Weekend


I needed this weekend. Friday was a day off, so I slept. It is amazing to me how little it takes to exhaust me here. I think that it is because everything here takes effort - nothing is simply easy. All the extra brain power it takes to get through the day just wears me down. It hasn’t helped that we haven’t been set into a routine yet - until now. It seemed like every week the schedule of our lives was changing - now we are more set. Jason and I have basically set work schedules now and the kids are in school full time - the new year has just begun for them.


After a day of rest I decided to host a few people in the apartment for a late dinner. Jason and all the other teachers worked until 9ish, so we had a late taco feed. I really miss having people over and doing dinners and drinks. It was nice to entertain for a night. The following night we went to a friends home for a Japanese style BBQ and sushi. It was amazing. I was brave and tried some new things - I’ve found that I like raw fish better than cooked fish. The hostess was one of the school owners that we work for. Her husband is the one that pours with a heavy hand and likes to make sure your glass is always full! Jason was more careful this time! Sunday we were invited to join a family for a Hanami party. Hanami is the act of flower viewing - in Japan it is mainly done in April when all the cherry blossoms come out. They are here for just a short time - maybe 1 or 2 weeks. For Hanami parties people gather under the cherry blossoms to eat and visit. It was a very nice day and the family that took us in was gracious. We all shared our food and did our best to communicate. That part is always fun!


I had similar conversations with two different people this weekend. Each was about working, work ethic, etc. Here in Japan it is not uncommon at all for a person to work 6 days a week. Many people not only work 6 days a week, but they work 10-12 hour days, maybe longer. Then, come their day off, when they should be exhausted, they go go go all day. Resting to many in this culture includes continuing at 1,000,000 miles an hour. When I asked about this I was told, “I don’t want to live long.” What? Clarification please! “I don’t want to live much past 80, so I work hard now.” The conversation continued and ended up being pretty enlightening. I’m not subscribing to that train of thought, but, it was interesting none the less. In addition to simply being used to working long hours, there is an issue of loyalty and a sense of obligation to one’s employer. People don’t tend to job hop here as much as I have seen elsewhere. Employees are grateful to their employers for the job and want to work hard to please them. Hmmmm. I think I like it.

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