Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Mixed Blessings
Well, it has been over a week since my last update here - and with good reason! I have spent it doing a training course at our Sagamihara factory. It wasn't particularly riveting, but amusing at times as the other participants (Tim, our Detroit Sales Manager and John, our UK Prouduction Manager) came to terms with Japanese culture - corporate and otherwise.
It was also a good chance for me to hone my rather woeful translation skills (the amount of specialised plastics, manufacturing, sales and accounting vocabulary I had to look up was phenomenal), but the fact that I was translating of course resulted in me paying a little more attention to what was being said than I normally would have - which I guess means I may have got something out of the experience. I dunno. At the very least, I did get out of the office for a week - not to mention a few free meals.
I also did the gracious host/tour guide thing on Saturday and took Tim and John into Tokyo (it was their first time in Japan) and it gave me a chance to play tourist a bit too, which I don't bother with very often. We checked out the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa - which is pretty cool, as far as temples go, made a brief stop in Akihabara to look at the latest in electronics, wandered through the ever-crowded, narrow lanes of Harajuku, marvelling at the outlandish garb some young Japanese find themselves clad in and finally hit up Shibuya. I imagine that for someone who hasn't see it before (I can't even remember my first time) that Shibuya Crossing on a Saturday night is pretty impressive. It's certainly nothing like back home (where 'back home' could be pretty much anywhere outside of Asia), and the guys were pretty stunned by the sheer volume of people filling the streets.
To cap off the day, I mixed two of the best ingredients for a fun night out - in the form of Hub happy hour and dinner at The Lockup. (I always tell people that Lockup is somewhere you have to go, at least once - I have lost count of how many times I have been there.) Somewhat sozzled, we made it to the station and caught suitable trains back home.
The night before (and I am jumping around chronologically here for a reason, I promise) I caught up with a few of the current and former girls from work. Anne and Mayuko being the former ones - much of the dinner conversation was spent bitching about work - which is pretty much a staple topic for people who have/do work here. Turns out that life on the outside is a little better, and with Mayuko assistant VP at a bank in Tokyo, one of Anne's friends 1 week from starting a job as a recruiting agent and various other opportunities abounding in this fair city, I admitted that I was pretty much ready for a change - a change with a higher salary, of course.
Having said that, out of the blue, I return to work in Tokyo this morning - my boss comes over and hands me a sheet of paper. Before I really get a chance to read it, he explains that I will, from now on recieve semi-annual bonuses (issued in December and June), effectively adding over 10% to my annual salary. Obviously, this is awesome news and I am utterly stoked. I am at a complete and utter loss however to understand why or how the hell my pay jumped so sharply. Have I done anything extraordinary? Nope. Do I really do anything? Well, sometimes... Admittedly, I have just completed my first full year of work here, but I know perfectly well that my raise is considerably better than the basic annual increase, so I don't know what's going on.
If these guys are trying to positively reinforce my current work habits, they should make sure I am actually doing work to begin with. Although, on the flip side, I will definitely be sticking around to recieve my December bonus. I may need it to cover moving costs and a deposit on a new flat.
However, as the title of todays little (or long) rant may suggest, it is not all the proverbial peaches and cream. Due to some mysterious reason, that Yuki didn't want to talk about in front of the other people in the office, my next planned trip to Australia has been, sadly, cancelled. While it is a bit of a bummer, I was consoled with the fact that I will probably score a trip early next year. Not to mention the fact that I am still coming over in six weeks anyway, so I guess I can stick this one out. I mean, it's only another six weeks and thirteen hours to wait. Not that I'm counting.
It was also a good chance for me to hone my rather woeful translation skills (the amount of specialised plastics, manufacturing, sales and accounting vocabulary I had to look up was phenomenal), but the fact that I was translating of course resulted in me paying a little more attention to what was being said than I normally would have - which I guess means I may have got something out of the experience. I dunno. At the very least, I did get out of the office for a week - not to mention a few free meals.
I also did the gracious host/tour guide thing on Saturday and took Tim and John into Tokyo (it was their first time in Japan) and it gave me a chance to play tourist a bit too, which I don't bother with very often. We checked out the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa - which is pretty cool, as far as temples go, made a brief stop in Akihabara to look at the latest in electronics, wandered through the ever-crowded, narrow lanes of Harajuku, marvelling at the outlandish garb some young Japanese find themselves clad in and finally hit up Shibuya. I imagine that for someone who hasn't see it before (I can't even remember my first time) that Shibuya Crossing on a Saturday night is pretty impressive. It's certainly nothing like back home (where 'back home' could be pretty much anywhere outside of Asia), and the guys were pretty stunned by the sheer volume of people filling the streets.
To cap off the day, I mixed two of the best ingredients for a fun night out - in the form of Hub happy hour and dinner at The Lockup. (I always tell people that Lockup is somewhere you have to go, at least once - I have lost count of how many times I have been there.) Somewhat sozzled, we made it to the station and caught suitable trains back home.
The night before (and I am jumping around chronologically here for a reason, I promise) I caught up with a few of the current and former girls from work. Anne and Mayuko being the former ones - much of the dinner conversation was spent bitching about work - which is pretty much a staple topic for people who have/do work here. Turns out that life on the outside is a little better, and with Mayuko assistant VP at a bank in Tokyo, one of Anne's friends 1 week from starting a job as a recruiting agent and various other opportunities abounding in this fair city, I admitted that I was pretty much ready for a change - a change with a higher salary, of course.
Having said that, out of the blue, I return to work in Tokyo this morning - my boss comes over and hands me a sheet of paper. Before I really get a chance to read it, he explains that I will, from now on recieve semi-annual bonuses (issued in December and June), effectively adding over 10% to my annual salary. Obviously, this is awesome news and I am utterly stoked. I am at a complete and utter loss however to understand why or how the hell my pay jumped so sharply. Have I done anything extraordinary? Nope. Do I really do anything? Well, sometimes... Admittedly, I have just completed my first full year of work here, but I know perfectly well that my raise is considerably better than the basic annual increase, so I don't know what's going on.
If these guys are trying to positively reinforce my current work habits, they should make sure I am actually doing work to begin with. Although, on the flip side, I will definitely be sticking around to recieve my December bonus. I may need it to cover moving costs and a deposit on a new flat.
However, as the title of todays little (or long) rant may suggest, it is not all the proverbial peaches and cream. Due to some mysterious reason, that Yuki didn't want to talk about in front of the other people in the office, my next planned trip to Australia has been, sadly, cancelled. While it is a bit of a bummer, I was consoled with the fact that I will probably score a trip early next year. Not to mention the fact that I am still coming over in six weeks anyway, so I guess I can stick this one out. I mean, it's only another six weeks and thirteen hours to wait. Not that I'm counting.
# posted by Nils @ 4:23 PM 
