2017-10-15 03:30 The greeting that is misunderstood
Y (Kuma's owner)
I have been having a strange feeling for a long time about greetings that foreigners (except Asian) do to Japanese. What I'm writing is the greeting of putting hands together in front of your chest and making a bow. I don't know why but so many foreigners do this greeting to Japanese and I'm sure that almost every Japanese has a very strange feeling. Please remember Japanese don't do that greeting.
Tonight, I saw a TV program of introducing one of the famous historical places, Kyoto. The reporter was an Aussie woman, she wore Japanese traditional clothes "Kimono" and looked nice. However, she put her hands together in front of her chest and made a bow several times. I was disappointed to see that.
I think she tried to do the Japanese greeting that she believed. What she did was strange to me but she was in Japan and I know she did it because she tried to show her respect to Japanese customs.
But sorry mate, what you did just made Japanese feel strange and maybe they thought "What is she doing?"
I wonder what made people believe that Japanese greet that way? It's incomprehensible, isn't it?
If you have a chance to go to Japan, please remember that greeting isn't a Japanese custom. The bow is a Japanese custom. If you don't get used to bowing, just smile. Smiling is the universal language.
2017-10-05 12:10 Consideration about Australia Post
Y (Kuma's owner)
I came to Australia in 2011 and I'm now a permanent resident holder. Yes, I'm not an Australian citizen yet but as one of the residents who loves Australia, I have something that I would like to say.
Australia is a great country; friendly people, beautiful nature, good medical system, there are lots of things that Australia can be proud of. I would like to show respect for the people who established the system of this country.
I clearly remember when I saw the movie "Rain Man" for the first time. In the movie, a guy who Dustin Hoffman plays says that "QANTAS never crashed." I was surprised to hear that. I think it's amazing for keeping the record with no crashes. I'm not a specialist and I don't know anything about planes but I can imagine there are so many factors to cause plane crashes; mechanical factors, atmospheric condition and human factors. I know there are many non-Australian employees who work for Qantas but I think it's not an exaggeration to say that Qantas' remarkable record shows the ability of Australians. Well, I'm not writing this blog for praising Qantas.
Let me get to the subject, I have been having some problems sending and receiving parcels. I sometimes go to the local post office. The staff are kind and friendly. I have no dissatisfaction with them but unfortunately, I have had an issue with sending parcels recently. I think the missing rate of letters and parcels is very high. I have been living in Australia for nearly 6 years and already have several experiences that I couldn't receive letters that the sender said were sent to me. Also I have several experiences that I have received letters which were written to a different address. I regard this as a very serious problem. I know humans make mistakes but the rate of making mistakes is high and I don't know why.
My husband and I run an online shop business at home. It's very important to send our products to the customers safely and with certainty. Last month, we sent several parcels on the same day and one of them has been missing. The parcel we lost contained about $80 product but we have more expensive products to sell and if we lost them, it would be a big loss.
Maybe you may think that if we don't want to lose it, we should have taken an insurance out on the parcel. However, as is often the case with online shops, customers pay postage and they decide what kind of parcel type; non- tracking parcel, trackable parcel, express. People don't want to spend extra money and they don't want to pay money for insurance. Even if it's lost, usually the shops will send the same products again. So, this situation is a bit hard for shop owners. In addition, postage of Australia Post is expensive. I heard that the Queensland government or Australian government (I don't know which is which, maybe both) recommend and encourage "Made in Australia" exports. If so, please improve one of the important factors: transport.
Even if the service of Australia Post is not good I don't think that the staff are the factor. As I wrote above, Qantas has been doing a remarkable job. It doesn't mean that only Qantas can hire good workers. It's impossible. I'm sure that there are lots of good and talented workers in Australia Post as well. Then, why is the service of Australia Post notorious? As you can see in the review of Australia Post on the website of productreview.com.au. I can't say that the review rating is good even just as flattery. My guess is the badness of the system of Australia Post.
According to ABC News, the former chief executive of Australia Post was paid a total of $10.8 million after quitting. What an enormous amount of money, it is! However, I don't know about the former chief executive so I cannot simply blame him. Maybe he has done a remarkable job, hasn't he? If Australia Post is rich enough to pay a big retirement bonus, why didn't they use the money for other things?
All right, I'll imagine myself as chief executive of Australia Post. What should I do first? The first thing that came up in my mind is get an executive from Amazon. Well, I'm not a native English speaker so I'm a bit worried of being taken wrong. I mean not someone who lives in Amazon, Brazil, I mean someone who has a career in the American company, Amazon, you know?
I think the system of Amazon will be helpful. I don't agree 100% with their conduct but they are good. I heard the news that Amazon is coming to Australia soon. To a greater or lesser extent, it's no doubt that some Aussie company would get damage because of Amazon. It would be helpful to get someone who had a career at Amazon and we can get the different points of view. I seriously think this is a good idea.
Mailing service is the key of our daily life and if we cannot count on it, our life will be more inconvenient. Furthermore, employees in Australia Post would be happy if they are able to feel the people's trust on their job.
I've been writing this blog with a layman's way of thinking but I hope my wish to Australia Post will come true and one day, the review of productreview.com.au will be filled with praise.