1. Insert ¥1000 into the machine (no change given)
2. Collect token
3. Sit down and wait to be called
4. Hand over token
5. Tell the hair dresser what you would like done
6. Your haircut will take 10 minutes
In a blind panic I forgot the Japanese for 'short back and sides leaving a bit of length on top, please' and settled for, and I quote, "you want machine? OK?" This turned out to be a complete baldy. Luckily I stopped Mrs. Todd just in time by means of a giant X sign with my arms. In fairness my haircut did take exactly 10 minutes, and I still have some hair to go to work with tomorrow, but sometimes I wish the Japanese would take their time...especially when it involves blades and my head.
Time to put my business socks on.
The other day Craig, Rachel & I took the Shinkansen - bullet train - up north to a town called Nasu where we were given a special tour of Fujitsu's Mobile phone factory. As usual it took us a while longer to get into the factory than our guides had expected since the protective footwear only went up to a size 8! The place completely blew us away. For as far as we could see, there were people wearing blue lab coats operating the crazily complicated machines that make the computer's motherboards and other stuff I don't understand, and carrying out durability tests that you would never think about. For example it's one employees job to spend all day sat in a one piece flow Toyota Production System line to pick up phones as they come along the belt and twist & shake them to listen for creeks and loose components. Their attention to detail and quality is mind boggling. Their phones are made to be waterproof, but to test their water resistance they blast high pressure air at the phone to see if any gets in. If my memory of S1 science serves me correctly that is roughly 10 time more accurate than they need to be! DHL's job at this particular site is to manage the packaging & distribution of the completed phones to the stores, and if a box has a slight crease on one of the panels then it is no good. Faulty. Substandard. Defective. Malfunctioning.
And so my current boss is leaving for Singapore for the next 3 weeks. Takeda-san actually spent 13 months studying at the best university in Scotland for a MBA, so we have something in common. He has taught me a lot about DMAIC and logistics in general over the last few months and has looked out for me with everyday Japanese life. He is however an extremely hard worker. He is in the office at 0730 (sometimes I get emails at 6am) and leaves for home after 2230 (sometimes I get emails after 2300) .My task for Wednesday is to write a case study on a number of DMAIC initiatives applied at DHL Supply Chain. The one I wrote last week was over 4500 words, after I submitted it I was told to start delivering! He was actually very impressed and what was meant was he wanted me to really demonstrate in my next one how much I have learned in the previous weeks. Still really enjoying work, and can't wait to begin my main project next week!
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (literally)...and I want to go back.
It can only mean one thing - Tokyo Disney Land! There is only one place (that I know of) where you can get curry popcorn, fly (star jump) with Peter Pan and pass for an under 17 year old. If only SPT were as credulous. I'm telling you though, as electrifying as Space Mountain was, my heart was going twice as fast when the hairdresser told me my options were small, medium or large.
My spare time has recently been spent exploring some of the more traditional districts of Tokyo where you can usually find vibrant markets selling all sorts of weird and wonderful Japanese foods, clothes and chop sticks. We are still being treated very well by our work colleagues - last week we had a fantastic night out with one of the directors of DHL Asia Pacific, there are plans to go to the Director of Procurement's house this weekend (although if this falls through, Craig and I fancy the sound of the other Disney park, Disney Sea) and DHL's freshest graduates have booked us for a night out sometime soon. Other activities include Scottish country dancing, sumo wrestling and eating "salted squid guts" sprinkled with a dash of dodgy karaoke.
One final note.
For anyone who is interested I suggest YouTube©ing "Tokyo Fireworks 2010" and look for some recent videos of the displays going on over here. It is currently firework 'season' and they can't get enough of them. Somehow they can make giant snails in the sky! Truly spectacular.
Glad to see you are all having fun, the blogs are fantastic!
- Ends -