i work at a company in tokyo with a lot of people from different countries. ive been to australia and new zealand and absolutely loved travelling through those respective countries and found the people extremely friendly and helpful. however, from working with aussies and kiwis in tokyo, i am finding that they are very reluctant to "work". i realize that his sounds bad and is not a reflection of all people from those countries but i guess i am running out of ideas of how to effectively deal with these types of situations. ive noticed that they are very reluctant to actually take the work on themselves and almost dictate what they want done. they come across as demanding, lazy, arrogant and self righteous while leaving as soon as the bell sounds. the "do as i say, not as i do" mantra seems to come to mind. ive found a majority do not speak japanese, make no effort to speak it. when you take the initiative and do as they ask, then it is completely wrong as it was not done in the "aussie or kiwi way(whatever that is)" and you are starting from scratch again. if i ask as to how they would like it done before i start, the comment which is most common is "give it some thought and push it through". i wish my fellow collegues would take into account that they are working in japan and realize that they are the ones that need to fit in with the local culture/customs as opposed to the locals trying to make all the accomodations to them.
ive asked my fellow japanese collegues on their thoughts on this issue and their impressions are the same as mine.
i realize that we all come from various different backgrounds/cultures, etc but has anyone else encountered this situation in japan. any suggestions on how to deal with this? thanks.
Well, they do come from a land down under where women glow and men chunder. No, seriously, just as the Yanks are heirs to a glorious history of perfection that necessitates their constant self-righteous lecturing everyone else in a very loud voice, the Aussies are a product of what was originally a penile colony. This requires them to neglect honest Protestant work in favour of daydreaming about how to introduce Mr.Johnson to Sheila. Kiwi work pretty much consists of a bunch of guys sitting around pounding down vitamin B's while discussing why the new Haka isn't as scary as 15 average flirting Scottish women.
If you don't like working for jerks, move. Many people have reported what you have, and although there are probably lots of hard-working Aussies and Kiwis out there, you have obviously run into a bad lot. If you can't adapt or get someone to change the situation, move. It is not your responsibility to point out that fellow foreigners live and work in Japan, nor that they MUST fit in with the local customs.
OP, here's my take on your situation. I'm a Kiwi, and I don't think that we are pathologically lazy as a nation. We are not a nation of people who want to work themselves into an early grave, but the idea of fairness and "pulling your weight" is important enough that most people will put in a good day's work.
As an extremely egalitarian society we don't like to be talked down to- someone from a more authoritarian society will probably have to find a different way to dispense orders. A typical way to ask someone to do something in NZ/ Australia is "What I'd like you to do, is I'd like you to .... Okay?" When I was helping to train new eikaiwa teachers from NZ/ Australia we had a really hard time getting them to simply say "Please open the book" as it's ingrained into us to ask things in a more roundabout way rather than give blunt commands.
It sounds like you have a group where a working culture has developed among those particular people into the situation you now describe- it doesn't mean that is typical of all Kiwis and Aussies anywhere, any more than all Americans are loud-mouthed arrogant a**holes, although I have met a few of those.
I'm surprised you say that a majority of Aussies and Kiwis you have met don't speak Japanese as they are probably the only countries where it is taught at high school, and that is not my experience at all. I speak pretty reasonable Japanese myself, or so I like to think...
LOL Pudman, I read your post without seeing who the author was, and when I saw "penile colony" I thought "what the ...? Is that a typo?" It was all made clear to me when I saw who the author was...
I apologize for my flippancy Kara. In all sincerity there are and have been some very notable. pleasant and hard working Australians such as Niki Lauda, Franz Klammer, Mozart, Adolph Hitler and of course the Governator hisself, Arnold Schwarzenburger. That Colonel Klink accent drives me crazy. And although I've never worked with Kiwis, I have had conjugal relations with several and can vouch that - boomboomwise - they are as hardworking as James Brown was....although I must admit that the long pecker and plump, round, agitated body gave me quite a bit of trouble. Thank God they're flightless and can't get away from ol' Puddy!
OK, Adolph wasn't very pleasant. But he certainly worked very, very, hard at being extremely UNPLEASANT.
Interesting.<BR><BR>I wonder if having a better cross section of nationalities would <BR>stop cliquey us and them thinking.<BR><BR>I don't think it's anything about Australians and Kiwi's perse<BR>(declaring my bias I'm from Aus.)<BR><BR>I think Karan's point about people getting very pricklish about <BR>being 'ordered' is very fair. Have you tried asking one of the <BR>more reasonable ones by themselves if there is a problem? <BR><BR>It sounds more like your work environment that's the problem.<BR>
Lookey here, I am an American by birth and Southern by the grace of God and I spent a bit of time in New Zealand. 7 months actually and while working the Apple orchard circuit I found that my Kiwi-counterparts were always telling me to slow down. Of course I'm a farm boy and grew up working construction for my slave-driving father. I have one speed. I thought it was just my own misguided (over-guided) work ethic until I went to Korea where I worked with several other Aussies and Kiwi's. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to call a few of them my friends but I'll be damned if it wasn't like passing an Immigration bill through congress to get them to give a little more than the bare minimum of what is required of them. Keep in mind that statistically, Americans put in like the 3rd most working hours, beaten only by Chinese and the Japanese. I don't think I'm making a broad generalization here but hey, that's just the way it is.
Is there anything more annoying than the "if you don't like it, move" argument? Don't like something? Pack up and leave or keep your mouth shut! Come now Glenski, you know things are not so simple. My hatred for campaign trucks is surpassed only by my dislike of smoky restaurants. Does that mean I should leave Japan? Or, should I voice my displeasure and try to make positive changes in my community?
So while I support OP's right to complain and sigh exasperatedly at the infantility of Glenski's 'shut up or quit' mentality, I must say, there's nothing wrong with not working too hard ;-) All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Perhaps the world would be a better place if everyone worked 40 hour weeks, left as soon as the bell sounded and spent more time with their wives and kids.
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