Picture of the Day: Fungus and Moss in Soberanía National Park

Soberanía National Park, Panama
6.09.2012

Picture of the Day: Banteay Srei Carving Details

Banteay Srei, Cambodia
8.2011 

Picture of the Day: Tombs at Saint Louis Cemetery #1

New Orleans, Louisiana
United States
1.02.2012 

Japanese Omiyage (お土産)

Working with people from from a completely different culture is rewarding in many ways but it can also be difficult to find common ground and build trust as colleagues. Nothing bridges gaps more than making an effort to follow some of the other culture's customs.

One of the simplest goodwill building gestures you can do in Japan is the act of giving omiyage (お土産). Omiyage are souvenirs, but in a work place context they are little treats that you bring for your co-workers when you come back from a business trip or a vacation out of town. Additionally, if you are going on a business trip somewhere else, you also bring your hosts omiyage.

Omiyage is big business in Japan. Everywhere you go, especially at large train stations and airports where people are in transit, there are beautiful shops selling gorgeous omiyage. Different areas have local specialties, but some things, like fancy rice crackers, are popular just about everywhere.

I won't even pretend to know all of the intricacies of Japanese gift giving, but in general you want give omiyage that is consumable, beautifully packaged and has the contents individually wrapped so it is easy to distribute within the group you are visiting. It is also best if the treat you are giving reflects the place you are coming from or is locally produced.

All of this causes me no end of a conundrum when I visit Japan. When I was living in Japan and would travel domestically, finding something nice to bring back to my group was no problem. Coming from the U.S. on business trip is a whole different matter. First, I usually end up visiting a ton of people when I am on business trip so I have to bring tons of omiyage which can be very pricey. I just don't have it in my budget to spend $500 for treats. Additionally, since this isn't a custom in the U.S. finding something that looks pretty, is tasty and is individually wrapped is next to impossible. I always try my best but because I am not Japanese and giving omiyage is not expected from me it is okay if my omiyage isn't exactly Japanese style. The point is that I make an effort to give omiyage and follow Japanese custom which is what is important.

Figuring out what to give on this trip was difficult. I had just used my standby go-to omiyage of Ghiradelli chocolate squares (individually wrapped = check, edible = check, something produced in the U.S. = check, won't make me go bankrupt = check, beautiful packaging = so-so) which meets most of the criteria when I was visiting in December so I didn't want to use that again. I ended up getting several boxes of large round wafer cookies with various fillings. The box wasn't exactly beautiful but looked nice enough and the treats seemed pretty tasty. I also got some individually wrapped chocolate truffles but they melted in my luggage. Yeah, I know I am an idiot for bringing chocolate to Japan in the summer. Anyway, luckily I brought enough of the wafer cookies since my checked bag was half full of them.

As a side note, have you ever been in a duty free shop and seen packages of chocolates emblazoned with U.S.A. and pictures of American flags and the Statue of Liberty? Despite not achieving the beautiful packaging requirement, those boxes of chocolates clearly indicate that the traveler is coming from the U.S. and are being marketed for omiyage. One time when I was desperate I bought some of them for a business trip and the chocolates were terrible. I'll never do that again!

The upside of this gift giving business culture is that I often have a chance to enjoy being on the receiving end of these little treats. When I was working in Japan, after we would have a company wide holiday I would come back to work and it was like a little buffet of delicious treats in our office area with everyone having brought something in. Being back home in the U.S. whenever we have a Japanese visitor I get to have a little bite sized tastes of things that I loved in Japan but are hard to find in America.

When it is all said and done I really love this Japanese tradition. It's a nice simple way that you show your colleagues that you respect them and appreciate working with them. Plus, I get to give and receive treats. Any tradition that involves me getting to eat tasty things is awesome in my book.

Picture of the Day: Woman Doing Restoration Work at Wat Pho

Wat Pho
Bangkok, Thailand
8.20.2011 

Picture of the Day: View of Sydney Harbour Bridge From Sydney Tower

Sydney, New South Wales
Australia
11.2010

Off to Japan...

I'm at the airport right now waiting for my flight to Japan. Last time I was in Japan was in early December when the fall leaves were beautiful shades of red.

This trip will be different, however. The end of July is right when the rainy season in Central Japan ends and the crazy hot and humid summer begins.  

Despite the impending heat, I am looking forward to this trip. I have a lot to accomplish for work, plus I'll get to see some friends from my days when I lived in Japan.

We're boarding soon so I better sign off. Happy travels!

If you are interested, check out some other posts from this trip to Japan: Japanese Omiyage, Week in Pictures: 7.22.2012, Shopping at the Hyaku-en Shop (百円ショップ ), Flying Over Mt. Fuji,  Week in Pictures: 7.30.2012

Picture of the Day: Street Signs in Times Square

New York, New York
12.20.2011 

Picture of the Day: View From Phnom Bakheng

Phnom Bakheng
Siem Reap, Cambodia
8.19.2011 

Week in Pictures: 7.15.2012

I've been having fun with my Instagram pictures and thought I would start collecting them at the end of each week to share what I've been up to, especially for the smaller things that happen but don't necessitate a full post.

This week has been crazy busy. I am heading to Japan next week for work so I've been slammed with things that needed to get done before I go. I barely slept and ended up working nearly seventy hours.

The first collage below consists of images I took while on my trip to Canada at the beginning of the week for work which I already wrote about. Although I didn't have much time outside of work during that time I managed to enjoy some tasty Canadian food and see the Springbank Snow Countess statue.

My favorite picture that I took this week was of the Blue Water Bridge on my way home. My co-worker was driving so I took the opportunity to snap this picture as we crossed over the bridge to go back to the US. The windshield was really dirty and we were driving into the sun so it make a cool white streaky effect on the photo that I love. 

This second collage is from the second half of the week.

First Row:
- As we were driving back from Canada I couldn't resist taking a picture of the Uniroyal Giant Tire as we drove by, which is a roadside icon along I-94 in Michigan
- After I got home late on Wednesday night, I was surprised to find that Frank had come over and made me dinner on the smoker in my backyard
- Thursday night I was at work late again, but when I saw this beautiful sunset out the window I took a little break to get a picture

Second Row:
- On Saturday morning, Frank and I headed west to go to a reunion of his tailgating buddies outside of Chicago
- I made a berry trifle to share at the get-together, but it tipped over in the car while we were driving. It looked like a hot mess but still tasted great
- Most of Saturday afternoon and early evening was spent in the pool

Third Row: 
- On Sunday as we were driving back we decided to stop for lunch at the legendary Redamak's on the west side of Michigan
- There was a bit of a wait in line at Redamak's so I slipped over to the antique store next door. They had a bunch of great stuff but a little out of my price range so I didn't buy anything. I especially loved how the displays were organized by color
- The loaded waffle fries and cheeseburger at Redamak's were well worth the wait. Yum! 

What have you been up to this week? Did you do anything fun or eat anything tasty?