終わりよければ全てよし？？

1週間前に新しく携帯を替えたRobertさんは、早くも携帯を落としてしまいました
いろいろ心当たりを探し、乗ったタクシーへも電話をかけてはみたものの・・・見つからず。
GPSで追跡し、携帯は、すでに離れた場所に移動しており、移動距離からみて、車で移動とのこと。
携帯の利用を停止し、警察署に行き、もう最悪＆くたくた

次の日、朝早く一本の電話が
昨日電話したタクシーの運転手さんからだった。
運転手さんは、勤務を終え車を洗車しようと思い、フロントガラスのワイパーを見たらなんと携帯が挟まっていたのを発見
そこで、すぐに電話を掛けたとのことでした。
運転手さんも興奮しながら、「いったい、どこにあったと思います？」などと電話越しで話され、もう皆でびっくり
しかし、当のRobertさんは、どうしてそんな場所に携帯が？わたくし、記憶にございません状態

まぁ、見つかってよかたものの、もしRobertさんに「終わり良ければ全てよし」なんて言われたら・・・わたしは

皆さんは、Robertらしいとお笑いになると思いますが、器の小さい私にはまだまだ無理でございます～

Robert

Good 夫婦 Day!!

Yesterday (11/22), in addition to being the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination, was also "Good Married Couples Day" in Japan. I'm not sure whether it was by design or coincidence, but there was an article in the Japan News about an American couple who were celebrating their 81st wedding anniversary. The couple eloped when she was 17, because her Syrian father had decided that she was to marry a much older man. Her husband was the boy across the street. Not really a boy, though, because he was already 21 years old.
Anyway, just doing the math, that means that he is now 102 and she is 98. Both are still active and seem very happy from the photo in the newspaper.

I guess that these two are the model couple for 11/22.

Robert

Thank you！

ひと月早く、サンタからもらった～

Robert

Donuts!!

Some parts of my U.S. American culture are indispensable to me. For example, I am sure to watch my American football team, the San Diego Chargers every week using my computer. My team only wins about 50 % of the time, though.

But another thing I was happy to see become accessible in Japan: Krispy Kreme doughnuts!



And, as you can see, I am trying to inculcate that important aspect of my base culture to my son. He seems pretty interested in the donuts, even though he's not old enough to eat them yet!!

Robert

くまちゃん

久しぶりに帰って来たRobertとお出かけ
かわいいくまちゃんを見つけ思わず撮ってしまった・・・

おっと！我が家にも、かわいいBig bearがいらっしゃったわ～

Big bearさんは、この後、また出張に行きました
Robert

あせり…

本日、めでたく誕生日を迎えるRobertさん

そんなRobertさんは、前日、電話越に…明日の誕生日で自分の歳を改めて考えたらあせってきた～と言いだした。30代・40代、全く問題なし！50代、まだまだ問題ないね！そして、明日の誕生日をひかえ、突然・・・私やばくないと感じたらしい。
え～いまさらですか？？と思わず口にしてしまったが皆さん、そう思いません？？

先日、突然アメリカへ行くことになってから、やっと自宅に帰って来ての誕生日。

デザートに、Robertさんの大好物を用意することに

誕生日なので？（我が家は、いつもかも）

丸ごとメロン！

では、皆様、またひとつ大きくなるRobertをよろしくお願い致します。


Robert

今年のHalloween!!

もうすぐHalloween！

準備をして楽しみにしていたのに・・・出張だと今頃気づいた

今宵は、一人さみしくロウソクに灯りをともすか・・・

Time flies

Wow! I am shocked to notice that I have not contributed to our blog for 9 full days. That shouldn't happen, regardless of how many business trips I must take away from home. I will do my best in the future to make sure I maintain our blog more faithfully.

It has been an interesting 9 days, however. I had a chance to visit Miyagi again. I love Tohoku!! The color of green is so deep. Lots of inaka. Very comfortable. But, I suspect it would be too cold for me to live there. The last time I went to Miyagi was in January. There was snow everywhere. My fingers were so cold that I wasn't even able to open my computer bag at Sendai airport by myself. I had to ask the security guy to open it for me and take out my computer. Very embarrassing. But not strange, I guess, for someone from SouthernCalifornia.

Tomorrow I must commute down to Kyoto. Then on Sunday I go to Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki, for five days. But Saturday is free, so I hope to help out around the house. And maybe get some writing done, too.

Robert

Hungry Young Japanese Businesspeople

Yesterday I had a chance to work with a Japanese company called Plan Do See. This company operates hotels and restaurants, as well as providing consulting services for service-industry related organizations. I was very impressed by the participants in our seminar. There were 14 people: 7 Japanese and 7 non-Japanese (from China, Senegal, Korea, and the USA). It was my first time to work with this client. The oldest member was probably in his early 30's.

The positive, assertive behavior of the participants reflect the corporate culture of Plan Do See, I imagine. In many ways, this reminded me of the corporate culture of our new parent company, Link and Motivation. Both companies seem to hire young, forward-thinking, assertive people. In that sense, they are very different from many of the people who work for more traditional Japanese firms.

Does this signal a shift in Japanese business style? For sure, these types of organizations, like Link and Motivation or Plan Do See, have been remarkably successful and have grown rapidly during their brief histories (PDS is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, L&M was founded in 2000). However, it might be that they have been successful because they are targeting niche markets. Moreover, both are headed by a talented, charismatic leader who is very top-down in the way he runs his organization. This style may not translate well to larger organizations, particularly traditional Japanese firms.

In any case, it will be interesting to watch the progress of companies like PDS and L&M. Without a doubt, Japan needs more businesspeople who have both the language skills and the global mindset to compete in today's global, diverse business environment.

Robert

エアープランツ

エアープランツを戴いた

びみょ～な感じの植物・・・

こやつらは、アメリカ南部および中南米、南米によく見かけるパイナップル科の植物
空気中の水分を吸収する植物で乾燥地帯ならではの知恵の持ち主。そして葉の根元に水を溜めるタンクまで持っているのでありんす。
こやつらは、大きいものになると一個数万円とお高い値段で売られているみたい
そこまで大きくするのが、難しいからみたいだが・・・ん～例えるならサボテンと同じ感じかな。


さて、このままでは家の旦那様がゴミだと思って捨ててしまう恐れが高いので彼らの住家を考えねば


Robert