I am in the midst of a transition from company employee to
working on my own which essentially means I have less control over my travel schedule – not what one thinks would be the
case but my current situation. I am doing advisory work so when a client
requests a meeting, it may only require a day or two of my time. As a result,
for now, trips are shorter which has
good points and bad points - less time away
from home but a more intense travel schedule.
This week I left the US for Osaka on Tuesday morning
arriving on Wednesday afternoon (due to the 14 hour time change). I had a
dinner meeting Wednesday in Osaka with a client who was asked by another
Japanese company to invite me to Japan for an introduction and to discuss a long
term advisory services agreement. On Thursday morning, two people from my client company
and I took the bullet train to Nagoya to meet with the potential client. After
the meeting and lunch, the “client in waiting” took the train with the three of
us to Tokyo to meet their Australian partner who had flown in only for our
brief meeting and dinner. Although I was
flattered that so much time and travel expense was spent to meet me face to
face, having a meeting that involved people from three continents seemed like a
good opportunity to use the Skype "conference call" feature.
After returning to the hotel from dinner, I changed into
casual clothes and left to meet a former customer and friend at a nearby yakitori
shop/pub so we could catch up. In my former life, I knew I would be in Japan
for at least one week out of every two months, now my schedule is much less
certain so I wanted to see as many contacts and friends as I could during my
short visit.
On Friday, I played golf with my client and the “client in
waiting” and then had dinner with old friends in Tokyo. One of my dinner companions was my (soon to be
80 years old) Japanese mentor. I never
miss a chance to see him. After dinner I met a customer from my old job for
drinks and got back to my hotel at 1am.
Saturday morning, after a run around the Imperial Palace, I met a former co-worker for tea and then made
my way to Tokyo’s central train station. I took the Shinkansen back to Osaka to catch
my flight home since I couldn’t get a seat out of Tokyo. In five days, I spent
33 hours in the air, 9 hours in airports, 9 hours in cars or buses and 7 hours on
trains all for a total of 6 hours in scheduled meetings, and a round of golf
with lunch in between the front and back nines. In my “spare time”, I managed to spend 8 hours with friends. I flew over 16,000 actual miles but got more
than 60,000 frequent flyer miles due to the bounty of incentives for top level
frequent fliers. I didn’t really
experience jet-lag on this trip because I didn’t have time but being in Japan
in December does present a special challenge for me.
Once in Japan, I was
almost constantly, uncomfortably warm – except when I was outside or in my hotel
room where I could turn the heat off. From the taxis, buses and trains to the
conference rooms and restaurants, the temperature was always about 5 degrees
above my comfort zone. My theory on this
phenomenon is that the post war generation that endured years where food was
not abundant and heat sources scarce during the winter made it a national policy to never be cold again
once the Japanese economic boom began. From my perspective, they have been far too successful.
Everyone I contacted before the trip cautioned me that
winter had arrived and Japan is “very cold” which to me is code for: “bring shorts”.
When I walked outside the terminal building at Kansai Airport in a short
sleeved shirt, I got many strange looks from the bundled up Japanese. When I
handed my suitcase over to the limo bus attendant he inquired where my coat
was. “In my suitcase”, I replied. I knew what was coming when I boarded the bus
– high heat and low humidity. Five
minutes after the bus left the airport, I mopped the sweat off my forehead while
the Japanese around me – most still wearing their overcoats were perfectly
content. I was out of practice dealing with the Japanese winter heat. The next
day on a balmy shinkansen ride I was wise enough to wear a short sleeve shirt
on the train and wait until we neared our stop to duck in a restroom to “pull a
Clark Kent” and emerge as “salaryman” in a blue suit. If I had a big “S” on my
shirt it would have stood for sweaty rather than superman. Of course, I realize that I was born with a naturally low
temperature set point and all foreigners do not have the same the “warm”
feeling I have in Japanese public places.
I have endured countless lectures about the dangers of not
wearing a coat in Japan when all those around me are wrapped in layers but have found
it is better to smile rather than to explain.
Some of those who golf with me on a crisp winter morning seem to
understand that my threshold for cold is different than that of the locals. I
once played a winter round in short sleeves and asked my playing partner how
many layers he had on. He had four thin layers on under his bulky top layer and
also had disposable “heat bags” sealed on his inner layer.
Despite my love for the country overall, the Japanese desire
to stay warm leaves me cold………
