Superior customer service

The problem:

Hello. I just received my order #____ for Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trade paperback boxed set. Since I ordered it new and not used, I was rather disappointed to see that the box and the spine of one of the books were damaged.The tear on the book spine isn't too bad, but the damage to the box is quite unsightly, so I was wondering if it's possible to exchange the set for another (undamaged) one? (Since I'm currently living in Japan, though, I was wondering how the return shipping would work?) Thank you for your time.

The astonishing solution:

Thank you for contacting us about your order. I am very sorry to hear that your set was damaged in transit. I have gone ahead and ordered another set form our new book supplier. They will be shipping this new item to you using international priority shipping. You should receive this package within the next 5-14 business days. I apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause.

Please do not worry about returning the damaged set to us. If you have no use for them, please consider donating them to a local charity, of finding a friend that may be interested in reading the books.

Please be sure to let us know if there's anything else that we can help you with. Have a great day!

Sincerely,
T--
Better World Books
www.BetterWorldBooks.com

After experiencing the endurance test that Air Canada calls customer service (see my 1/21 and 2/11 posts for full details), I was absolutely stunned by the reply to my email. If I hadn't already decided I would try to make most of my online book purchases through Better World Books, this would have definitely sold me completely on the store! So many stores/services offer a "100% satisfaction guarantee" but very few actually do! But Better World Books is being 100% truthful when they say "We have a very generous return policy."

It's incredible how one good amazing experience with true customer service can make you feel that much less jaded/cynical about businesses in general.

...

So, anyone interested in a cosmetically damaged (I'm really picky about my books when I buy them new) but otherwise perfectly good box set of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" (The Golden Compass) series? First come, first served! ^_^

"Please make 6 sentences about Canada Day"

"Please make 6 sentences about Canada Day" was on the lesson plan I received for my Sanbongi JHS ninensei (second year) visit tomorrow. When I spoke to the teacher today about the lesson plan, she was a little worried that I would have difficulty writing the sentences because Canada Day celebrations are different all across Canada.

While that's certainly true, the reason I was having difficulty coming up with 6 sentences was really that I didn't know very much myself about Canada/Canada Day!! If Allie hadn't mentioned it at our Canada Day dinner at Aaron's place, I wouldn't have even known that this year is Canada's 142nd birthday!

The five sentences (for a true-false quiz) I came up with initially were:

1. Canada Day is July first. (T)
2. We can see fireworks on Canada Day. (T)
3. This year, Canada is 200 years old. (F)
4. We often enjoy barbeques on Canada Day. (T)
5. We usually watch parades on Canada Day. (F)

After a bit of research, though, I found out that even though I've never seen a Canada Day parade, there are actually places that have them! So, after a bit more thought, I came up with the following:

5. We also call Canada Day "Independence Day." (F)
6. Many shops have big sales, so we go shopping on Canada Day. (F)

I wonder if American ALTs would have the same difficulty coming up with six sentences about Independence Day/the Fourth of July?

I HATE screwing up!

ARGHHHHHH!!!

I can't believe how stupid I was! I got my lesson plan for Friday a week ago and looked at it numerous times but didn't notice until 11pm tonight that they scheduled me for a 6th period class when I'm supposed to leave right after lunch tomorrow!!! (All of the Towada BOE ALTs are heading off to Aomori for the JET Leavers' Party.)

@_@

I can't believe I screwed up so badly! I was even looking at the lesson plan at school today and still didn't clue in! What an idiot... Now I've got to gear myself up for apologizing profusely tomorrow...

"You are what you eat"

Inspired by the Good Magazine Picture Show "You Are What You Eat", this is a picture of my fridge after going grocery shopping today:


English Assistant Language Teacher | Semi-Rural Northern Japan | 1-Person Household | Often skips meals | 2009

(The caption is also modeled after the article.)

So far I think I'm doing a decent job of buying local/domestic.

Top Shelf (left to right):
- Akita Prefecture milk (one of the prefectures directly below Aomori)
- bottle of Towada Tare sauce (one of our specialties!)
- lemon/peach/mango tea made in Miyagi Prefecture (Tohoku Region--i.e. the same region as Aomori Prefecture!).

Middle Shelf (left to right):
- Iwate Prefecture (the other prefecture directly below Aomori) tofu--in Ziploc container
- Yamagata Prefecture (again Tohoku Region) white peach jelly
- Chinese chestnuts (whoops! see note below)
- (Danone) Bio aloe yogurt made in Gunma (northern part of the Kanto region, at least)
- Meiji aloe yogurt (behind the Bio) made in Tokyo (a little further south)-- no aloe flavour available in the Bio brand today

[Note on the chestnuts: I was tricked/confused because there's Chuugoku Region (includes Hiroshima Prefecture) in Japan, but Chuugoku is also the Japanese name for China. Since the product was certified organic by the Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS), I thought maybe the chestnuts were from the Chugoku Region. But after a little research, I found out that there are indeed organic chestnuts from China certified by JAS, so... ^^;; Surely there must be Japanese chestnuts available somewhere?! But at least China is closer than America (previously purchased almonds).]

Fruit/Veggie "Drawer" (left to right):
- Aomori Prefecture (from Sannohe to be precise!) cherries
- Towada mini-tomatoes
- Aomori Prefecture carrots--behind tomatoes
- Ibaraki Prefecture (again, northern part of Kanto Region) green peppers
- Towada cucumbers


After grocery shopping, I decided I was hungry enough to put a little more effort than usual into making (note, not "cooking") dinner. So I went through the extra effort of peeling a carrot, scooping the seeds out of a green pepper, and putting some soy sauce and bonito on tofu for a bit of protein--not to mention, variation!

With the bonito, I guess my dinner was pescatarian* rather than vegetarian, but it's not like I'm trying to become vegetarian anyway. I'm simply too lazy to cook meat. =P

(*With pescatarianism people eat seafood but not meats like chicken, beef, pork, etc. Since Japanese people usually make a distinction between meat and fish, if you tell them you're vegetarian, chances are they'll think you're pescatarian and serve you fish instead of beef/chicken/pork, etc.!)

Anyway, one thing I've realized about trying to eat more local produce/products is that it increases your grocery shopping time because you have to stop and read labels for everything! And since my Japanese geography is terrible, I was even pulling out my JET diary and looking at the map of Japan to choose brands made in prefectures closer to Aomori!

If I have time one day, I think I should go to the Michinoku Eki and see if there's a bigger selection of local (Towada) produce/foods there. There's also a fruit/veggie store just down the street from me and a produce stand right outside the Taisozuka... Right now I usually go to the Jusco because it has convenient hours (open 'til 11pm), and offers a point program (using WAON), but I really should at least check out the smaller, neighbourhood shops sometime.