Random Trips and Lessons Learned

I spent the majority of Tuesday afternoon looking through my Human Resources book/packet in prepartation for both the upcoming test and the upcoming study session I had with my Japanese classmates Yusuke, Yuko, and Nozomi. Being that English is their second language, I would naturally become a sort of 'teacher' for them instead of us just studying.

In addition to studying, I also had a meeting with my assigned group from International Negotiation about our upcoming negotiation for the next day. Our Dutch counterpart, Neils, had reportedly fallen ill with some sort of stomach problem and was unable to attend, so I proceded with the preparations with my Chinese counterpart, Wei. As we looked at the information we were given, it became apparent that this would not be an easy negotiation, as much of the information was unknown from the other side, while also being necessary for planning. Our meeting was short-lived, and I couldn't help but notice that our opposing team was in the lounge planning for nearly the whole afternoon.

In the evening, Nabil showed up and randomly suggested that we go to karaoke. We all figured that we might as well and we made way as our gaijin crew consisting of myself, Nabil, Einar, and this time Todd. To reminisce on some missed pictures from last time, there was Einar and I and Nabil and I. Aside from the tone-deaf Arab (who actually sounded better this time) and the Arnold Schwarzenegger impressionist (who sounded the same), Todd took on a fake heavy metal tone of voice, though he didn't seem to be trying very hard. The experience turned out to cost what I thought was an exorbitant amount. Fortunately/unfortunately, Nabil had promised us that he would treat us to karaoke. I said that next time we should go to the other karaoke place since we could wind up with half the price for the same thing.

Wednesday brought new activities to deal with as the day progressed. First, we were to have another negotiation meeting in attempt to talk with everyone in the group. After neither of them showed up on time, I went to have lunch, during which, Wei called me to say he would be late. When I returned to the lounge, I found Neils working on an essay. He had described his experience the previous day as needing to be within ten seconds from a toilet all day and getting a shot from the hospital in order to quell his stomach. After awhile, Wei showed up and we talked about the negotiation a little bit until they both had to go to class. I didn't feel like we had a solid plan, which was unfortunate since that was the last chance we had to meet before class.

Almost immediately after our negotiation meeting ended, my study session for Human Resources began. During the session, I pointed out several points that I thought were important for the test, as well as explained several of the concepts to my Japanese friends. Before long, it was time for me to go to class and attempt the negotiation. I was able to finish going over the material for our test just in time before leaving.

The negotiation was interesting. My team was to role-play an American company that had been bought out by a Japanese company. Our goal was to keep our freestyle work environment in tact which was an interesting feat considering that most American companies are not even that free. Our opposing team consisted of three Japanese girls who were to represent the Japanese company. To make matters more interesting, the teacher had rented some video cameras for us to record our negotiation.

The negotiation itself was so long that we ran out of tape. It seemed that our team, despite not having discussed the negotiation that much, was able to work together towards common goals. I would many times want to add something, but another member would start talking about it before I got the chance. Despite our easy flow of words, the Japanese side had to break away from us several times to discuss certain aspects together before telling us what they thought. In the end, we came to an agreement that we were both able to be happy with - two hours after we began.

After discovering that we were probably the last group to finish, I decided that we might as well make something of our meeting and I declaired 'Nijikai!,' which means second meeting - typically for eating out together. And so we all headed to a Japanese-style restaurant where we shared a variety of different dishes. In total, our meal cost about $30... for six people, coming out to about $5 per person.

After returning home, it was time for my words from Monday to come back at me. I bet my roommates the rough equivalent of $100 that they couldn't drink a 1.5 liter bottle of soda within a certain time limit without burping until the end, at which point they had to exhale a single burp and no more. I was joking about the bet, but they were adamant about doing it.

Todd was up first with a twenty minute limit, which I thought was unreasonable. His strategy seemed strange, as he was making odd noises as he progressed. As it turned out, he was cheating by burping through his nose while swallowing. His mischief did not help him though, as he reached the point where he could no longer hide his gastric sounds.

Einar took his shot next with a much more admirable time limit of five minutes. Since his time limit was so low, Todd also threw in his $100 bet. Einar seemed intent on following the rules as he gulped down the soda like a machine. For some odd reason, he felt it necessary to have a conversation with Todd while he was on the spot. After he got about halfway through, he had to hunch over to take a break and walk around for a little while. As he moved back toward the bottle, he began shaking his head to indicate that it was over and he exploded. He was upset that he had just eaten prior to the contest, and he demanded a retry on Friday. Since I didn't want to bet $100 in the first place, I took the opportunity for readjustment and downed my offer to $20. I think I will enjoy the experience more now that I don't have to pay an unfair amount of money when I have only something to lose.