Japanese work ethic is legendary. And although I keep telling people that in many offices a “warm body” on a chair is more important than a “working body”, there is still this extra mile only the Japanese seem willing to go.
Point in case: At 9:00 pm today, I received a phone call. Okay, there have been spam calls before at such late an hour, and I usually deflect them by telling the caller that I can’t speak Japanese and he has to talk to me in English. I still have troubles with Japanese phone calls, so I’m not telling a huge lie, at least.
Anyway, the phone call today was from my local post office. The officer even spoke English (how come I never met him in person?) and he wanted to know my exact address. Apparently I have received a parcel – probably from abroad – and the last bit of the address was missing, so he wanted to make sure the parcel can be delivered tomorrow. (In case this sounds funny: On the form that comes with the parcel, there is a space for the recipient’s phone number. Today I finally understood what that’s good for 😉 )
I am not expecting any parcels, so I am very curious as to what I’ll get – and from whom it is of course. It’s too early for Christmas presents as well, so…?
Back in a time long, long ago 😉 there was a special English-speaking person at the main post office in Fukuoka, which was amazing as I had no idea how to properly fill out the form or how to tell them in Japanese which service I require. My host family was quite surprised as well. 🙂
Also, I bought train tickets… had thought in advance of how to say it properly in Japanese… and the person answers me fluently in English… I was devastated. 😉
It frustrates me so much when that happens!
Everytime I’m prepared with phrases and a plan in Japanese, the other party speaks fluent English. When I just go somewhere and hope for the best, then there’s nobody to be found who can even manage a “hello”…