During my time abroad in Japan, I was able to learn a lot about conducting business here and engaging with individuals. I learned that respect and formality is a huge thing here with bowing being a common form of greeting and respect. Additionally, I learned how punctuality is highly valued in Japan. During our business meetings, it was very important for us to arrive on time or early since it?s seen as rude to be late. We also had to be careful when receiving business cards by using both hands as a sign of respect, before putting it away carefully and respectfully. After each business meeting, we would present a gift and a thank you card to the speakers for their time since gift-giving is a common practice in Japan, especially in business settings.
My perspective of the world changed somewhat during my time abroad. In Japan, I was able to see how ?normal? is different here as compared to the US. There were many rules we had to follow, in order not to offend them, that were considered normal here such as not walking and eating, standing on one side of the escalator, and not leaving your chopsticks in your bowl. I thought that my initial impressions of Japan were accurate or was what I was expecting. I was worried before coming to Japan that I would have trouble communicating with the locals, but I saw that many of them were able to speak basic English, which was surprising to me. The popular tourist places that we visited looked as what is seen on social media, and the food we tried was so delicious and cheaper as compared to the US. I wish that we were able to spend more time in Japan as I really enjoyed my time here being able to explore around and shop.
