I have arrived in Japan after many hours of flying! My first impression was ?Oh my gosh, this isn?t a dream!? The streets were super busy, with people walking to and from places, very unlike the United States. The locals here use public transportation to get where they need to go and it was hard to adjust to reading Google Maps, because I?ve never had a reason to take the bus back in America. The food here is so amazing and so cheap! You can get ramen here for about 10 USD whereas in America, it?s around 15 USD. I noticed that Japanese people tend to eat more rice, fried meats (katsu), curries, noodles, and sushi. All these foods in America are around $15-$20, which is crazy when looking at the prices here. Another thing that I found different from the US was everyone’s fashion sense here. Everyone tends to wear more baggy clothing than form fitting clothes and they?re usually long enough to cover their legs and arms. I find it difficult to imagine living daily life like this because the weather is pretty hot in the summer, yet they don?t show skin.
As our group walked around to visit the companies, I was already uncomfortable in my long pants and short sleeve polo. We had the opportunity to visit companies like Panasonic, EPAM, and Amazon. The people here are super respectful and conservative in their business strategies, and I found that super interesting. They emphasize respect a lot and some rules that related to showing respect that we needed to make sure we follow were: no dozing off/sleeping whatsoever, don?t show the presenters your yawn; do whatever you can to not show your yawn, have good posture; no leaning back or putting you head in your hands. There is still a week left and I hope to learn so much more about the culture and norms here in Japan, both in the workplace and in daily life!
