People want to buy, but don't want to be sold

This evening, I attended a new members' orientation at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ.) One of the main objectives I joined it is that I wanted to meet new people, and thus new ideas and thoughts -- networking.

But the facilitator said networking is all about selling yourself, and your products. Having said that, he also noted that you cannot sell if you make people feel they're sold.

"People want to buy, but they don't want to be sold," he said.

I thought this theory would apply to flirting as well. You do want to have a partner. But you don't want to be sold the person.

The ACCJ facilitator stated it's crucial to take a variety of approaches, so people could feel they're just communicating. He also contended that you can get anything in this world by giving people what they want.

Well, this was a nice, philosophical night......

Photogenic

Last week, I went on a business trip to Kobe for an international conference. Last time when I was in the city was when I was still fourteen. My family went to see the Portpia Expo -- my impression was it was such a new, clean city. After the massive earthquake in 1995 which killed more than 6,000 people, the city looked rather new again.

My colleagues asked me about the earthquake, saying it was big news in the United States as well. I felt it was a good thing that the conference was held in Kobe, attracting participants from across the world, letting them think about the earthquake and victims, and allowing them to spend some money there and thus helping reviving the local economy.

When my coworkers and I went for dinner, our big boss saw a picture of me just taken with my digital camera, and said, "Keiko, you're photogenic." I wondered if it's a complement.......My inner Miranda said to myself, "So, ipso facto, are you saying I'm not pretty enough in the flesh?"

After the conference, I went to the Himeji Castle, a World Cultural Heritage and National Treasure site, on Saturday. As I sorted out the digitized pictures, I thought, "Wow, this castle is really photogenic." Well, it is indeed beautiful, so it doesn't matter if it's in the picture or in the flesh....correct??

Arthur's Theme live

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this song!!!

Coffee Break 4PM

Somehow, I can't sleep well sometimes...like tonight. I sorted out my apartment like crazy this weekend, so must be tired. But I'm so excited about many ideas about this week.......it's no use just to kill time in bed, so here I'm writing.

Many people might wonder why this blog is titled "Coffee Break 4PM" in the first place. Why not 3PM? Or just afternoon tea? Well, there is a good reason.

It was the summer of 1999. Looking back, I think it was one of the most dreamy times in my life. With all the perseverance and effort needed to apply for graduate school and scholarship -- TOEFL, GRE, essays, letters of recommendation, interviews, writing tests, etc. etc. -- I was finally accepted by the first choice school and sponsor. Now the pressure was all gone; and it was just before the new pressure from graduate school began.

Under the brilliant sun and on the gorgeous campus, I attended summer school at Stanford, assigned by my sponsor. The program was quite intensive, from 9 am to 3:50 pm, everyday. So, it was such a relief to have iced coffee in the bookstore cafe with my classmates at 4 pm.

Everyone was so friendly and open, sharing the same priceless, liberating, happy moment....

I sometimes wonder if I could have such a wonderful coffee break again....you know what, I have a hunch that I'm sure I will.......:)

Bon Jovi -- Born To Be My Baby

You were born to be my baby
And baby, I was made to be your man

We got something to believe in
Even if we dont know where we stand
Only God would know the reasons
But I bet he must have had a plan
Cause you were born to be my baby
And baby, I was made to be your man

------------------
Sometimes, things seem out of control. But that doesn't mean it's always a bad thing. It could be actually quite nice.

McMillan & Wife

When I searched something in Google, somehow that reminded me of an American TV show called McMillan & Wife in the 1970s. I used to see it as a small child, like 8 or 9 years old, and secretly admired the main character McMillan.

One scene clinging to my mind was a gorgeous winding staircase in a large, dark, bluish room -- which stopped my heart. I don't remember the context, actually couldn't mostly understand the adult stories given my age back then. But I loved the overall atmosphere.

Since my early childhood, even before going school, I have much preferred Western culture in terms of books and shows. For other instance, I had all the series of books of Curious George. I had no interest in Japanese folk stories. I just couldn't stand especially when they were written in a dialect.

Anyhow, I didn't know the English title McMillan & Wife, as the Japanese translation is a bit different (Shocho Mcmillan -- meaning Commissioner McMillan.) So, I was delighted to find its DVDs on Amazon.com, which began to be on sale not a long time ago. Apparently, Americans also felt nostalgia for the show.

The DVDs arrived last night! I'm sooo looking forward to seeing where my most favorite scene is, and finally understand the stories........

Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé

For the first time in a long time, this evening I was completely satisfied to see a fine movie: Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé. It's a French movie, and its English translation reads as "I'm not here to be loved."

But actually, its Japanese official translation is the other way around; aisareru tameni kokoni iru, meaning "I'm here to beloved."

Seeing the last scene, I actually the Japanese title was correct....

Anyhow, it's a story about a 50-year-old divorced man. His doctor suggested him to do exercise. So, he decided to take tango lessons and met this 30-something looking cute girl. But the problem is she is about to marry.

I wouldn't say how the story unfolds more. But I LOVED the end....:)

An Inconvenient Truth

Mr. Al Gore is in town now. He came to Japan to promote his movie entitled An Inconvenient Truth. It was supposed to start to be shown here from October, but somehow it will have been postponed until this weekend.

At any rate, last February I was very lucky to see him give a presentation that was filmed into the movie. I was so amazed as he didn't see a memo at all during the over-one-hour presentation. The slides flashed so quickly yet they exactly matched his talk....really impressive.

After the presentation, I shook hands and talked with him. As I explained to him about what I do, he said to me, "Oh, you're doing a good job." Well, I am striving to do so.......

Statistics & Fortune-Telling

I'm not so into fortune-telling, usually. But absolutely yes into this one! By only inputting your date of birth, you'll see what you were in the Edo Period in your previous life. The idea is very funny -- it's based on the assumption that your previous life greatly affects your current life, and everyone lived in the Edo Period as well....since my friend happened to find the site, it has been amazing people in many places.

I was a "medical scientist." As the site is only Japanese, here is my informal English translation:

Course of Life and Personality:

You're an inquisitive idealist. You have your own belief, and lead your life based on it. In your previous life, you were a medical scientist who explored life phenomena and extensively conducted studies on ideal medical care and disease prevention. That greatly affects your current life as well, and your belief is based on your ideal that you delineate. To meet your own high expectations, you study and work so hard, perhaps a bit perfectionist. Because you're very proud, and possess absolute confidence in your own sensibility (yeah...this part is so true...), you'll exercise exceptional perseverance and persistence that surprise people around you. Having said that, you have no interest in what you don't care. You have no desire to compete, so always act freely. People might think you're picky, and a bit difficult to deal with.

Human Relationships

While you pursue ideals, you can also cherish the same old, day-to-day moments, so you're quite sociable as well, to our surprise. Your attitude having your own ideal and never affected by others actually seems to enhance your credibility. If there occurred a trouble, for example, you could listen to and conciliate each responsible party nicely. (End of translation text)

My friend having such a free spirit was a "ronin," and an expert on gathering office gossips was a "ninja." Our administrative assistant was a "maid." They sound so true, so I forwarded the URL to my counterpart of other organization. Then it turned out that a highly visible international negotiator was a "Kabuki actor."

Back to my conversation with Uemura-san (see below), he said "Well, I heard fortune-telling is all about statistics." God....which means people having the same birthday can have similar personality?

In my case, Ted Turner, Larry King, Jodie Foster, Meg Ryan, Calvin Klein and myself share the same birthday......does this ring the bell? If so, COOL!! I love each of them for different reasons.......:)

Gays vs. Philogynists

Tonight I had a haircut for the first time in four months.

"Long time no see....," Uemura-san, my hairdresser in Tokyo, said.

"Yeah, I haven't had a haircut since September in New York's Vidal Sassoon."

Uemura-san (see picture, left) used to work for Vidal Sasson's Covent Garden salon in London for like six years, and climbed up the ladder to the position as an instructor of its academy. Now, his ex-students include Mr. Richard Ashhorse, the International Art Director, who makes the latest international trend of Vidal Sassoon. I really like Sassoon's unique haircut called "Shake," a midium-length layer cut like Samantha in Sex and the City, and Valerie in Beverly Hills, 90210 (see pictures below.)

He is the only hairdresser who understands the technical term "Shake" and accepts my request in Tokyo. But now he has his own style, sort of graduating from Vidal Sassoon. So, sometimes he blends his own opinion, which I don't really like, but tonight I was almost (95%) satisfied.

Anyway....what I like about him is that he is such a great conversationalist. It's just so pleasant to chat with him. I think he is genius in keeping the perfect mental distance with his customer.

Today he said very interesting things. In the beauty industry, there are distinct demographic characteristics: successful clothes designers are predominantly gays, so are the top three make-up artists in the world. But most top hairdressers are straight and philogynists.....wow, why is that??

Bright Lights, Big City

Today I attended a conference held in Odaiba, a seafront area of the Tokyo Bay. There was a reception at a party hall overlooking the night views. Oh yes, that's me who considered rather seriously buying a condo in this area....but came to the conclusion that I actually feel more comfortable and home in the Western part of Tokyo along the Chuo line.

But I do love night views. In that regard in Tokyo, my most favorite place is New York Bar in Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. Having said that, nothing can beat the bright lights of New York City......

Shape of My Heart Live

Soft Rock

I love a music genre called "Soft Rock" -- mostly pop music in the 80s and 70s, but includes more recent musicians as the Backstreet Boys......I really LOVE the FM station in the DC area called 97.1 Wash FM. It has the perfect Soft Rock selections....!!

ACCJ Shinnenkai

I love to meet new people, as well as see familiar faces. Yes, both! In that regard, it was a pleasant evening. As a new associate member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), I went to its New Year party (shinnenkai in Japanese) with my friend Carrie.

I saw Mr. Glen Fukushima, President & CEO of Airbus Japan (see picture in the middle). He is a fellow Fulbrighter, and I met him a few years ago at a Christmas party. I also ran into my friends at Boeing. But unfortunately, they didn't seem to produce Concorde in the foreseeable future......which means my fantasy will still grow..........

M. Butterfly vs. Madame Butterfly

I detest the opera Madame Butterfly. When the New York City Opera came to play it in Japan in 2005 as part of the USA's official participation in the Aichi Expo, I frankly questioned its sense of wisdom.

OK, simply speaking, the story is like this: an innocent Japanese teenage girl called Madame Butterfly meets a sleazy US Navy officer based in Nagasaki. He has a fiance in the USA, but deceives Madame Butterfly, sleeps with her, impregnates her, and gets married with her. But he comes back to the USA and gets marry with his fiance, too. Three years later when the two visit Japan, Madame Butterfly is shocked, gives her son to the couple as she decides that would give him better life, and kills herself in a Japanese traditional samurai way, seppuku.

A Broadway theater called M. Butterfly was made to counter such a stereotype of naive Asian women. It was made into a movie of the same title in 1993. Actually, the show was inspired by a real story of a French diplomat deceived by a beautiful Chinese woman......perhaps I shouldn't tell more, as the story unfolds in an amazing way. Anyway, it sends a totally different message from Madame Butterfly.

The movie was included in an "all-you-can-see" Hollywood movie package available online on Yahoo! Japan's movie page. It's only 997 yen (USD 9) per month, including more than 100 B movies and several classics, which you can see whenever/however times you like. The quality of the pictures and, especially the sound, are pretty good. With my 20-inch PC screen and fine speakers, the package helps my beloved lazy days off....especially under the stormy weather like this long weekend.

Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 5 - Part 2

Karajan - Beethoven Symphony No. 5 - Part 1

My Definition of Sexy

I saw my friend's site and thought music is really nice -- which brought me to this music video....wow, this young Karajan is really sexy. There are rarely men whom I think sexy out there, but this video really made me feel that this is my definition of sexy....well, one of my definitions of sexy, to be exact, but anyway..........I hope you enjoy this video!!

Life Is, Can be, Perhaps...Anyway, Beautiful...!!

I felt incredibly good yesterday. In this complicated world, it's not easy, but I believe I did a good job and make a difference. My boss said "excellent." I'm still excited and can't sleep.....for the first time in a long time, I had this wildly blissful moment in my career life. Sometimes, not always, actually rarely, it does come -- like the timing I find a rainbow (see picture in Amsterdam.) That's the prime reason why I LOVE to work....yeah, I am workaholic, indeed!!!

Happy New Year!!

I wish you a very happy and successful 2007!! In Japan and China, it's the year of swines -- which seemed prevalent in Paris as well (see picture.)

Looking back, the year 2006 was very interesting. I went on six overseas trips, checked another box of the world's best list (i.e., my beloved BMW, which actually went dead, but it has recovered perfectly OK), started writing a science fiction novel that will become one of the biggest box office hits in Hollywood history....hey, don't laugh, I have a proven record of surprising my teachers and colleagues..........:)

To get closer to my goal, I recently became an associate member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and am determined to do energetic networking. Apparently, about 400 people will come to the New Year party scheduled on January 9th. I am looking forward to it.

Anyhow, my very short New Year's holidays will be over soon. I took Mom to the hot spring, ran into a nice Italian restaurant after I got lost on the road...yeah, that's life. I also found the perfect trash bin for my kitchen, and saw some good movies that I purchased online.

One of them was The Secret of My Success (1987). I fondly remembered seeing this movie over and over again as a college student. I can't believe this was made twenty years ago. In a way, this movie is so New York, and America. Michael J. Fox was so brisk. And Richard Jordan, who played his uncle, the President of the huge multi-national corporation whose employees' accumulated salary is "more than half of the GNP of the (former) European Community" (God, which company is this?), was a real Harvard grad as in the movie. But I sadly learned that he passed away of a brain tumor six years after the movie was shot. As you know, Micheal J. Fox has been suffering from Parkinson's Disease and disappeared from Hollywood movies in recent years.

Watching the movie and feeling it so vivid, it's unbelievable things changed so dramatically. This made me all the more determined to stay focused on the right moment and continue to be a go-getter gal.