Our family car

We have a car. We bought it about seven years ago. When we got it, we didn't have enough money because we were young and had just got married. We selected affordable car for us. It was not luxurious, but we loved it so much.

The best point is a large luggage space in spite of a compact car. We need to carry many things in the car since we often go skiing. We also like to go hiking, so we want to sleep in a car. When we fold backseats, luggage space is expanded. The space is so wide and flat that two adults can lie confortably in it.

Another good point is a ceiling. The ceiling doesn't open but is made by glass. We can see sky and also see stars at night. When we drive under line of the trees, we can look up the trees in the car, and it is very beautiful.

But our car have been old, so we are thinking to buy a new car now. We would like to have a little bigger and more luxurious car than we have now.

Different culture

I have ever visited some countries on sightseeing. I was always surprised how different culture is.

When I went to Germany, I was very surprised that there were not ticket wickets in any stations. People should buy a ticket for getting on trains, but no-one checks the ticket. While I stayed in Germany, there was no chance that my tickets were checked. I couldn't believe that. Are there people who don't buy their tickets? I think the system might be accepted because people trust each other.

One more episode. In France, I had some chance to see people singing in the train. A young woman, seems to be a student, suddenly started to sing a song. She sang very well. After she finished singing, she took around passengers. Then some passengers gave her money. I was very surprised. There is not such a custom in Japan. I guess people in France are more familiar with music in Japan.

There are a lot of different cultures in foreign countries. This is one of the reasons why I like to go abroad.

Business etiquette in Japan

Today, I'm writing about any interesting business etiquette in Japan.
 
We think business cards are important. So we usually exchange our business cards when we meet our clients for the first time. We put our business card on our business card holder, show it to our client, introduce ourselves, and exchange cards. After that, we should bow. We shouldn't fold business cards, and shouldn't write something on them. Don't put client’s business cards in your business cards holder immediately after you get them. You should arrange cards on the table as the same order as clients sitting in the meeting.

We like to express our opinions indirectly. Especially, we don't say "No" clearly. If Japanese people say "I'll consider it.", in most cases, that means "No". It would be better not to understand that directly.

We usually mind our hierarchical relationship. For example in a meeting or dinner, we decide sitting places under our relationship. A person of the highest status sits on the center of the table. A person of the lowest status sits on the nearest seat to an entrance. In most cases, hierarchical relationship has priority over lady's first.