It's been a while since I posted my blog last time. I've been in Japan for two weeks, and came back beg. of this month. Since then, I've made week long trips to Columbus, GA every week. Weekend is the only time I can come home and let my hair down for a while, and then, go back to do some house-keeping things (they are piling up!), and work for my summer class.
The trip to Japan was part of my internship I've been doing since last September. I've been working as an intern for a firm in north-side Indianapolis. This firm does financial examination (kind of auditing) for insurance companies nationwide. One of its clients has a Japan branch, and that's why I was in part of this. We conducted some interviews at Japan, and met some key persons at Financial Management Department. My major task was to assist and help with staff both US side and Japan side, including translation and interpretation.
The Japan branch of the client was located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in the middle of the business district. Every morning, we walked to the building where its office is located (the office building was only 3 minutes away from the hotel we stayed). Typically, we had one or two meetings (interviews) with different people in a day. I learned how interview should be conducted, what kind of questions need to be asked, and how the overall process goes for the examination, etc. The most important thing I learned was, being bilingual (or understanding two languages) is not enough! You really have to know more than just the language! Knowing language and knowing business is different! I thought I did good amount of prep before going Japan by translating lots of financial/IS documents and by looking some documents that the firm did last examination. But it was certainly not enough. One of the things I could have done before going was reading the client's last year's Annual Statement, and maybe knowing their main products and their features.
I am expecting to visit Japan again in August for the same client, so this time, I should be fully prepared!
