Japan: Macy Lor (Daily Life in Tokyo)

Program: AIP Internship in Tokyo, Summer

On weekdays, I wake up around 7:30am for work so I have enough time to get ready in the morning. My morning routine starts off with getting ready in the bathroom by washing my face, brushing my teeth, and doing my skincare routine. While I let my skincare routine set for a bit, I cook breakfast. My breakfast is usually avocado toast or as simple as scrambled eggs. Sometimes when I wake up early or don’t have enough time to cook, I go to the convenience store to buy breakfast. After cooking and eating breakfast, I do a simple makeup look for work and choose an outfit for the day. My work outfit is casual because my internship doesn’t require us to wear business casual clothing. I remember I showed up to work my first day with a business casual outfit to have a good impression. For example, I wore dress pants, a vest and a collared T-shirt, only to find out that my coworkers were dressed much more casually. It surprised me because I had learned that Japanese work culture attire tends to be more formal and professional. My supervisor later informed me that the work attire for my internship was casual. Since then, I have been wearing casual outfits to work such as linen pants or jeans with a t-shirt or a cute blouse.

Throughout my first week of my internship in Japan, I have learned and have adapted to many new things. For example, my internship requires interns to commute and travel to different locations during work hours. The reason why we commute to different locations is that we have to help with the maintenance and development of houses. It was difficult to commute to work after finding out that I would be working at different locations around Tokyo. I was worried about finding the right train, train station, platform number, as well as making sure I got off at the correct stop. There were a few times when I accidentally boarded the wrong train or got lost inside a train station because I couldn’t find my train. Train stations in Tokyo can be very large with multiple train lines, exits, and platforms. This made navigating them overwhelming at first. As a result, it also caused me to be late to work a couple of times in the beginning of my internship, which made me anxious because I wanted to make a good impression during my internship. As time went by, I became familiar with the train systems when commuting to work. Using public transportation has also helped me live like a local because I was relying on the same transportation system that people in Tokyo use to get to work. 

I connect with the culture I live in by making an effort to learn and respect the Japanese language while interning in Japan. For example, my coworkers always start our meetings by saying “Ohayo gozaimasu” which means “Good morning” in Japanese. Since starting my internship, I have begun saying that in every one of our morning meetings now. Another time I put in effort to speak in Japanese was when I finished work. I said “Otsukaresame deshita” which means “Thank you for your hard work” which means you’re acknowledging someone’s hard work and appreciation for a coworker. Praising hard work is a common daily expression used in Japanese work culture. Using these phrases has helped me become more culturally aware and respectful of Japanese work culture.