I’m Meg, a female member.
That sounds great—you get to talk with someone from overseas online♪
If you can communicate in English, I assume you speak it to some extent too, right?
With a phone call, gestures won’t get through, but since you’ll be able to see each other, that’s reassuring (*^^*)
If they’re originally from Australia, you might have a little trouble understanding Australian English at first. (You may already know this…sorry!)
For example:
“Good day, mate!” → “G’day, mate!”
If they don’t understand, you can always write it down and show them (*^^*)
Also, make sure to look them in the eye while you talk. You may want to be even more conscious of that than you would with a Japanese person♪
Sounds like something to look forward to. Good luck!
Maezawa from the Corporate Planning Office here as well.
> 1. Is there anything I should be careful about during an online date?
If you’re meeting another Japanese person, I think the conversation will naturally flow without needing to worry about much. But with a foreigner, you should probably assume they speak little to no Japanese. (Even if they do, many only speak it at a basic level.)
The conversation may stall, so it might be a good idea to prepare a list of topics in English beforehand. It would also help to be prepared to use your smartphone’s translation app to translate as you go.
> 2. What are dates with foreigners like?
If you meet in person, you can probably get your meaning across somehow, even with basic language skills. You’ll likely have dinner, then be invited somewhere, and need to negotiate the allowance properly before going. (Unlike with Japanese men, you may not receive anything if you don’t say anything.)
With an online date, I suppose the conversation may move toward deciding when to meet next, but I’m not entirely sure.
Also, I’m sorry if I’m mistaken, but although the photo you registered shows you wearing an outfit that seems to have taken some courage, the photo itself isn’t very good.
It makes you wonder what the staff member who took it was doing.
The result might be the same even if you have it retaken at the same branch, but there’s still a chance they’ll do a better job next time, so I think it might be worth trying a reshoot.
That said, if you’re already receiving offers regularly, perhaps the slightly awkward photo is actually working in your favor, so maybe you should leave it as it is.
