Visit by the embassy

Friday November 19th, 2010 by Giel Op 't Veld

Last Tuesday, two representatives of the embassy of Japan visited us to give us a presentation about etiquettes and language. A good thing, since Japanese politeness does not stay at simply bowing. We learned a lot about customs we were not familiar with, like what to do when your phone rings.  The presentation was interactive and also involved some effort from us. The correct postures for greetings and bows were picked up rather quickly. The basic phrases, however, turned out to be a bigger challenge. Even written in our alphabet, their pronunciation takes some practice to say the least. The embassy laughed a little at our attempts, but hopefully we are now able to introduce ourselves. Luckily, according to what we have heard, the Japanese people will at least appreciate the effort. We will upload the presentation as soon as possible so that you can keep practicing at home.