When I was a young engineer, because of my go-getter and self-driven attitude and character, I was tasked to audit and help solve the quality problem of one of our material suppliers...fearless and determined as I am, I jumped at the opportunity to travel and to have an accomplishment added in my performance appraisal - the problem is, it is in Japan.
Note that during those days,to say that there is a communication problem with Japanese suppliers could be considered an understatement. At that time, English speaking Japanese is as rare as the rarest gem, and if there is any, the heavy accent would still leave us guessing. Japanese companies hire interpreters usually foreigners who got residency in Japan and learned the language to communicate with their international customers and you'll be lucky if he or she is technical, which in most cases they are not. You see, the problem if the interpreter is not technical, the translation sometimes is not exact....and so it adds further to the confusion.
I already expected this task to be difficult due to the language issue . I've had several telecoms with them wherein a typical 30 minute conference call would take almost 2 hours and yet we could not complete the list in the agenda. This is the reason why I was asked to fly there and meet them in person, hoping it will dissolve the communication issue. But there is also another issue- that I am a woman- during that time, they regard
women as second class citizen so going there and giving them directions
and demanding improvements will be faced with resistance for sure. I have to prove to them that I am as tough and smart or even more as men to go around that culture. Actually, I think my bosses expected me to wave my magic wand and solve the problem.
Too engrossed and focused with the objective and the purpose of the visit, I have missed a few things only to find them out when I was there and this is the main subject of my story. Looking back, I am amused by these experiences but it was not at all when it happened...I was actually terrified.
I was not alone in this trip. A more senior engineer came along with me and being his junior I assumed and expected him to take care of the other details of the trip...like ensuring that we get to our destination and other things....that's the problem with assuming coz it made an ass of, well, him and me.
As we boarded the plane, it seemed like things are in order...it's going to be just an easy, enjoyable trip. We were to arrive in the evening so I thought I would immediately take a rest after we have dinner to prepare for the next morning's meeting. Although the guy with me was more senior, I was going to lead in the quality discussions (as they say, women are more meticulous and attentive to details), so I must prep myself for that meeting.
When we disembarked at Narita airport, I was met by the first surprise of the evening. It was freaking cold. It was mid October....nobody told me that it's going to be freezing cold at this time of the year, my companion looks like he didn't know also as he too was shivering under his cotton polo. Funny, but I did not see the other passengers dressed in layers too, maybe we were just not acclimatized or maybe their clothes were made of wool, maybe, I just can't be sure, I was just too focused to channel all my energy to keep me warm or else I would succumb to hypothermia and to project an expression that says "yeah, everything's fine, I'm okay...and I am not stupid for wearing a tank top...hello! I can handle the cold." At least I had a polo in my carry on bag which didn't actually help much. Good thing distressed shorts were not yet in fashion at that time, or else I would have worn such instead of a denim pants...good Lord, thank you.
We were inside the building already, so I asked my companion.." so where do we go now" and he replied "well the supplier's interpreter (who happens to be American) told me to take the train to Shinjuku and from there take another train to Chino City, Nagano Prefecture"...well sounds pretty simple to me. "Ok, where's the train". That's the second surprise...to find the train in a place where all signages were in Japanese texts/characters. In those times, there were totally no English versions of the signs, posts, directions, if not for the picture, you'd not know where the toilet is. We were lost, but the airport is not a very big place to be lost, we eventually found the train ticket station. Since we wasted so much time looking around, we missed the schedule of the train where we were supposed to take in order for someone in Shinjuku to meet us up there and accompany us for the onward journey. And another problem was that the next schedule trip was already fully booked as the ticket attendant said (well good thing he could speak a little English).. "No more seats, standing only"...Learning of the situation, my companion and I were assessing whether we should take that trip or wait for the next schedule that is open as we fear it might be a long trip from airport to Shinjuku- imagine standing the entire trip. As we were discussing, the ticket attendant suddenly started to count down, " 10, 9, 8, 7 the train leave, 6, 5"...and so before he could complete the countdown we stopped him and said we'll take it and bought our tickets and rushed down the escalator dragging my heavy bag (I could not afford that time the fancy suitcases with wheels) to the basement railway.
We were just on time...as we reached the tracks, the train was approaching....but what the heck! The cars were empty...how could he ( the ticket attendant) tell us its full. We boarded the train, we were in the first car...and I sat of course, why would I stand when the seats were empty...we were fooled, I thought to myself. But not for too long, instead I found out I was the fool...as you know trains in the Philippines is first come first served. I never knew there was such a thing as reserved seats whether you get in from the first station or the second to the last station. And so I realized I was sitting on someone else's when the people boarded at the next station, there I got the STARE. What else to do but stand and give the seat of course. I was too confused to be embarrassed at that time, now I am.
It was a blessing that the train was super fast that we reached in a jiffy. At Shinjuku I was overwhelmed by the sight, it was so surreal for me, it was like I went inside the TV - of a Japanese show...it was so different, so compact, and sea of people rushing in and out. And don't forget that we were still freezing cold, holding back the shivers in our spines and the clattering of our teeth. I was amazed by the street cleaner- so well dressed in a suit...can you imagine that, my boss don't even wear a suit to work. And of course I realized later on that these coats are just ordinary typical clothes there owing to the weather-duh.
At Shinjuku- "what next" I asked my companion. Take note that since we missed the schedule that supposedly there's someone (the American interpreter) to meet us up was no longer there so we have to get to Chino City on our own. He took out a piece of paper bearing the address of our destination (this was written in English of course). It was not difficult to find the ticket booth as we just followed the flow of the sea of people. We queued, very long queue, everyone rushing...finally our turn. With my take charge attitude, I talked to the attendant...my rapid fire English took him by surprise and so I tried to make a broken English talk...but still he was dazed and confused. So my companion tried his way of broken English maybe it will work as it did with the airport ticket attendant...still, he was responding back in Japanese which of course we have no idea what he's been saying..my companion showed the paper with the address. Still Japanese words fly back at us with all gestures we could only comprehend that he does not understand...and so this was the next surprise of the evening...Even if we know where we're going and that we have written it on paper, if we don't pronounce it right and the writing is in English alphabet, we'll still be lost. As we tried our best to describe to the attendant our destination, the people behind were getting agitated and annoyed by the delay...But the heavens was good to us. He sent and angel...way back in the line behind us was a Filipino (works as entertainer there) who overheard us and came to our rescue. He helped us get the right ticket, we said our hellos and thank yous and then off we went. Thinking we can relax already as we're almost there.
We were holding our prized tickets firmly with trembling hands(the cold is almost becoming unbearable) but with a relieved grin on our faces as we proceeded to the tracks. But oh my god, the next dilemma...there were so many, many tracks...which one is ours to take? And so we started to ask people. First a young beautiful girl, a student, she just smiled and went away, then a yuppie still just a bow, a nod and head swaying left to right...ok, there must be someone who can speak English and where is that Filipino again? we just mumbled to ourself our frustration. There was one who seemed to understand that we were lost and gestured to see the ticket...so our hearts almost jumped for joy as we give him one of the tickets and then he read the ticket to us, he read in JAPANESE...oh our heart sank again.
But with luck on our side, our gut feel saved us...you know what we did? we looked at the characters in our ticket closely and tried to match it with the different signages of the tracks...good thing we didn't have to go thru all and we found the match..and with some prayer, we found our way...we survived the cold and we reached Chino City. We took a taxi and got to our hotel which is if I remember it right, it had Heaven in it's name.
Because of this experience, I vowed to myself to never go back to Japan...but nah! I was lying, how could I not....my host were so kind, understanding, supportive. We accomplished our objectives and the CEO gave me a boxful of red roses with very, very long stems upon our departure back to Philippines.
On my second trip to Japan it was more enjoyable as there were already English signages, I already had the fancy suitcases with wheels and our host came to the Narita airport to pick us up- He was an English speaking local (Japanese).
