I'm going to take a little bit of break from catching up on the Peace Boat experience, and write a bit about the reality, here and now.

I started working on Thursday. This is the first "real" job I have in Japan. And on the second day, I already discovered that Japanese people loves working overtime.

Well, maybe they dont "love" it, but they work overtime like it's nothing and except you to do the same.

On my second day there, I was asked to stay late and so I did. I put in 12 long hours. On a Friday night.

Then they asked us if we could come in on Sunday.
So 4 out of 5 of the translation team showed up today, and I was the first one to leave "early", at 7pm.

Oh, and this morning, I was sure that I would be the only person at 8am in office gear, but no. There were TONS of people, on a Sunday morning, in thier suits and thier briefcase, and with thier game face on.

I'm sure it's not all like that, and it depends on what kind of jobs or what industries you work in, but this totally blew me away.

I never really worked at a very very competitive place, but I NEVER, ever, had to work this much in the states.
(well, there was a time in my life when I only worked 2 days a week... so I might have a wierd comparison going on here)


Another new experience for me that comes with working, is, commuting.

You've all heard about the craziness of inhumane rush hour of Tokyo.
I was caught in this rush hour 2 mornings ago, when there was an accident on my line causing about half an hour of delay.
There were flooding of people waiting for the delayed train to come, and when it did, insane amount of people shoved themselves in the train.
I hesitated, and thought about the option of getting on the next train, but made my decision and bravely shoved myself in.

I was pushed agaist between the door and some middled aged men.
It was quite uncomfortable, to put it mildly.
But then, it was also a zen-like moment, where I could feel myselp traveling outside of my body.
I really think that's how people endure it, to meditate and leave your physical body while you are being pushed and shoved around in that train, with your personal space completely invaded by stinky strangers.

I'll try to take some picture of this someday. It's really intense.

The other 2 days of commute wasnt that bad. I could sit the entire way and had a good time doing my crossword and reading up about Bush's behind being whipped. My commute is just about 3 hours roundtrip- it's like commuting from Tacoma to Seattle everyday, maybe even more. I never thought I would be the type to be able to put up with commuting, but now that I have to, I'm hoping that I can get lots of reading done.

Now it's time to go soak my feet, finish my crossword, and get ready for another long long day tomorrow...