I spent my holiday working. Huh? Yup. You read it right. I worked on my day off. Not that it should come as a shock to anyone who works in Japan. National holidays are actually created so corporate staff can put in a day of work at home. Instead of spending time with my son or going out to play with him, I was stuck behind my computer and a mess load of .xls files.
I was given yet another report to complete for the current work week. I decided to put in the extra hours at home on the national holiday instead of working a 'boat load' of overtime this week. You have to remember that in Japan, overtime is a way of life. I put in on average 80 hours a month of OT. Last week, I had lunch with someone from the data marketing team and I know that he works about 100 hours of OT a month. When I asked about his private life (with his wife) he just shrugged his shoulders. I know that shrug well. For a Japanese corporate warrior, work comes first. Home life comes last. A distant last.
I figure with the 5 hours of 'work at home' I put in today, I am only 8 hours behind in my weekly work log. I have got to make up those lost 8 hours over the next four business days. Or lest, my head is going to get cut off my the HR department.
Well, at least next week, with our plane-load of VIP guests flying in my one of our US offices, I am assured of working lots of OT (unpaid, of course). I have already warned my wife of my late night returns and my early morning departures. I figure that if I can get at least 3 hours of sleep a night, I am going to do well. I might even sleep at the office in order to get an extra 3 hours a sleep a day.
(PS. Note to myself - BUY MORE LOTTERY TICKETS, FOR CHRISSAKES!!!)
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