A smiling lady in professional dress welcomes me at the Sherwood. This is my first meeting with Miss Mayuko. My first impression of Miss Mayuko is elegant, as most Japanese ladies are. As a sales manager at the Sherwood, Miss Mayuko, behaves exactly the same as the hotel's image, which is a feeling of warmness, carefulness and friendliness.

Miss Mayuko gives me a detailed and clear introduction of the Sherwood Hotel. The Sherwood Hotel, the first globally recognized 5-star commercial hotel in Taipei to be run by Taiwanese, has been featured in several international travel magazines, such as Travel & Leisure, Business Traveler-Asia Pacific, Business Traveler, Asia Money and Review Asia with its customized services and luxury facilities. The hotel aims to make every single stay as comfortable as the guest's home. When stepping into the Sherwood, guests are always greeted by smiling faces, a feeling of being welcomed as if they were family and not as a stranger.

The hotel is a miniature copy of the world outside of it, Miss Mayuko said. Working in a hotel, you have colleagues from different backgrounds. Some may be extremely different from your own. You work with chefs, room services, waiters/waitresses, and security. You meet all kinds of guests with diverse cultures, professions, ethnicities, and personalities. Thus, training and learning quickly occurs in hotel.

Miss Mayuko has been in Taiwan for almost 9 years. She has been with the Sherwood hotel for 4 years and before the Sherwood, she worked at Sony and the Regent in Taiwan. During her 9-year work experience in Taiwan, Miss Mayuko has a certain understanding of Taiwan and Taiwanese people. She mentions Taiwanese see teamwork and team benefits as priority, instead of focusing on their own personal performance. Also, people in Taiwan are friendly and open, not as traditional as she originally thought, said by Miss Mayuko. The special nature of Taiwan's geopolitical status in the world makes Taiwan a multicultural and ever changing environment, which drives Taiwanese to overcome all challenges and difficulties, creating an energetic and welcoming society.

Finally, when asking Miss Mayuko to briefly describe the people who are looking for oversea opportunities, she said if they want to experience Asian culture as well as pursue personal career path, Taiwan is a good choice since Taiwan provides not only lots of job opportunities, but also a convenient living environment.