Friday, September 9, 2011

Orientation 2

Thursday, we had an workshop about intercultural communication, and how there can be conflicts and how we could fix it.  It was really interesting to hear other people's opinions - some I have never even thought of.  The professor leading it had an easy way of explaining culture: it's like gravity (things just come together and people are drawn to be a part of a culture no matter what), cotton candy (whatever/whoever it encounters, it sticks to them), and a yardstick (it's....measurable?  I actually didn't understand this one, even though he said it was obvious).  Overall, it's super important to be aware of culture, cultural differences, and to celebrate these differences. 

I learned that making an inkan (a small customized stamp used for banking purposes) for over 100 students takes more than just a day or 2 to do - even though the university said they would be handing them out today so we could open our bank accounts, they couldn't do it in time.  It's okay though - I forgot to get the necessary documents anyways to get it.  :-P

But there were a lot of questions at today's orientation since it was over something really important.  People wanted to know if they could have someone wire money to them (yes), or if a postal savings account, which is needed for some scholarships, instead of a bank savings account would work (no).  A couple others already had an inkan made because they either made one in China, or had been in Japan before.  The advisers also went over some necessary points, such as most of Japan only accepts the original copies of documents.  Overall, a pretty important orientation.

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