I have been working as an intern at my university for 2 months. Now I am used to saying 'Hi' to vice-presidents and meeting head of many departments. This week, I was busy preparing for an international conference, picking up a Japanese professor from the airport and making some new connections. I don't know why but throughout my university years, I keep meeting Japanese and German while I am learning... Chinese, thinking that China is going to be really influential in the future. I do like Japanese culture and especially German culture with its people being law-abiding and punctual.
In terms of Japan, the professor I picked up turned out to be really honest and close to me like a friend. However, at the conference, he was nice and acted extremely formal. This professor was like 3-4 people of the Japanese that I met before. He also gave many people including me his business cards, which reminded me of one of my Japanese friends giving me his business card the first time we met.
I have to agree that Vietnam right now has a very close relation with Japan. There are quite a lot of Japanese students going to our university to exchange and Japanese companies having their offices here. My learning Chinese, however, does not go to waste as I can recognize some Chinese characters in Japanese with the exact same meaning. The only difference is the pronunciation.
Regarding Germany, it's my favorite country! In my first year, I joined a seminar in which a German professor elaborating on the German culture. I was fascinated to hear the story of Germans not crossing the road until the traffic light turns green at the middle of the night, or the Germans are regarded as coconut because the fruit is really hard outside but the inside is soft and tasty. They are said to be completely honest, rude and strict. They are punctual and there is hardly a sign of hierarchy in the business context (it still exists but Germans act as if it's not there). Besides, I am amazed to hear that Germans don't depend much on imports. They create, develop and manufacture nearly every necessary product for their country to use, even an eraser. The products are assured to be good and are even exported to other countries!
I had a little bit chit chat with some German professors during the farewell party. My insatiable curiosity about German culture made them truely happy :)
The post is just my personal view of the people that I met before. If you have a different opinion or want to tell me more about Japan or Germany, feel free to comment below.
Now everything seems to slow down to its usual pace and I am able to continue writing on Steem.