10) Commuting footwear is a critical determining factor for how the entire day will go- even my "comfortable" flats are not comfortable when you have about 20 minutes of walking + 2 trains... flipflops are the way to go! Strangely very few people wear commuting footwear, so maybe I need to buy some shoes here- they must be more comfortable than mine!
9) The last toilet in the restrooms at work are the "squatty" toilets... not gonna happen. I will wait.
8) Paper in Singapore is oddly a different size than in the US?? I thought 8.5 x 11 was standard... nope- it appears that it's about a 1/4 inch skinnier and 3/4 inch longer here. Pretty random.
7) The right way to request an introduction meeting is NOT to ask the person to send you reading material ahead of time so you can "make the best use of their time"... ooops... apparently you are supposed to just chat. Stupid, stupid mistake. But no worries, people just won't respond to your request to meet until you say you just want to chat... then suddenly everyone is quite nice and forgiving of the stupid American :)
6) The cafeteria at work is about taking risks... you just have to go for it and hope that what you've pointed to will taste good... the good news is that everything seems to cost $3.20 SGD (so about $2.50 USD) so I guess I could always just try again if I strike out the first time!
5) Japanese women have some of the same issues as American women... not enough time in their busy lives, the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and they need more self confidence.
4) My coworkers seem to expect that Americans are usually overweight (no surprise and a fair point- we had a very long discussion about Cheesecake Factory) and politically correct (this was very surprising to me... wait till they know me a little better!)
3) Japanese women are very aware of the harmful effects of UV (mostly from a beauty standpoint- tan lines or sun tanned skin are viewed as embarrassing) and wear products with sunscreen pretty much every single day.
2) There is free Coke Lite in the work refrigerators .. score.
1) The body care market in Asia is huge and growing! $4.3B USD... Japan and China are the biggest markets.... I have so much to learn but I'm really excited about it!
9) The last toilet in the restrooms at work are the "squatty" toilets... not gonna happen. I will wait.
8) Paper in Singapore is oddly a different size than in the US?? I thought 8.5 x 11 was standard... nope- it appears that it's about a 1/4 inch skinnier and 3/4 inch longer here. Pretty random.
7) The right way to request an introduction meeting is NOT to ask the person to send you reading material ahead of time so you can "make the best use of their time"... ooops... apparently you are supposed to just chat. Stupid, stupid mistake. But no worries, people just won't respond to your request to meet until you say you just want to chat... then suddenly everyone is quite nice and forgiving of the stupid American :)
6) The cafeteria at work is about taking risks... you just have to go for it and hope that what you've pointed to will taste good... the good news is that everything seems to cost $3.20 SGD (so about $2.50 USD) so I guess I could always just try again if I strike out the first time!
5) Japanese women have some of the same issues as American women... not enough time in their busy lives, the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and they need more self confidence.
4) My coworkers seem to expect that Americans are usually overweight (no surprise and a fair point- we had a very long discussion about Cheesecake Factory) and politically correct (this was very surprising to me... wait till they know me a little better!)
3) Japanese women are very aware of the harmful effects of UV (mostly from a beauty standpoint- tan lines or sun tanned skin are viewed as embarrassing) and wear products with sunscreen pretty much every single day.
2) There is free Coke Lite in the work refrigerators .. score.
1) The body care market in Asia is huge and growing! $4.3B USD... Japan and China are the biggest markets.... I have so much to learn but I'm really excited about it!
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