More than 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall for this Intern!

We braved a typhoon this week to speak with Alina Krebs from Frankfurt, Germany. She’s an intern at Hiroshima Building. She has studied a little Japanese, but that knowledge is quickly increasing, as her kind co-workers talk often about her home country, and their work, of course, with her.



Asahi: What’s the company’s main focus?
Alina: They import beer from Germany, Belgium, France, England, and most of Europe. Then, they sell it in Japan, in a small shop in the front and as a distributor.


Asahi: What do you do here and do you get to drink a lot of beer?
Alina: Only at my welcome party, so far. Most of the time, I fill out incoming orders, send out product invoices, and sometimes help in the small warehouse packing products for shipping. Also, I call Germany or Belgium, in English or German, and ask questions if needed.


Asahi: How long have you been in your internship?
Alina: I’m in my fifth week and I have another 7 1/2 weeks, so 12 weeks in total. Here they said it was short, cause the intern before stayed 10 months.



Asahi: What are your future plans?
Alina: I studied business administration in college and some Japanese to have another language. If possible I’d like to work in a company that has some contacts with Japan back in Germany, and imports-exports could be a possible field to work in later.



Asahi: Any suggestions to people who wish to intern in Japan?
Alina: I think it is important that they have some knowledge of Japanese. Here, they can understand some English, but they don’t really speak it enough to explain the background and details of your tasks to you. It is helpful.