I just love these networking sessions, they are so exciting. I get to meet so many interesting people and speak Japanese. This time around Komori-san (co-worker of mine) took me to an event with network session at the end. The event was about Estonia and Finland invest and kickstart company matters, most of which I could not understand due to Japanese language barrier. I asked Komori-san to explain it to me afterwards in simple japanese. He told me the speech was about some japanese who had went to Estonia and Finland, and had learned their market and teached Japanese people of what kickstart companies to invest their money for. So this event was about learning about new companies which to invest to early on just in case they might grow large and prosperous in the future.
The presentation was hard to follow in Japanese, but I got 10% out of it, and after Komori-san explaining it to me in simple Japanese, I understood most of it.
It's interesting to see how far Japanese people go to learn about the outside world. Since Japanese people can't read about outside world in English, and not many have gone to overseas, there are very few specialists who can teach things in native tounge for Japanese people. Because of this, Japanese people often go to these kind of events to learn from people who have traveled and researched certain topics to teach what they have learned during their trip.
It was a shame that I could not raise my voice and tell them about the things they got wrong about Finland and Estonia, for I lack the language skill to speak such delicate and complex matters in Japanese. It must have been very rare for them to speak about Finland and actually have a finnish person (me) in the audience. If only I could speak Japanese fluently, I would have stolen the show for sure.
While I could not understand much of the speech itself, I was lucky to have Komori-san explain it to me at the end, though still in japanese, since Komori-san can not speak English. At least he can speak in simple terms and slowly for me to understand, so I could understand most of it at the end.
After the speech was over, the network session started. Tables were filled with booze and snacks, just like always when doing networking. Japanese people don't need much beer to get drunk, which makes approaching strangers more easier for them of course. I got to meet four people this time, from which one became a friend of mine. We exchanged facebook information and decided to meet this weekend at Ginza. This person was very interesting to talk to, and I could see we can become good friends in the future. He is very interested about foreigners, for they are rare in Japan, and I likewise am very interested about Japanese people, so it is natural for both of us to seek friendship and hangout together. We are around the same age by the way.
As a proof of the subject, the event was really about Finland and Estonia + Norway and Sweden.
I have said it before and I say it again: I love networking. While it's all about business and gaining experinece for me, I feel like home while doing it. It's like having a party with bunch of strangers who all want to talk to each other and get to know one another, for that is the whole goal of networking. People come to exchange business cards and find potential people clients and workers for their business.
I am very lucky, for I was chosen among the three of us (Eppu, Laura, and me) to join Ogawa-san and Komori-san for this event. Me alone with the two went to the event, and thanks to it I gained more experience and a new friend - what else could I ask for? I must thank Worker Bee for being such amazing host for me while in Japan. Kato-san (My boss) has made sure that we all have a good time, and that we learn a lot from the work we do. The work is challenging and the events are rich in experience. I know I have been writing more about fun and games rather than the actual work I do, but that's only because I am not allowed to talk about it in detail, so there's not much to mention. But in truth, we do a lot of things at the workplace, and Kato-san makes sure we work long and hard - from morning till late evening. For others it may be exhausting, I don't know, but for me it is a blessing and a joy, for I get to experience things like the network session today. It ended around 22:00 and I got back home at 00:00. Was I tired? No, I'm still excited and full of energy from sheer happiness of getting to experience the networking session earlier.
We had so much fun with Komori-san and I, that we decided to go eat Sushi together tomorrow during lunch break at work. Others will join, too, probably. It was nice to bond with Komori-san and get to know him better outside work. People at the Worker Bee are so much fun, it will probably rip a part of my soul to leave this all behind once I return to Finalnd, though nothing stops me from visiting Kato-san and everyone at the Worker Bee in the future.