ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

Deciding what to give someone for a present shouldn’t feel like a life or death situation. But this challenge can be overcome, and even enjoyed, by remembering that presents are just a booster

One day, I received a present from my younger sister. Usually, I love presents, but when I looked at her present, I noticed that it was a bottle. A bottle of skin conditioner. For the men in the audience, skin conditioner is a kind of cream. A cream for fixing…wrinkles around your eyes. On top of that, when she handed it to me, she said, “Please take care of your skin condition!”

I was so shocked! As soon as I received that wrinkle cream from her, I started worrying about my wrinkles. And now, I massage my face every day! Do you really think that is the kind of reaction that my sister had in mind when she gave me a present?

I think that the best presents should be boosters! My dictionary says that the meaning of “booster” is: “something that helps someone be more confident or less worried.” Well, let’s look at this situation a little more carefully.

When you want to say “thank you” to a friend, of course you could just say “thank you,” directly with words. Since you have a good relationship with your friend, expressing your thanks in words is a positive, and easy thing to do. However, some situations in life are not so simple.

For example, when your female friend has to move out to another city because she is getting married. You’ve got mixed feelings. You are both happy, and sad, at the same time. You want to congratulate her on her marriage! But naturally, you will miss her a lot too! So how should you express your feelings to her? Communicating a complex message to someone indirectly is a big challenge.

Actually, people have a tendency to take everything too seriously when they give someone a present. Also, they often are afraid that their presents won’t be appreciated. In other words, deciding what to give someone for a present shouldn’t feel like a life or death situation. It’s all in your head! But this challenge can be overcome, and even enjoyed, by remembering that presents should just be a booster. It isn’t the most important thing. That’s right! Your message itself has top priority! And, when you combine your message with a thoughtful present, you can communicate your message more effectively.

What’s more, when your message is incorporated into the present itself, your message can remain in the mind of the receiver for a longer period of time. That’s because they can see your present often after receiving it, and when they see it, they can remember the situation and feeling when they received it.

Well, how can we enjoy giving a present to someone, and how can we make sure that they’ll also enjoy our present? You still remember my wrinkle cream nightmare, right? Let me give you two more examples of presents I’ve received in the past.

One day, I received a box of golf balls from my German business partner. Just was just a gift, there was no special occasion. Probably he just wanted to talk about golf using the golf balls as a trigger. But honestly, I’m not interested in golf at all. So, when I received the golf balls, which I really didn’t want, I said, “Thank you for your present. It must have been difficult to carry this heavy box of golf balls all the way here to Japan from Germany.” As soon as I said that, there was an long and awkward silence between us…

Did my German associate intend for his own gift to backfire? Of course not! But from my point of view, his “gift” of golf balls seemed to be a gift mostly for himself, so that he could talk about golf, his hobby, with me. So in the end, was his gift generous, or simply selfish? Anyway, I didn’t feel good about it, and that caused me to have mixed feelings, and make an awkward commend. And that means that his message wasn’t clearly communicated.

Now let’s look at an ideal example of a good present. When I moved out of my family home and started living on my own, my mother gave me a red quilt that she made by hand. What was the meaning behind this gift? My mother probably wanted to encourage me, and at the same time tell me that she would miss me. In other words, it helped her to express her very complex emotions.

When I received her gift, I understood just how much she had been thinking about me. She had designed and made this red quilt. I am sure she put a lot of time, and even more love, into it. Now, every time I see her red quilt, or even think about it, I feel really encouraged. It is by far my favorite present that I have ever received.

I’m sure everyone here has their own story about giving and receiving presents!

Next, let’s think about the process of giving a present. It can be divided into two parts. The first part is selecting a present. And the second part is actually giving the present to the receiver. Let’s examine both parts in some detail.

The first part, selecting, consists of three steps. The first step is to clarify  your message. What exactly do you want to say? The second step is to think carefully  about the image of the person who will receive your message. Here it’s important to think carefully, and consider many different aspects of the receiver.

For example, you should think about the receiver’s hobbies, style, dreams, daily life, desires, interests, etc. Anything is OK, as long as you think carefully about their image.

Third step is to connect the receiver’s image with your message. However, don’t take this step too seriously! For example, if the receiver likes reading books, and you want to give them a positive message, you can connect books with some positive color, for example, orange. So, then you can select an orange bookmarker for the receiver.

Additionally, if you wish to avoid confusing the receiver, I advise you to select something funny, or surprising. When the receiver opens your present, the receiver should feel some pleasantly unexpected emotion. This is one way to measure the success of a present. Something funny or something that gives a nice surprise always has a positive effect. OK!

So selecting a present has three steps: clarifying, thinking carefully about their image, and connecting the image to the gift, and optionally, adding something surprising. If you follow these three steps, you will feel confident that the present you’ve selected is good.

But what about the next part, actually giving your present to someone? Giving your present to someone is simple. Just give your present to them  and share your story. What is your story? Well, you should directly talk about the selection processes, and then tell them your special message!

So, by carefully selecting, and giving your present in the right way, your present will always be perfect. I want everyone here to try and start using presents as boosters from tomorrow! Please try to follow my suggestions on Father’s day, or on your friend’s next birthday, or at a welcome  party for someone!

They’ll never forget it! Remember, the best presents are boosters!

===

Mayflower英語教室

週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

I love the railroad, because my father was a train conductor at JR West in Osaka. So when I was a boy, I sometimes got on the train my father was driving. It was so exciting for me.

I work at a chemical company as a powder and liquid chemical products salesman. I’m here at Mayflower to improve my English, because most of my company’s products are imported from Europe, mainly, so I have to use English on the job.

Also I have another important reason for being here at Mayflower. My wife is back at her parents’ home in Hirosaki City, Aomori for a short stay. So I am enjoying single life these days, and studying English. When the cats away, the mice will play!

I love the railroad, because my father was a train conductor at JR West in Osaka. So when I was a boy, I sometimes got on the train my father was driving. It was so exciting for me. I especially liked the “blue train” when I was a boy. I think the term “blue train” is Japanese English. So to be exact, it means an overnight sleeper train, with a locomotive leading 10 to 15 blue colored passenger cars.

Around 1980, there was a blue train boom throughout Japan. Early on Sunday mornings, many children gathered in Tokyo’s Ueno station, and Osaka station, to take pictures of the blue train. I was one of these children — known as 「鉄ちゃん」. Around that time, at the peak of the blue train boom, there were about 30 blue trains, leaving Tokyo, and Osaka, bound for Kyusyu, and the Tohoku region of Japan. It was a paradise for kids like me!

ブルートレイン「はやぶさ・富士」

However, these blue trains have already become obsolete. Yes, they are now too old, and are being phased out. Many of them have disappeared. Now there are only 3 blue trains still running in Japan. It is said that there are 2 reasons for this change during the past 30 years:  The first reason is the development of airline and shinkansen networks. The second reason is the appearance of many affordable business hotels in local areas. This has lead to a price collapse, naturally.

30 years ago, when businessmen when to Kyushyu, for example, they usually boarded the last blue train departing from Tokyo station. And they would arrive at Kyusyu next early the next morning. At that time, people affectionately called the blue train a “moving hotel”.  Today of course, businessmen use airlines for business travel. That means they can depart for their destination, and return, in a single day. Or if they want to get a decent rest before their business, they’ll arrive the night before by air, and stay at reasonable business hotel. And all of this is the same price, or cheaper, than blue trains. Now blue trains are almost a thing of the past. It’s a sad but true fact for me, a railroad fan.

By the way, at the beginning of my speech, I said that my wife was back at her parents’ home in Hirosaki City, Aomori, for a short stay. Well, that’s because she’s pregnant! Well, actually just a few days ago, she gave birth to our daughter, our second child! Yes! Isn’t it wonderful!?! And so I will go to Aomori tonight to see my baby. Of course, I’ll take a blue train: the “Akebono” from Ueno to Aomori.

This trip will be a bittersweet memory for me, because it is said that even the “Akebono” will be put out of service end of  this year, since the Tohoku Shinkansen line will be extended from  Hachinohe to Aomori.

So, this will probably be my last chance in my life to get on a blue train! A L L  A B O A R D !!!

===
Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

The staff listened sincerely to their customers’ complains, and solved all of the problems in one single night with their blood, sweat, and tears.

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===

Toyota, you are in big trouble! But are you really listening?

This story has recently been all over the news, in every country. Since the end of last year, Toyota, a major Japanese automobile company, has been desperately trying to deal with an incredibly huge car recall problem. They sold millions of defective, dangerous cars, and now, the world is watching to see exactly what they will do to solve the problem. Can they save their company’s damaged image? Tonight, by sharing a story, I’d like focus on how we, as individuals, or as members of groups, or companies, can respond to complaints in a positive way.

About 50 years ago, in Fukuoka, it wasn’t unusual to see men wearing red caps. But this wasn’t just for fashion. These red caps had a very special meaning! A top-level executive from a Japanese automobile company was visiting Kyusyu prefecture on business. One morning, by chance, he came across a man who was wearing a red cap. That cap happened to be part of his company’s uniform. So since it was around 9:30AM, the executive naturally assumed that the man with the red cap was a worker from his company who was doing some shopping before going home after being out all night.

The executive introduced himself, and asked to the man to do him a favor, and give him some directions. The man in the red cap kindly agreed, and showed him around. Later, the executive heard at one of the branches of his company that the red cap the man was wearing had been distributed to customers who purchased a popular model car from his company. So, the man with the red cap was not an employee after all! He was actually a customer! The executive puzzled over why customers were so willing to wear the red caps from the company uniform. He finally found out why, and the reason is fascinating.

Just after establishing a sales branch in Fukuoka, the car that the company was doing the most promotion for at that time had a lot of mechanical problems. How bad was it? It was really bad. The company was in big trouble. For example, there was one customer who was so upset that he brought back a brand new car that was defective. He threatened to put it on display it in front of the sales branch with a “for sale” sign, and a price of only 50,000 yen. Can you imagine? So indeed, the staff at the sales branch was suffering extraordinary hardships.

In the middle of all of this, the branch decided to implement, as an emergency measure, an overnight driving trip with about 40 of its customers. After their trip, the unhappy customers frankly discussed what they were thinking and feeling with representatives from the company over drinks. The customers were totally disgusted, and they let the men from the company know it! They discussed in detail what was wrong their vehicles. And they said that it was a disgrace for the company to have sold them such bad vehicles. It was a very embarrassing situation. But the men from company swallowed their pride, and opened up their ears.

The next morning, customers left the inn and walked over to their vehicles. You’ll never guess what they found. First, their cars had been washed! And when they started up their engines, they found that the all of the mechanical problems, which they were complaining about the night before, had been fixed. Their engines were purring smoothly.

What on earth had happened? I’ll just say that the representatives from the automobile branch had red eyes that morning, and that speaks to their tireless work all through the night. When the dead-tired automobile branch staff greeted their surprised customers that morning, the customers just stared at each other, amazed.

One of the customers finally spoke up: “We’re all speechless. To commemorate this wonderful day, we would like to help come up with some solutions that will support the success of this branch.”

And the customers did think of a wonderful idea! This is the reason why around 50 years ago in Fukuoka, men who were not automobile company employees, but rather, loyal customers, could be seen wearing red caps around the city. These customers with red caps introduced new customers one after another to the automobile branch, and because of this, the branch rapidly expanded its base of customers.

What do you think of this story? Is it too old-fashioned to happen in the 21^st century? Is it just a stereotypical Japanese story, heartwarming, but impossible in foreign countries? Are there any lessons that we can learn from this story that we can apply in this day and age?

Well, it is obvious from this story that in order to reach the heart of a customer who feels betrayed, compensation money, regardless of the amount, and a heartless apology add in a newspaper, are totally useless. That’s what Toyota has tried so far, and it isn’t working. So what did the automobile company in Kyushu do right 50 years ago?

It’s simple, really. The staff listened sincerely to their customers’ complains, and solved all of the problems in one single night with their blood, sweat, and tears. It must have been terribly hard, but they did it! In other words, they listened carefully, and took an earnest action to solve the problem. This shows that they company understood the fundamental human emotions of their customers, which are universal. Because they listened and reacted in this way, their trouble turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Listen – sincerely – and – react – with – sweat!!!

Toyota, are you really listening?

===
Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

At MPP10, Mayflower’s 2nd Educational Debate Match was held (the 1st was held at MPP7, in Dec. 2009). The resolution was: “The Nobel Peace Prize Comittee should NOT have given the Nobel Peace Prize to American President Obama.” The Negative Side, Ryu’s Sat. Debate class consisting of Eri, Tomomi, and Setsuko, soundly defeated the Affirmative Side, Ted’s Class, consisting of Ikuko, Ei-ichi, and Aska.

Robert presided over the match as “issues judge”. The official Mayflower Judge’s Report, analyzing the match, and detailing the reasoning behind the decision, is available by email request [robert at msoe dot jp].

The next debate match will be held at MPP13, to be held Aug. 14th, (Sat.) at Mayflower. The resolution will be: “Japan should follow Norway’s initiative requiring companies to fill  40% of corporate board seats with women.“

===

Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

At MPP10, members from Ryu’s Sat. SynCom Seminar Class, Hiroko, Masa, and Kim, gave us a demonstration of the challenging “No-No” Game. The object of the game is to be able to say “no” to someone in conversation, insist on your opinion, and convince them to go along with what you want. It seems like a useful skill!

===

Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

CONSUELO: Then … you were only playing? HE … I’m so sorry. Why did you play so seriously that I believed you? Here, then.

HE: You are a queen, and I am the fool who is in love with you. Didn’t you know, Consuelo, that every queen has a fool, and he is always in love with her?

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===

At MPP10, Masa-chan and Miho gave a stellar performance of a scene from “He Who Gets Slapped”, a drama by Andreyev, (adapted by Walter Wykes).

Synopsis: Here we see a man of high education, of great intellectual achievement, who leaves life, willingly in appearance, but forcibly in fact.

The relations of man to man, of group to group, according to Andreyev are such that the Man is forced to efface himself. Even Thought, or the Book, could not help the Man to become a God. He becomes a clown. He performs stunts, he gets slaps; the public laughs, being unaware that this laughter is a mockery at itself, at its culture, at its thought, at its achievement.

The characters of this play are depicted with a bitter sarcasm and unfriendliness, for Andreyev seems to have lost his last faith in the Man. The good, the innocent and clean heart is bound to suffer and die. His Consuelo, Zinida, Bezano are only stray rays of light out of place in the world and even in the world-circus which is full of spiders, champagne, and human outcasts.

Andreyev does not blame these outcasts. On the contrary, he feels sympathy, if for anybody, for just these clowns, jugglers, and bareback riders; but life, this strange combination of fate, accident, and cowardly slander, is stronger, and they collapse under the burden of this combination.

He Who Gets Slapped is the best work of Andreyev, at any rate his best dramatic work. It is more adapted to stage conditions than his previous plays and is not overcrowded with symbolic ghosts. Furthermore, the play is a remarkable summary of Andreyev’s philosophy.

HE: Don’t laugh at the stars, Consuelo. They’re far away, their rays are pale, we can barely see their sleeping shadows, but their sorcery is stern and dark.

CONSUELO: Of course. I don’t love him. But I’ll be his honest, faithful wife. What else am I going to do—work in the circus all my life?

===

Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

I'm an optimistic person, but after that encounter with this negative person, I actually thought about quitting my gaijin hunting hobby.

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===

I’d like for everyone to close their eyes for a moment, and imagine that you’ve got a glass of water in your hand; half a glass of water.

Now, do you see it as being half empty, or half full? This is a common psychological test to see if someone is an optimist or a pessimist.

OK, you can open your eyes now!

In other words, is someone always hopeful, always believing that good things will happen to them, or do they always expect that bad things will happen to them. Yes, optimists focus on the full part of the glass, while pessimists look at the empty part of it.
Let’s use a different example! Let’s say your company is now restructuring. Many of your coworkers are getting laid off. You’ve managed to remain on the company’s payroll, but your salary is three times smaller. Now if you’re a person who sees the glass as half empty, a pessimist, you’ll say something like: “unfortunately, my salary is three times smaller.”

Or, on the other hand, if you’re a person who sees the glass as half full, an optimist, you’ll say something like: “Thank God that I’ve still got my job!”

Recently, I ran into a pessimistic person. One of my hobbies is gaijin hunting. Yes that’s right: gaijin hunting! It was St. Patrick’s Day, so I went to an Irish Pub in Ikebukuro. After I bought a cocktail, I looked for an available seat next to a foreigner.

One British guy, who was sitting with an Italian guy, asked me: ”What are you looking for?” I replied, “Nothing, but may I join you?” He said “OK.”

We started to talk together. The British guy had a lot of complaints about Japan, and the Japanese. He told us something that happened to him that day: He said: I wanted to buy some cigarettes today, but I didn’t have a Taspo. So I asked some Japanese to borrow theirs. I asked them ‘may I use your Taspo’ in Japanese, but nobody let me borrow it. Why are the Japanese so unkind, unfriendly, and stingy?

He was really using a lot of negative words. So I told him: The problem is that Japanese are simply not used to talking to foreigners. But he said: That’s no excuse!

We continued to talk, and I tried my best to help him see the good points about Japan, but when that didn’t work, I tried to change the subject.
However, he continued to complain a lot. I’m an optimistic person, but after that encounter with this negative person, I actually thought about quitting my gaijin hunting hobby.

On the other hand, I know another guy who is a super optimistic person. He went to China by himself as a backpacker. His bag, including his money, was stolen. However, he said that he was a lucky man, because he had his passport and some small change in his pocket. So it wasn’t a total loss.

When I think about him, I am always smiling and laughing. People like him make me feel good, and because of them, I guess I’ll continue my hobby of gainjin hunting after all.

Basically, happy people make people happy. And making people happy makes me happy. I think begin pessimistic only makes you unhappy and drags down the people around you.

Ask your self this question: Do you want to spend time with a pessimistic person? No, right?!? So how about you? Do you see that glass as half empty or half full?

===
Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

It is very difficult to notice our faults and mistakes. So we should imagine that other people’s faults and mistakes are a mirror image of our own.

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===

There is a proverb by which I try to live my life: “By other’s faults, wise men correct their own.”

This proverb, like all other proverbs, is a short, well-known statement that contains advice about life. “By other’s faults, wise men correct their own.” Like me, many of you have probably heard this saying many times before in Japanese: “人の振り見て我が振り直せ”.

Tonight, I’d like to take a closer look at this important proverb.

Yes, many of us have heard this before, but did we ever stop to think about what it really means?

I think it means that it’s easy for us to find other people’s faults and mistakes. And it’s easy for us to point these out. But it is very, very difficult to notice our faults and mistakes. So we should imagine that other people’s faults and mistakes are a mirror image of our own. If we do this, we will become aware of the same faults and mistakes within ourselves. And then we will be able to correct them within ourselves.

Now it’s easy to see that if we apply this proverb to our own daily lives, we will learn a lot of valuable lessons from other people!

Well, how did I first hear about this proverb? My mother taught it to me when I was a first-year elementary school student. In the beginning, my mother’s proverb had zero impact on me. Of course, I was just a little girl then, so I didn’t understand what it meant.

But my mother didn’t give up. She told me this proverb again and again, almost every day. “Hiroko-chan” my mother would say, “by other’s faults, wise men correct their own.”

I would just say, “OK, mom. I’ll try.” We had the same conversation many, many times.

Well, many years later, after I started working, this proverb finally became meaningful for me!

One day at work I was really hurt by something unkind that one of my co-workers said to me. I felt confused. But suddenly, I remembered what my mother told me when I was a little girl: “By other’s faults, wise men correct their own.”

“OK, mom! I’ll try!”

Yes, my co-worker had said something unkind that hurt me. But, if I just pointed that out to him, nothing else would change. So, I decided that I would imagine his mistake was my own.

I thought about it. Yes, I sometimes made the same mistake! I sometimes said unkind things, but I didn’t know it. I could see his mistake in myself. Then, I became aware that I should always be careful about my language with others.

I wasn’t a little girl who didn’t understand anymore. I was a woman who was using the proverb that my mom taught me! I finally understood!

After that experience, I decided to keep this proverb in mind every day, so that I would constantly improve myself.

This February, I became a student here at Mayflower. I would like to speak English fluently, and enjoy global communication. And yes, every day I am here studying at Mayflower I will keep in mind these words to live by:

“By other’s faults, wise men correct their own.”

===
Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

"Flowers have no borders, no racial lines, and no religious differences. Yes! I believe flower power!"

I’m a flower artist, specializing in floral design. For example, I decorate window displays and in-store spaces at fashion shops, and many kinds of event venues. I also do floral design for advertising, commercial films, and sets for TV programs. For more info, feel free to visit my webpage!

As a flower artist, I also sometimes publish new works of flower art. People often tell me that I don’t look like a flower artist, but actually, my schedule is completely booked solid these days.

How did I get started? I got started with flower art with I was 19 years old. My mother did Japanese traditional flower arrangement – called “ikebana” – and whenever I’d come back home, I’d see her flower art all over the house. So you could say that basically I grew up with flowers. That’s why I took an interest in it!

After that, I started to attend the same flower arrangement class that my mother did, although I never imagined that I’d later became a flower artist. Well, when I started looking for a job, I had a really really difficult time, because I hadn’t given any serious thought to what I wanted to do in the future.

When I finally got around to thinking about what I wanted to do, of course, I considered flower art…But since I was just doing it as a kind of hobby, I never expected that I could turn my hobby, flowers, into a money-making business.

Around the same time, I also had an interest in the media business, so I eventually got a job at an agency that created advertisements. At the agency, I was in charge researching “green business”, making green content and strategy, and CSR activity, for clients.

As demand grew and grew for green business, by work became busier and busier. And actually I also got involved in making an edition of a green magazine, and producing a green TV program. I was so busy with these job-related activities that before I knew it, three years had flown by!

And although I was getting accustomed to that kind of work, I was also getting frustrated with it. The reason why is that I was having difficulty seeing how my work was helping the world. Was I really making a positive global impact? By the way, this kind of frustration is typical in the media business. It’s very hard to measure directly.

Anyway, while I was battling with my frustration at work, I thought back to the time that I was worrying about my future career during my job-hunting days in college. I also remembered my first love, flowers, and how I had considered making that my business before I went into media.

Well, after thinking those thoughts, I realized that I could no longer concentrate on my media work anymore. So I decided to focus on flowers, and making them my business!

Why? Because I thought that if I did that, I would be able to lead a much more fulfilling life, as long as I could just start my own flower business. I didn’t care if it was big or not. Small would be OK! Well, now it has been three years since I started my own flower decorating service.

Kim's work: "Crazy Love for Mother" (2010.05.09)

I’m very satisfied with my work! I’m happy when someone takes pictures in front of my flower decorations, and when they say things like, “Wow great work!!! It’s so beautiful!!!”

From this year, I am planning to some new flower works, a kind of installation and exhibition, in France and Turkey. My idea now is that flowers are a kind of language. Yes. There are flowers all over the world. No matter where they are from, who they are, or what they do, everyone has seen a flower before!

You might even say that flowers have: no borders, no racial lines, and no religious differences. Yes! I believe flower power, and that the art of flowers can be shared and enjoyed just like music, which is often called the universal language.

Of course, even if I think flower that flowers are a kind of universal language, it is important for me to carefully explain each creation of mine: the concept, and also too tell everyone about my philosophy of flower art in English. That is why I am here, as a student at “MayFLOWER”!

I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have!

===
Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
http://msoe.jp/

ありがとう！Thanks for your support!
===

I realized that we Japanese have lots of room for positive improvement and change. Japan will improve in the future if we can adopt a wider view of the world's business culture, and attitude towards English.

Hi, my name’s Tadakazu! Recently, I traveled to some foreign countries. My experiences were so exiting! So tonight, I want to talk about two big differences that I noticed between Japan, and the countries I visited: differences in attitudes towards business culture, and attitudes towards English studies.

But first, why did I go to these foreign countries? Well, I’m an accountant. I always study the account books of companies. Sometimes, there are things that I can’t understand just by studying accounts. So, I have to visit the companies directly. This time, I had to go to Vietnam and Thailand with my client. We went to check his subsidiary companies there. This gave me a chance to observe some important differences in business culture.

We had meetings with the president and the staff about the quality of their work. And we gave them some messages from their parent company. The president was Japanese. We had heard that he always monitored many indexes to control everything. And he said: “In order to control worker’s motivation, it is important to always watch them. If I don’t, they will sometimes be absent without permission.” I heard the same opinion in Thailand.

I thought that it was natural for workers to go to work at the regularly scheduled time. So I was surprised, and I noticed a big difference between their business culture, and Japan’s.

Everyone says that Japanese are too serious. That’s true, to a certain degree. Perhaps being able to struggle with anything in a serious way is one of the strategies of Japanese business culture. But I imagine that “Japanese seriousness” might actually be a bad point in terms of Japan’s business with other countries. Because I realized that it might be difficult for Japanese to continue working seriously in other countries that don’t have the same way of thinking! Anyway, that’s what I thought after seeing the situation in Vietnam and Thailand with my own eyes.

Next I’ll talk about Hong Kong, and the differences that I noticed related to the study of English. I went there with my friend. He is a flower artist, and he once lived Hong Kong for a short time. So he knew many things about Hong Kong, and introduced his favorite spots to me. After we arrived at our hotel, we went to the city to look for good yamu-cha places. While we were walking around, we asked many local people, because we didn’t have a guide book with us.

I was surprised, because everyone in Hong Kong we asked spoke to us kindly, using fluent English. Of course, they could also speak Chinese! So we could enjoy talking with many Hong Kong people.

I heard that the education system in Hong Kong is very strict. Thanks to their hard work, they were able to speak English before they graduated from high school! So many people there thought it was natural to be able to speak English. I wondered if it was because Hong Kong was once a colony of England.

They asked me why Japanese couldn’t speak English, even though they studied from junior high to high school, at least six years. I had no reply!

Anyway, I felt a deep feeling of power and energy from the local people. It was amazing! I also felt that everything in Hong Kong was logical: public organization, business style, and even the restaurant system. So I liked Hong Kong very much.

By the way, a lot of people say that Japanese people are too serious about studying English. They say that Japanese people focus on “correct” English too much. And that even thought English is a standard language all over the world, Japanese don’t focus enough on basic spoken communication. So, I thought that the Japanese people could learn some important English communication ideas from the people of Hong Kong.

Well, my trip was a wonderful opportunity! I realized that we Japanese have lots of room for positive improvement and change. Japan will improve in the future if we can adopt a wider view of the world’s business culture, and attitude towards English.

But let’s not wait any longer. Let’s take action now! First, let’s decide that we’ll “JUST DO IT”! Then, let’s try and spread our message of change to our friends. We HAVE to encourage them! After that, we’ll have a chance to influence people all over the world in business, and in our personal lives.

In fact, we will be A TOTALLY NEW KIND OF Japanese!

This is my dream! And I will work hard to achieve it. That’s why I am here tonight. Because I am looking forward to our future!

Thank you! Do you have any questions?

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Mayflower英語教室

週末は英語漬け!

http://msoe.jp/