Sunday, June 08, 2003
Writing from Starbucks/Yahoo Broadband Cafe in Ometesando--free internet cafe.Stopped by Tokyo Union Church just as the service ended and the preacher and his wife were incredibly nice, giving me their card in case I needed any help.
Last night,I went out with Frances Wu, Bryn Mawr '94, in Roppongi Hills. I doubt I would have recognized her,but she said I still looked the same. She has been in Tokyo for three years, working at an American advertising agency (though with Japanese norms like working until 2 am and going out to drink with your colleagues). We chatted about a lot of different things--Bryn Mawr, culture shock, the start-up craze/internet boom, 9/11. She even offered me a place to stay once her sister left from her visit since she has an extra room in her company-paid apartment, but of course I'm already paid up for the month.
Apparently Fran does technical stuff as well as advertising. She showed me some of the wireless sites she had worked on--for Northwest, Lipton, and Citibank among others. Lipton's was the one she was most proud of. The emphasis was that Lipton's was refreshing for mind as well as body, so had a section based on different personality types. I asked her about the text messaging thing, but it turns out that SMS doesn't exist in Japan like the rest of Asia; it is all done through e-mail. She brought up a usability problem--apparently every kind of phone has its own type of browser, not all of which her company can test on, and it didn't work on the client's browser. She actually had the same browser on her phone, but was in New York at the time so didn't test it. She was very interested in the class and the research I wanted to do. She had actually found Mimi Ito's web page and was considering going back for a master's in communications at Annenburg, where Ito is on sabbatical. Fran's company was trying to do research on what 30-40 yr old women were interested in since they didn't seem to respond much to their keitai sites. She is thinking about going home within the year.
After dinner, we wandered around Roppongi. We passed an ad for an upcoming Roberto Mirabel concert (famous Native American performer) as well as poster for a new TV series which had a doctor decked in a feather headdress and warpoint. Frances said that American Indians are really in with the Japanese right now even though their own natives, the Ainu are ignored. As we walked along the block,she pointed out the Citibank as well as her favorite salsa place and a lot of clubs and bars. The place was mobbed and I saw more gaijin than I have seen anywhere else. Another Mawrtyr, Susan Poon, was standing on a corner which was pretty bizarre. I wasn't tired at all, just taking in the sites, until I realized it was almost midnight. The trains here stop running sometime between 12 and 1 depending on the line and I would have to go through at least 3 different lines to get home. Luckily, I was only one stop from the Hazemon/Denen-toshi so got back on the next to last train. Fran invited me to hang out with her and her sister in the coming weeks, so it will be nice to have a friend to hang out with.
Last night,I went out with Frances Wu, Bryn Mawr '94, in Roppongi Hills. I doubt I would have recognized her,but she said I still looked the same. She has been in Tokyo for three years, working at an American advertising agency (though with Japanese norms like working until 2 am and going out to drink with your colleagues). We chatted about a lot of different things--Bryn Mawr, culture shock, the start-up craze/internet boom, 9/11. She even offered me a place to stay once her sister left from her visit since she has an extra room in her company-paid apartment, but of course I'm already paid up for the month.
Apparently Fran does technical stuff as well as advertising. She showed me some of the wireless sites she had worked on--for Northwest, Lipton, and Citibank among others. Lipton's was the one she was most proud of. The emphasis was that Lipton's was refreshing for mind as well as body, so had a section based on different personality types. I asked her about the text messaging thing, but it turns out that SMS doesn't exist in Japan like the rest of Asia; it is all done through e-mail. She brought up a usability problem--apparently every kind of phone has its own type of browser, not all of which her company can test on, and it didn't work on the client's browser. She actually had the same browser on her phone, but was in New York at the time so didn't test it. She was very interested in the class and the research I wanted to do. She had actually found Mimi Ito's web page and was considering going back for a master's in communications at Annenburg, where Ito is on sabbatical. Fran's company was trying to do research on what 30-40 yr old women were interested in since they didn't seem to respond much to their keitai sites. She is thinking about going home within the year.
After dinner, we wandered around Roppongi. We passed an ad for an upcoming Roberto Mirabel concert (famous Native American performer) as well as poster for a new TV series which had a doctor decked in a feather headdress and warpoint. Frances said that American Indians are really in with the Japanese right now even though their own natives, the Ainu are ignored. As we walked along the block,she pointed out the Citibank as well as her favorite salsa place and a lot of clubs and bars. The place was mobbed and I saw more gaijin than I have seen anywhere else. Another Mawrtyr, Susan Poon, was standing on a corner which was pretty bizarre. I wasn't tired at all, just taking in the sites, until I realized it was almost midnight. The trains here stop running sometime between 12 and 1 depending on the line and I would have to go through at least 3 different lines to get home. Luckily, I was only one stop from the Hazemon/Denen-toshi so got back on the next to last train. Fran invited me to hang out with her and her sister in the coming weeks, so it will be nice to have a friend to hang out with.
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