Meishi

I love it when Mary rings my doorbell. Mary is our mail carrier and when she shows up life is good. That means she has something that won't fit in the mailbox. Earlier this week she delivered a box with my “meishi” or business cards. I have been waiting for that box….Thank you Mary!



Here is my meishi in English.

This is my meishi's other side - in Japanese.
Mrs. Saito translated my card. She has a computer program that can translate into Japanese characters. Arrigato Saito-san!

I used a website to order my meishi. I had roughly a million – no a billion - picture choices, but knew I had to choose something typical of Colorado. I want my new Japanese friends to know something about us. Do you recognize the Maroon Bells? These peaks are both “Fourteeners” near Aspen and the most commonly photographed mountains in our state!

As a teacher at LPES I don’t have a business card. Why do I need one to go to Japan?
Three reasons:
*Everyone has one. Business cards are a part of Japanese life.
*It has the LPES website listed. Won’t it be cool when a Japanese person visits our website to learn more about us!
*I hope to make friends in Japan and this is an easy way for us to stay in touch.

There are some pretty strict rules about how to exchange meishi in Japan:
*I have to present my meishi with two hands.
*I have to bow while presenting it.
*The more important the person, the lower I must bow!
I will come home with lots of business cards to share.
Here is how I must receive meishi:
*I have to accept the card with two hands, careful not to put my fingers over the information
*I must look at it and (pretend) to read it (if it is in Japanese)
*I must carefully put it in a business card case (not my pocket)

To earn KenYen look at an American business card. Are the things I included the same? Different? Since I will be sharing them in Japan, why do you think I made the choices I did?