万能服メイド (Bannou Fuku Meido.)

For the past few days after class and in the evenings, I’ve been working with my small group (with T and K… I know their names, but it would be rude to just post them) to prepare a presentation for class today. We had to come up with an idea for an invention, make visual aids, and then present it. In the presentation, we had to explain all of the many functions it had, and things it could do.

We also had to make sure to use the grammar points we’ve been studying in our presentations, and moreover, use them correctly.

So that meant a few meetings in Aoi Hall at various times of the day/night, when we were all free. K and I are both in JBPP, so we’re pretty busy on top of everything else.

I went by the local 文房具屋　(ぶんぼうぐや, bunbouguya, or stationery store) to pick up some magic markers and cheap brush pens to work on the illustration. Might as well put my calligraphy skills to use!

Working on the presentation was pretty stressful, especially after we all got an email from M-sensei, telling us that we couldn’t use notes during our presentations… well, we weren’t supposed to, but if necessary, we could look down briefly, but it might affect our scores. Something like that.

Did I mention that my spoken Japanese is still bad? So this is a bit stressful for me, but I came here to learn how to do stuff like this. So it’s stressful, but educationally so.

It Does What?

We came up with the 万能服メイド, which means it’s “The Mighty, All-Purpose Clothing Maid.” It’s a machine that will grant every laundry wish you may have, and maybe some you didn’t even know you had.

It is not a robot, because none of us could draw one.

Instead, it’s a big box that appears to consume your laundry, and dispense perfectly cleaned and folded clothes. (Or on a hangar if you want.) It’s powered by dreams. Dreams of not having to do laundry.

I’m sure it can even make you a cup of tea while chatting about the weather.

We each had to do a 3-minute presentation. K started, I came in the middle, explaining functions, and T made an incredible sales pitch at the end. His spoken Japanese skills are awfully good.

Still, 3 minutes can be an awfully long time.

I made it through without reading my notes too much, but I still have a way to go to get better at this.

That said, I’m already a lot better at speaking than when I first got here… but yeah, I’ve got a long way to go.

JBPP Stuff

We just finished working on 他社訪問　(たしゃほうもん, tasha houmon, or visiting another company). There’s a lot of cultural “stuff” to remember.

For example, how early should you arrive? Five minutes is the generally-agreed on answer I got. It shows you’re not just punctual, you’re slightly early, but not too early, because that would inconvenience the people you’re visiting. So if you get there seven or nine minutes early, wait outside for a few, then go in as if you just got there.