Negotiation at the Airport

As of the end of April 2011, I have been in California for a year. At this time last year, I had a lot of things to do.

-       Apply for a Social Security number

-       Open a bank account

-       Find a house for rent

-       Purchase cars for my wife and myself

-       Buy car insurance, health insurance and home insurance

-       Get my driver’s license

-       Set up gas, electricity, water, home phone, cell phone and Internet service

-       Sign up cable TV

-       Buy furniture

To me, even going to a gas station was an adventure at that time. I was exhausted from setting my life.

Nowadays, I am settled. I’m enjoying living in the U.S. However, I still feel uncomfortable about air travel. I don’t like connecting flights because they are often delayed. When a flight is delayed or cancelled, it’s still hard for me to negotiate for an alternative flight or a hotel for an overnight stay. Even though the delay is not my fault, I need to explain the situation to the airline over and over again. I hate that.

Recently, I realized that my way of negotiating was wrong. In the past, when I requested flight change or hotel compensation, I used to explain my situation first and then asked for compensation. I think it was the wrong way of negotiating. Furthermore, I’m not a native English speaker. The airline staff needs to know first what I want. I should request first what I need and then explain my situation.

When a fight is cancelled or delayed in Japan, if I just show my flight number to the staff person at the boarding gate, he/she knows the flight status and offers an alternative proposal without negotiation. The airline culture and the number of available flights are totally different in Japan.

Now, when I need to negotiate something at the airport in the U.S, I give my request first. Since I changed my way of negotiating, the outcome has gotten a huge time-saving.

To me, an air travel is still high adventure. I hope that no schedule changes will happen to my flight. 

Misunderstanding Makes Me a Sharks Fan

As of today, I have been in California for one year! I’m enjoying the life in California. I’ve gone to San Jose Sharks hockey games 5 times this regular season. I’m a big fan of the Sharks. Here is the story of how I became a Sharks fan.

One winter afternoon, one of my colleagues whispered to me, “I have hockey game tickets for tonight. Call your wife and see whether you can go. Okay? ”

I called my wife and told her, “One of my colleagues invited us to the Sharks hockey game tonight. We should go.” She totally agreed, and I told him that my wife was really excited because it would be our first time to go to a hockey game.

Then, he said, “Oh My God! That’s your misunderstanding. I would go with you. I have only 2 tickets for the game tonight.”

Everybody except me knew that he was a big fan of the Sharks. He has season tickets for 2 seats. Everybody longs to get the extra one ticket from him. Since I didn’t know that, I thought that he had 4 tickets, and we would go to the game with his wife. When I discovered my mistake, I declined his invitation, but he gave us both tickets! This is how I became a Sharks fan.

I have another story about a misunderstanding which is related to hockey. My favorite Sharks player is Devin Setoguchi because he is fourth-generation Japanese Canadian. When his name is announced on the ice rink, many people say “Boo.” When I first heard this, I felt bad and couldn’t understand the booing from the spectators. I asked one fan why people booed him. He said, “No, No, No. Everybody is saying Gooch. It’s his nickname.” To me, it sounds like “boo.” Now I know his nickname, and I wear a jersey with his name on it when I go to the game, but I cheer him using his full first name “Setoguchi (瀬戸口in Japanese character).”

Hockey games are awesome. One reason that I became a fan is the music during the game. I love music. In hockey games, music is used to warm up the spectators. I especially like the opening of the game. Once the Jaws theme has played, the players are displayed on a big monitor and they come toward the ice rink. The tension of spectators runs high at this time. Then Metallica's “Seek and Destroy” is played, and the players skate out a statue of a shark’s mouth. The Sharks fans’ cheering reaches a peak!

I bought many sharks clothes, such as jerseys, T-shirts and hoodies for my wife and myself. I also made a deposit on playoffs game tickets and next season’s tickets. Thanks to my colleague’s kindness and my poor English skills, I have spent a lot of money on the San Jose Sharks. I guess I might spend more next season.

Tomorrow, I’ll go the playoff quarter final 5th game!

Hard or Soft?

I would say you can understand culture from priorities. Every culture has different priorities. You can see this in strange places. I discovered this in my luggage.

One day, I went to a luggage store to get luggage to carry on my domestic flight. Since I have hard-sided luggage that I check, I thought that I would buy hard-sided luggage for my carry-on luggage too. In the store, there were only a few models of hard-sided luggage, but there was a large variety of soft-sided luggage. I didn’t get anything that day, but I did start to figure out what kind of luggage is best for my business trips in the U.S. In addition to my trip to the store, I also researched carry-on luggage on the Internet and consulted U.S review websites.

As you know, traditional luggage comes in 2 major types, hard-sided and soft-sided. The former is molded from materials like polypropylene and polycarbonate. The latter can be made out of fabrics such as microfiber, leather, nylon or polyester.

There are a plethora of reviews online. I looked into the advantages and disadvantages of hard-sided and soft-sided luggage and made a table of comparisons. According to the reviews, soft-sided luggage is better than hard-sided luggage due to its versatility.

	Hard-Sided	Soft-Sided
Durability	Good	-
Versatility	-	Good
Weight	Good	Good
Protection for fragile items	Good	-
Stain resistance	Good	-
Packing friendliness	-	Good
Cost	-	Good
Style	Good	Good

A commonly observed opinion is that the benefits of hard-sided luggage are mainly durability factors, such as extreme durability, long-lasting protective structure, stain resistance and waterproofing. On the other hand, soft-sided luggage is seen as packing-friendly and versatile. In terms of drawbacks, I couldn’t find any crucial problems with soft-sided luggage on the Internet, but some reviews pointed out problems with hard-sided luggage. Compared to soft-sided luggage, hard-sided luggage is vulnerable to stress and strain. This means that hard-sided luggage might be broken by unexpected. As one blog mentioned, “Really hard hits or drops can, in fact, crack the siding. Unfortunately, once this happens the suitcase is ruined.”

This feature is contradictory to the durability of hard-sided luggage. As Luther Davies explained, “Put under pressure or stress, hard-sided bags have a tendency to get deformed or broken.”

I was confused by these reviews. What should I buy for my carry-on luggage? I decided that I would not worry about these reviews. Instead I decided to figure out my own priorities for my luggage. My first priority is style, followed by weight and durability. Even though it has the disadvantages which I mentioned above, I chose hard-sided luggage for my carry-on luggage because versatility is not important for me.

From my analysis of luggage, I found that priorities partially explain why hard-sided luggage is not popular in the U.S. While hard-sided polycarbonate luggage is quite popular in Japan, it’s rare to find it in the U.S. If you were in Narita International Airport, you would see a lot of hard-sided luggage. Also, there are many kinds of hard-sided luggage at stores in Japan. I was surprised that the exact opposite can be seen in the U.S.

I’ve thought a lot about the reason for the different luggage preferences between Japanese people and American people. Here is my opinion. Japanese people consider the bag’s capability to protect fragile items; meanwhile, American people have a preference for packing-friendly luggage. I guess this tendency among Japanese people is due to the content of their luggage. Japanese people tend to bring a lot of gifts for others on their trips. I think the popularity of hard-sided luggage can be attributed to this. As for American people, they seem to prefer flexibility in their luggage. I think this is because their first priority is to take care of their own things.

My research didn’t help me choose the best luggage, but it was good to learn about cultural differences between the U.S and Japan. I think that preference for a certain kind of luggage is an example of a common cultural difference. Now I know that my first priority isn’t necessarily the first priority of others. It’s an important idea for boosting mutual understanding among cultures, especially for me, since I live in a different county from my own.

Campbell's Soup

I have always wondered what kinds of Campbell’s soup are popular in the U.S. Campbell’s soup is quite popular in Japan. There are a lot of products in Japan. I like Campbell’s soup. In particular, I like corn potage soup. Do you know Campbell’s Corn Potage Soup? When I lived in New Jersey, I could not find “corn potage soup” which is one of the most popular soups in Japan. I thought that New Jersey was an exception, but I haven’t found it in California either.

Here is a photo package of the corn potage soup that I got in Japan. It’s made in the U.S. I would say that most Japanese believe corn potage is popular in the U.S.

I took a look at Campbell.com web site. I could not find corn potage soup in their product lineup. Is corn potage soup made and exported for the Japanese market only? I have one more thing which I found difference between Japan and U.S. I’ve never seen Campbell’s chicken noodle soup in Japan. I’m looking for these answers. I sent an inquiry to Campbell Soup Company, but I haven’t received an answer yet.

Styrofoam Cups

I drink coffee a lot regularly. When I drink coffee from a Styrofoam cup with a lid, I really feel that I am living in the U.S. I especially like ordinary Styrofoam coffee cups with lids that have a removal tab on the rim. Most donut shops use these kinds of cups. These don’t exist in Japan. There are only a few types of disposable cups with lids in Japan. I think it is because “To go” has become popular only quite recently in Japan. I don’t think coffee cups for takeout were popular before Starbucks launched their business in Japan.

One day, I bought coffee at a donut shop and brought it back to the office. The coffee was in a Styrofoam cup. I put the cup on the desk. After a while, I saw there was coffee on the desk. I thought I had spilled it accidentally, so I wiped my desk and cup. A while later, I found spilled coffee again and wiped my desk and cup again. After that, I briefly glanced at the cup, and I noticed there were small brown spots on the cup. I looked at the cup carefully, and I was surprised. Coffee was oozing from the polystyrene cup!!

I have no idea what could have caused this phenomenon. I would at least like to know whether the coffee or the cup were factors. I took a picture (See below). If you have any idea why this happened, please let me know.

Night Visitors

What do you do if you have a door-to-door sales offer?  What if it is at night? To me, I always decline any door-to-door sales offers. The other day at 9:30 pm, someone was standing at the door and pushed the buzzer over and over again. I looked through the peephole and found two men were there. Basically, I never open the door when a stranger comes to my house, but I opened the door that day because I thought that these guys might be my neighbors. Since they were dressed in suit, it seemed like they were on the way home from work. I know most of my neighbors but not all of them.

When I opened the door, a guy a started sales pitch about carpet cleaning. The other guy didn’t say anything. He just stood behind the guy who spoke to me and watched me with an eagle eye. He offered me a free trial cleaning. He said if I accepted his offer, he would check my house and give an estimate right away. I didn’t let them in. I didn’t want to show my house to strangers, let alone at night. I declined his offer. After they left my home, I watched them. They got into their car without visiting any other neighbors and got into their car. Their car was a sedan and there was no company name was printed.

I can’t help thinking they were suspicious. A night visitor, in particular a stranger, is reminiscent of a crime. I remembered name of the company which he said, so I looked up the company on the Internet, but I couldn’t find the website of cleaning company. Some skepticism has lingered in my mind. Is the door-to-door sales offer at night common in the U.S? What do you think about this?

Car and Sandwich

It seems there is no relation between cars and sandwiches, but I really feel a big cultural difference between the U.S and Japan when I think about these two things. What kinds of options are available to customers when they purchase a new car in the U.S.? What kinds of toppings are available to customers when they get sandwiches in Japan?

The purchase of a car is a big deal. The car dealers in Japan don’t have an inventory of new cars. The car manufacturer starts building a car for a specific customer after the sales contract. Most car dealers usually offer a basic model which is not fully equipped. A customer chooses not only interior options, such as the car audio system, navigation system and seats but also exterior options. Many people really look forward to their car after they have ordered it, and it’s exciting to purchase a car in Japan. I was surprised when I went to a car dear in the U.S. They sell a lot of inventory of new cars and most options have already been implemented. Also I was astonished that a customer can drive home right way after the sales contract has been signed.

Speaking of sandwiches, I can say that the opposite is true. In the U.S, a customer chooses the bread, toppings and dressing, but most bakeries in Japan provide a prepared sandwich and the customer doesn’t have extra choices.

Which country is more likely to be picky? As far as I’m concerned, Japanese are choosy about cars. It is not necessary to have a car in Japan, in particular for people who live in the big city. Since most Japanese regard cars as a kind of entertainment, they tend to be choosy.

As for food, I really have no idea which country is pickier about it. The one thing I can point out is that Japanese are more likely to rely on the restaurant’s recommendation for the best buy.