Let's Get Brainwashed.

Everyone had hangovers this morning. And the Japanese acknowledged it. We had 3 speakers in the morning, and they all asked if we enjoyed the dinner, and were our hangovers going away. It was nice, I thought, to have the presentations in the morning because the lights were off, so it was dark, and I could just sit there and relax, and wait for the pain to go away. We had lunch at a Korean bbq restaurant, and I felt much better after lunch. I wasn't served beef, so instead they gave me scallops, squid ringlets, and a giant prawn. I was scared of the prawn. I didn't eat it. I gave it to someone else. He cooked it on the fire, and green ooze boiled out of the head. We were all grossed out.

The whole afternoon was spent coaching people on their projects. They didn't like what I had to say, because the changes I suggested meant they had to redo significant portions of their project, and who wants to do that? Also, the language barrier once again was taxing on my brain. Listening to people explain things over and over because of confusion in terminology or what section we should be is exhausting. Some groups were having serious debates that had nothing to do with the presentation they were supposed to be working on.

I got stuck with a group I didn't want to help. They wanted to put all these charts and graphs they had made into their presentation and I said none of those were needed. BUT WE SPENT ALL THIS TIME MAKING THEM. I said that's fine, it's part of your research, but you only need to put in a chart that actually says something. So I told them to make a new one, and I sketched out what it should show, and they all stared at me. WE THINK THESE ONES ARE IMPORTANT TO SHOW. THEY NEED TO KNOW WE CONSIDERED THIS. (They have to present a project where they improved something in their office using the method we taught them.) I didn't feel like arguing any more. So tomorrow, I hope the panel of Japanese executives quiz them: Why did you put this chart here? It says nothing, except that you wasted time! You fail. Goodbye.

I went to dinner with the other teachers. They think that I'm single. They never asked me, they just said, "You know, when you are young and single like yourself, that's the best time to get an international assignment with the Company. It's much easier, and you get it out of the way in your career earlier."

Labels: career, training, world-class traveling