stop the train-station from being crowded in true Japanese fashion of course).
The above was actually written in the beginning of November, but I never had time to do the finishing touches and it was not posted. Lets jump to present time instead.
I was in Sweden last week for some meetings. Also had time to spend a weekend back in Småland. Nice meeting up with family and friends. Flew Finnair this time. Pretty ok, but Lufthansa is a little bit better overall. Next trip is coming up on the 22th ofDecemberr. Three weeks of vacation over the holidays. Will also be very nice. SAS will provide transportation.
Managed to find time for a night on the town yesterday. Met up with a Sebastian, a German friend for some dinner and beers. Following that more beers at aforeignerr hangout where my soccer-team was having a gettogetherr. Here, I met this girl that apparently used to work at my office. I say that I'm Swedish, she asks if I know about Atlas Copco, and I say that I sort of do. It is a small world.
After this we continued to what would become thehighlightt of the night, the club. This club is a members only, basically no foreigners allowed kind of place. But Sebastian has a membership, and was nice enough to introduce me. It turns out that the owner of the place has lived in Stockholm, so before long I'm also presented with a members card. Sweet, since the policy is that threerecommendationss are needed and they have a one year waiting list. Very nice place, looks like a winner this one. Funny how the Sumo-wrestlers all seem to get very pretty girls though.
Only in Japan, kids..
That will be all for now, next post might be from Sweden. It wont take three months anyway.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
でも、京都がきれい/ But Kyoto is beautiful
The pressure has been on lately at work.
First a do or die meeting in a customer project that in some Japanese way ended without much being accomplished. Not a perfect outcome, but managed to put the brakes on a couple of requests that could have been costly. One advice, try not to be negotiating a new order with the same people that you are dealing with in a present project. It tends to mess things up when they use the new buy to put pressure on the project and vice versa. Then I had a presentation in front of some prominent people. That one went ok although being rescheduled to 08.00.
Football today was conducted in light rain. Very nice for sliding tackles, and the temperature was bearable for once.
Last weekend was Tokyo visit weekend. Five Tokyoites drove through the night Friday to be able to spend a weekend in the hotter region of Japan. The weekend continued with Bjorn ditching the rest of the gang in favor of some rock thing in Toyota. Mike then decided that the decision to drive to a beach was not for him, but luckily enough CF could stand in as guide in Nagoya while the rest of us drove to Mie. And drove is what we did. Seven hours in a car and one and a half hour on a beach. Nice beach though. Only let down was that there was almost no other people there. The drive back included some very intelligent conversations where the most important conclusions were that Kyoto is beautiful, so is Kinkakuji, and that great minds think alike. Back in Nagoya the Saturday was ended with one session at Sekkai no Yamachan eating all kinds of unhealthy food (and some sashimi), one visit to a club that did not quite live up to my expectations, and Sunday morning was welcomed with a rather sleepy karaoke session.
This weekend was slow. Some shopping.
Next weekend there are rumors about a visit from Sweden. I sure hope that Yoggi bring s some licorice.
On a side note; Check this Youtube clip out, awesome TV when two biased views clash on air regarding Israel and Hezbollah. And the poor Sky-news correspondent never stands a chance against the Scotsman.
First a do or die meeting in a customer project that in some Japanese way ended without much being accomplished. Not a perfect outcome, but managed to put the brakes on a couple of requests that could have been costly. One advice, try not to be negotiating a new order with the same people that you are dealing with in a present project. It tends to mess things up when they use the new buy to put pressure on the project and vice versa. Then I had a presentation in front of some prominent people. That one went ok although being rescheduled to 08.00.
Football today was conducted in light rain. Very nice for sliding tackles, and the temperature was bearable for once.
Last weekend was Tokyo visit weekend. Five Tokyoites drove through the night Friday to be able to spend a weekend in the hotter region of Japan. The weekend continued with Bjorn ditching the rest of the gang in favor of some rock thing in Toyota. Mike then decided that the decision to drive to a beach was not for him, but luckily enough CF could stand in as guide in Nagoya while the rest of us drove to Mie. And drove is what we did. Seven hours in a car and one and a half hour on a beach. Nice beach though. Only let down was that there was almost no other people there. The drive back included some very intelligent conversations where the most important conclusions were that Kyoto is beautiful, so is Kinkakuji, and that great minds think alike. Back in Nagoya the Saturday was ended with one session at Sekkai no Yamachan eating all kinds of unhealthy food (and some sashimi), one visit to a club that did not quite live up to my expectations, and Sunday morning was welcomed with a rather sleepy karaoke session.
The beach. Not bad, not bad at all.
A train station we found in the middle of nowhere. May seem like nothing special, but in a country that revolves around trains in general and with a life that involve them a lot, seeing this quiet train station with no people around and only one train per hour was an experience.
And to contrast, these are the shinkansen bound for Shin Osaka during a eleven minute interval on a Friday night.
This weekend was slow. Some shopping.
Next weekend there are rumors about a visit from Sweden. I sure hope that Yoggi bring s some licorice.
On a side note; Check this Youtube clip out, awesome TV when two biased views clash on air regarding Israel and Hezbollah. And the poor Sky-news correspondent never stands a chance against the Scotsman.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Walking up a mountain and coming down a hill
Train and plane count since last post:
Plane to Fukuoka. Shinkansen to Nagoya from Fukuoka and to Shinagawa a couple of times as well as one Kodama to Mishima. Not so bad. Maybe have to rename the blog.
Last time I had a chance to see Mt. Fuji up close from Shin Fuji the mountain managed to hide, but last weekend it had nowhere to run. Together with seven Tokyoites I went there, walked to the top and down again. The result, severe sunburn and hurting legs. But it was a lot of fun. We hiked from the base camp at 1800 meters up to 3200 meters during the first day and spent a couple of hours sleeping in a cabin, then got up at 01.00 for the last stage. Amazing how the last climb had a long queue at 02.00 in the morning. Lots of people wanting to see a rather disappointing sunrise. Actually only five of us really watched it. Three of us got hit with altitude sickness and slept it away. On the number of people on the top I have to say, Only in Japan, kids.
My camera is not really made for taking epic scenery pictures, but I took a couple of shots, and a video showing what it is like on the top of Fuji 05.30 at weekends during busy season, beginning with a sunrise scene, continuing displaying how many people are up there wondering why they made themselves climb the rock and ending with a display of the devastating effects altitude can have on Skaningar (half Danish people from the south of Sweden). That is too big to put up here though.
Tomo practicing his Marlboro man pose while Aki opts for the traditional Japanese V.
Plane to Fukuoka. Shinkansen to Nagoya from Fukuoka and to Shinagawa a couple of times as well as one Kodama to Mishima. Not so bad. Maybe have to rename the blog.
Last time I had a chance to see Mt. Fuji up close from Shin Fuji the mountain managed to hide, but last weekend it had nowhere to run. Together with seven Tokyoites I went there, walked to the top and down again. The result, severe sunburn and hurting legs. But it was a lot of fun. We hiked from the base camp at 1800 meters up to 3200 meters during the first day and spent a couple of hours sleeping in a cabin, then got up at 01.00 for the last stage. Amazing how the last climb had a long queue at 02.00 in the morning. Lots of people wanting to see a rather disappointing sunrise. Actually only five of us really watched it. Three of us got hit with altitude sickness and slept it away. On the number of people on the top I have to say, Only in Japan, kids.
My camera is not really made for taking epic scenery pictures, but I took a couple of shots, and a video showing what it is like on the top of Fuji 05.30 at weekends during busy season, beginning with a sunrise scene, continuing displaying how many people are up there wondering why they made themselves climb the rock and ending with a display of the devastating effects altitude can have on Skaningar (half Danish people from the south of Sweden). That is too big to put up here though.
The female part of the group believes in the importance of stretching. They are right, in principle.
Tomo practicing his Marlboro man pose while Aki opts for the traditional Japanese V.
Into the clouds. This was the last we saw of the color green.
Fuji is a beautiful mountain because it is smooth and symmetric. Well, when you are on it it is kind of hard to notice this. Instead we got treated to this moon-like lava landscape. Hard to complain about the view though.
As any volcano, of course Fuji has a crater. A rather symmetrical one actually. This Is Tomo and Naoto standing pretty close to the edge with the sun acting as spotlight.
Two shots of the sunrise. The first one is better by far.
And the gang of eight. In back-row: Walking stick with Japanese flag (battle-flag), Tomo, Petter, Yours truly and Naoto. And in front Aya, Miwa, Aoi and Aki.
Highlights of the climb were:
Me and Petter joking around and greeting people we meet in Swedish, only to get a perfect "God dag" (hello in Swedish) back from a Japanese guy. Smash...
Fuji-san's soft gravel the whole way down. Pretty fun sliding in that stuff.
Tiger Balm, the universal medicine for anything. Cured both mine and Tomo's headaches within minutes. Amazing. Also good for practical jokes involving underwear.
Oxygen on a bottle. And since some members mabye overdid it a little bit we also got answer to the natural question if you can get high on the stuff.
The prices for water on the top. One liter - 1000 yen (70 SEK, 7 Euro). Supply and demand.
And of course meeting some great people.
Ok, on to other things. Had a week of vacation, which meant the compulsory vacation cold. Don't know why, but I never fail to catch a cold when on vacation.
Living in Japan is ups and downs. But returning to Nagoya on Wednesday night seeing the neon of the station area as I stepped off the Shinkansen I found myself thinking how beautiful the scene was and how lucky I am for getting the chance to do what I am doing and see the things I get to see. Otherwise project management in a weak matrix organization can be very much an exercise in rolling with the punches and having the ability to get up on the count of nine. But that is what I'm paid for, and it can be very nice when things work out.
Looks like there will be a small class reunion here next weekend. Tomo and Mike (and Bjorn, but he is just hitching a ride and has other plans) is coming from Tokyo. And my former classmate, now colleague, CF is flying in for work. That is almost half of the old class, pretty good turnout.
Ok, until next time don't do anything I wouldn't do!
Highlights of the climb were:
Me and Petter joking around and greeting people we meet in Swedish, only to get a perfect "God dag" (hello in Swedish) back from a Japanese guy. Smash...
Fuji-san's soft gravel the whole way down. Pretty fun sliding in that stuff.
Tiger Balm, the universal medicine for anything. Cured both mine and Tomo's headaches within minutes. Amazing. Also good for practical jokes involving underwear.
Oxygen on a bottle. And since some members mabye overdid it a little bit we also got answer to the natural question if you can get high on the stuff.
The prices for water on the top. One liter - 1000 yen (70 SEK, 7 Euro). Supply and demand.
And of course meeting some great people.
Ok, on to other things. Had a week of vacation, which meant the compulsory vacation cold. Don't know why, but I never fail to catch a cold when on vacation.
Living in Japan is ups and downs. But returning to Nagoya on Wednesday night seeing the neon of the station area as I stepped off the Shinkansen I found myself thinking how beautiful the scene was and how lucky I am for getting the chance to do what I am doing and see the things I get to see. Otherwise project management in a weak matrix organization can be very much an exercise in rolling with the punches and having the ability to get up on the count of nine. But that is what I'm paid for, and it can be very nice when things work out.
Looks like there will be a small class reunion here next weekend. Tomo and Mike (and Bjorn, but he is just hitching a ride and has other plans) is coming from Tokyo. And my former classmate, now colleague, CF is flying in for work. That is almost half of the old class, pretty good turnout.
Ok, until next time don't do anything I wouldn't do!
Saturday, August 05, 2006
And two random pictures from Nagoya
You are looking down Sakura dori from the Fushimi dori intersection, going east.
And going west. JR Nagoya station Tower no. 1 (or no. 2) in the background.Brazilian-style soccer and a new toy
Busy week. I'm getting used to them. Four Nozomi rides and a devastating mid week Karaoke session was what happened this week. Managed to have all three credit/cash cards bounce also because of some weird technical mishap.
Got my first paycheck this week. Because the bank had some issues accepting my business it took a while to get a bank account. Can't blame them really, I would have done the same thing if a foreigner that:
1. Only has a temporary address (which he claims to be moving from shortly)
2. Can only show that he has applied for the foreigner card, not the actual card
3. Do not have a new address to give
would come asking to open an account. With those small issues sorted it was all happy faces.
Getting two months pay plus signing bonus in one payment means that there is now more money than what is healthy in my account. So, what to do? Buy a toy, naturally. The latest addition is a Ipod Nano 4gb with an add on FM transmitter. So now I can harass our sales force with Swedish music when traveling somewhere by car. I have no idea how I have managed to survive without an Ipod...
I have started playing soccer every Sunday. Or well, I went there last Sunday and I plan on going tomorrow. Last Sunday was a three hour kickabout session in 30+ degrees. Drank three liters of fluid and still lost 1 kg (yes, I did weigh myself before going there and after. Why is a good question.). Good mix of people. 30% Japanese 35% Brazilian and the rest people from random parts of Europe with the British iles dominating. Because of this the game was very strange. The Europeans played British style, the Japanese in the characteristic Japanese way and the Brazilians was mainly playing around. Some of those Brazilians can play. I got treated to (or humiliated with) three tunnels and one back-heel flip over my head. Stuff I never ever saw when playing in Sweden. On the other hand the South Americans can hardly be accused of being effective or to have any larger interest in defense.
Without doubt this mix of people for a friendly soccer match exists only in Japan , kids!
Got my first paycheck this week. Because the bank had some issues accepting my business it took a while to get a bank account. Can't blame them really, I would have done the same thing if a foreigner that:
1. Only has a temporary address (which he claims to be moving from shortly)
2. Can only show that he has applied for the foreigner card, not the actual card
3. Do not have a new address to give
would come asking to open an account. With those small issues sorted it was all happy faces.
Getting two months pay plus signing bonus in one payment means that there is now more money than what is healthy in my account. So, what to do? Buy a toy, naturally. The latest addition is a Ipod Nano 4gb with an add on FM transmitter. So now I can harass our sales force with Swedish music when traveling somewhere by car. I have no idea how I have managed to survive without an Ipod...
I have started playing soccer every Sunday. Or well, I went there last Sunday and I plan on going tomorrow. Last Sunday was a three hour kickabout session in 30+ degrees. Drank three liters of fluid and still lost 1 kg (yes, I did weigh myself before going there and after. Why is a good question.). Good mix of people. 30% Japanese 35% Brazilian and the rest people from random parts of Europe with the British iles dominating. Because of this the game was very strange. The Europeans played British style, the Japanese in the characteristic Japanese way and the Brazilians was mainly playing around. Some of those Brazilians can play. I got treated to (or humiliated with) three tunnels and one back-heel flip over my head. Stuff I never ever saw when playing in Sweden. On the other hand the South Americans can hardly be accused of being effective or to have any larger interest in defense.
Without doubt this mix of people for a friendly soccer match exists only in Japan , kids!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Kodama evenings, and close but no Fuji
Here we go again.
For those of you wondering why I'm waste my time writing, and your time reading, this blog check Bjorn's (The one not is Tokyo) explanation on his about page. I could not say it better myself, so why try.
Trains and planes. This time its trains. My home away from home lately is the bullet trains running along the east coast of Japan between Nagoya and Tokyo. The Tokai shinkansen has three types of trains:
The Nozomi super express - This is the Shinkansen bad boy. Why bother to stop at small redneck towns of only 700 000 people? No, lets go straight to Tokyo and make a couple of stops there instead. Indeed a very comfortable ride. Covers the 400 km between Nagoya and Tokyo in around 1 hour 40 minutes.
The Hikari super express - Stops at some of the stations. Which ones differ, so be careful with this one, kids. I've hopped on one of these under the belief that it would take me to Shin-Yokohama, and had to go to Shinagawa instead. Local trains back are not very time efficient...
The Kodama super express - How they can call this "super express" is hard to understand. But wikipedia tells us that every shinkansen is called super express. It is every bit as fast as it's siblings above, but has to stop at every single station, often standing there for five minutes while the Hikari and Nozomi blows past at 270 km/h. Depending on where you are going, sometimes you have to degrade yourself and take one of these. Going to Tokyo will add one hour to your trip compared to the Nozomi, and the price is the same. The good point is that you get the chance to see the Nozomi zoom past the platform you are at. Very impressive. The sound, the wind, the fact that 15 cars just went past you in under a second.
Most of the time the Shinkansen is filled with salari-men, or business people in plain English. In the morning they sleep, during the day they tend to either sleep or use their laptop, and in the evenings they drink beer and sleep. Becoming more and more of one myself (not voluntarily), I've been starting to pick up on this pattern. The beer is a bit too expensive though.
Was in Shin-Fuji the other day. "On the foothills of Mt. Fuji", as the website of the company I was visiting put it. "Sweet, then I'll get to see good old Fuji-san up close for the first time" - was my initial reaction. Somehow the damn mountain managed to hide though.
Also got a bit of the Japan that most temporary visitors never sees or even hear of. Went out eating with one of our salesmen and a Japanese guy from our US office. After dinner we ended up at one of the many "mama-san" places in Nishiki. Mama-san bars are where the above mentioned salari-men go, and the main reason to why they are sleeping on the morning Hikaris. There are many variants to them, but they are more innocent than the Hostess bars that has a bit more of adult content. These in turn seem to be arranged in a "level" system, and I'm sure you can figure out how these levels are measured. Fascinating stuff, this. Ok, back to the one we went to this time. Mama-san at this place had a thing for eighties rock, so they had a KISS DVD rolling on a screen. The other girl working there was going to NY to study, and then there was this florist that I could not figure out if she was working there or was just friends with Mama-san. But she probably was working. Of course after a while the karaoke set was brought out, and I had to deliver a couple of songs. Since it was all company paid, it was a good time. Still don't know how much three hours at these places are though, will get back to you on that.
Man, it feels like I'm being pulled deeper and deeper into this salari-man existence. Scary.
What's next? Stay tuned...
Of course I got the "Oh, you are really good at Japanese", which usually means that your Japanese is really crappy. If you don't get a comment when speaking Japanese you know that you are on the right track. Been starting to get less and less "Oh, very good" lately, which is nice. Now if people only could stop complementing me for using chop-sticks... "Oh, you CAN use chop-sticks! - Yes, and I'm sure that you know how to use a fork". It's the curse of being non -Asian in Japan. Could have been worse though...
For those of you wondering why I'm waste my time writing, and your time reading, this blog check Bjorn's (The one not is Tokyo) explanation on his about page. I could not say it better myself, so why try.
Trains and planes. This time its trains. My home away from home lately is the bullet trains running along the east coast of Japan between Nagoya and Tokyo. The Tokai shinkansen has three types of trains:
The Nozomi super express - This is the Shinkansen bad boy. Why bother to stop at small redneck towns of only 700 000 people? No, lets go straight to Tokyo and make a couple of stops there instead. Indeed a very comfortable ride. Covers the 400 km between Nagoya and Tokyo in around 1 hour 40 minutes.
The Hikari super express - Stops at some of the stations. Which ones differ, so be careful with this one, kids. I've hopped on one of these under the belief that it would take me to Shin-Yokohama, and had to go to Shinagawa instead. Local trains back are not very time efficient...
The Kodama super express - How they can call this "super express" is hard to understand. But wikipedia tells us that every shinkansen is called super express. It is every bit as fast as it's siblings above, but has to stop at every single station, often standing there for five minutes while the Hikari and Nozomi blows past at 270 km/h. Depending on where you are going, sometimes you have to degrade yourself and take one of these. Going to Tokyo will add one hour to your trip compared to the Nozomi, and the price is the same. The good point is that you get the chance to see the Nozomi zoom past the platform you are at. Very impressive. The sound, the wind, the fact that 15 cars just went past you in under a second.
Most of the time the Shinkansen is filled with salari-men, or business people in plain English. In the morning they sleep, during the day they tend to either sleep or use their laptop, and in the evenings they drink beer and sleep. Becoming more and more of one myself (not voluntarily), I've been starting to pick up on this pattern. The beer is a bit too expensive though.
Was in Shin-Fuji the other day. "On the foothills of Mt. Fuji", as the website of the company I was visiting put it. "Sweet, then I'll get to see good old Fuji-san up close for the first time" - was my initial reaction. Somehow the damn mountain managed to hide though.
Also got a bit of the Japan that most temporary visitors never sees or even hear of. Went out eating with one of our salesmen and a Japanese guy from our US office. After dinner we ended up at one of the many "mama-san" places in Nishiki. Mama-san bars are where the above mentioned salari-men go, and the main reason to why they are sleeping on the morning Hikaris. There are many variants to them, but they are more innocent than the Hostess bars that has a bit more of adult content. These in turn seem to be arranged in a "level" system, and I'm sure you can figure out how these levels are measured. Fascinating stuff, this. Ok, back to the one we went to this time. Mama-san at this place had a thing for eighties rock, so they had a KISS DVD rolling on a screen. The other girl working there was going to NY to study, and then there was this florist that I could not figure out if she was working there or was just friends with Mama-san. But she probably was working. Of course after a while the karaoke set was brought out, and I had to deliver a couple of songs. Since it was all company paid, it was a good time. Still don't know how much three hours at these places are though, will get back to you on that.
Man, it feels like I'm being pulled deeper and deeper into this salari-man existence. Scary.
What's next? Stay tuned...
Of course I got the "Oh, you are really good at Japanese", which usually means that your Japanese is really crappy. If you don't get a comment when speaking Japanese you know that you are on the right track. Been starting to get less and less "Oh, very good" lately, which is nice. Now if people only could stop complementing me for using chop-sticks... "Oh, you CAN use chop-sticks! - Yes, and I'm sure that you know how to use a fork". It's the curse of being non -Asian in Japan. Could have been worse though...
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Beginning
Well, better start this off. Judging from the comments there are people anxious to see what is going on in Nagoya.
So, what is this blog about? It will most likely be your run of the mill "expat writing about what he is up to"-blog. Maybe it will give some insights into how Japan works and what Nagoya is like, maybe not. Maybe the updates will be short and frequent, maybe they won't. Stay tuned to find out. What you won't get too much of is inside info on the Japanese car industry. Expect the occasional comment on Japanese business practice and project management though.
I've been here for almost six weeks now. It's taken that long to actually get settled in. Now, with an apartment in place and most off the paperwork taken care of it is time to actually start living. The temporary apartment I was set up in was comfortable, hotel life for six weeks. Sounds sweet, but it soon gets to be like being stuck in limbo.
Can't really comment on Nagoya yet, since I've mainly seen my office and other cities so far. But it seems to have everything a city should have. Living 15 minutes by foot from the city center means two things. First - Lots of stuff to do at very convenient distances. Second - no malls or grocery stores close by. The last one has been a major pain trying to set up an apartment without having a car to transport stuff. Big advantages, small problems. Could not live in a better place. Less than half price to anything comparable in the big city to the east also. Sweet.
Some of my friends in Tokyo seem to spend most of their time at baseball games. Lucky bastards. I haven't had the time do indulge in my newly found interest for the game yet, and now it seems that work might come in the way of the epic Dragons-Hanshin game in August. Also need to find a driving range ASAP.
Was working a trade fair in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago. The main difference from a Swedish fair was the girls.
Did they have uniforms that revealed quite a lot of skin - Yes
Did they know anything about the products they were promoting - No
Was there any reason for them being there - No
Did them being there make my work-days more pleasant - Yes
And by the way, this was a trade fair for machine tools. Not cars, not cosmetics, nothing even close to consumer goods but rather for the type of products that one maybe is least likely to associate with lightly dressed girls. If it is a good strategy or not I don't know. I do know that I got quite a few e-mails promoting industrial humidifiers and storage systems after the fair, things I have neither a personal nor a business interest in.
Perhaps not only in Japan , kids - but still.
So, what is this blog about? It will most likely be your run of the mill "expat writing about what he is up to"-blog. Maybe it will give some insights into how Japan works and what Nagoya is like, maybe not. Maybe the updates will be short and frequent, maybe they won't. Stay tuned to find out. What you won't get too much of is inside info on the Japanese car industry. Expect the occasional comment on Japanese business practice and project management though.
I've been here for almost six weeks now. It's taken that long to actually get settled in. Now, with an apartment in place and most off the paperwork taken care of it is time to actually start living. The temporary apartment I was set up in was comfortable, hotel life for six weeks. Sounds sweet, but it soon gets to be like being stuck in limbo.
Can't really comment on Nagoya yet, since I've mainly seen my office and other cities so far. But it seems to have everything a city should have. Living 15 minutes by foot from the city center means two things. First - Lots of stuff to do at very convenient distances. Second - no malls or grocery stores close by. The last one has been a major pain trying to set up an apartment without having a car to transport stuff. Big advantages, small problems. Could not live in a better place. Less than half price to anything comparable in the big city to the east also. Sweet.
Some of my friends in Tokyo seem to spend most of their time at baseball games. Lucky bastards. I haven't had the time do indulge in my newly found interest for the game yet, and now it seems that work might come in the way of the epic Dragons-Hanshin game in August. Also need to find a driving range ASAP.
Was working a trade fair in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago. The main difference from a Swedish fair was the girls.
Did they have uniforms that revealed quite a lot of skin - Yes
Did they know anything about the products they were promoting - No
Was there any reason for them being there - No
Did them being there make my work-days more pleasant - Yes
And by the way, this was a trade fair for machine tools. Not cars, not cosmetics, nothing even close to consumer goods but rather for the type of products that one maybe is least likely to associate with lightly dressed girls. If it is a good strategy or not I don't know. I do know that I got quite a few e-mails promoting industrial humidifiers and storage systems after the fair, things I have neither a personal nor a business interest in.
Perhaps not only in Japan , kids - but still.
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