May 30, 2014
Weinstock Immigration Lawyers' Intern Story

To allow our team to get exposed to different cultures at work, we host an international intern, who helps us with administrative back-office tasks. This helps our team to learn various communication styles and cultures up close which in turn helps us communicate with our clients who come from different cultures and speak different languages. This also helps international interns to get exposed to the U.S. culture and values. This month's newsletter will feature Japanese student intern Kana Miyamoto's story.
Kana Miyamoto's Story 

I'm a sophomore student in a Japanese college majoring in business. I wanted to strengthen my English because I could travel anywhere and make a lot of friends from different countries. During my semester in the U.S. I was able to immerse myself in the American culture. I made many friends and had wonderful experiences.

 

After working at Weinstock Immigration Lawyers, I learned about the differences in work life between Japanese and American cultures. In my short internship I had the freedom to do my job and learned to be self-driven and self-governed in my job, which is very different from the Japanese culture, where people are closely managed and directed by their managers.

 

The culture at Weinstock Immigration Lawyers was very friendly which is very different than Japanese companies, which are very hierarchical. I learned how diverse the American culture is, working with people from different nationalities, origin and culture, while Japan is not so diverse. I was able to communicate well with my team members, and I learned that there are viewpoints and that we have to communicate well in order to understand each other better. I learned that American companies have good leadership and allow their employees to have a voice. I was able to grow up professionally and learn many new things, and I am thankful for this special time in my life.

 

Kana is now back in Japan. We thank Kana for her support and help and we wish her great success in her future endeavors. 

 

How To Communicate Cross-Culturally?

 

The most important aspect of any communication is to respect the other person you are communicating with and to try to understand the world from their point of view. When the cultures are so different, like the American and Japanese cultures, being patient, repeating questions, asking the other party to repeat, summarize understandings and set clear expectations and goals in advance are very important.