After work today I was invited to go out to dinner with my coworkers. I enjoy going to Japanese restaurants with Japanese people—it’s actually quite a different experience from what I’ve known in the U.S. But whenever it happens like this, after a day of work, it necessarily means that I’ll be getting home way past my bedtime (i.e. eight hours before I have to get up again to go back to work). So that’s the situation I’m facing right now. Yes, I’ve figured out that I should be going to bed at this moment. No, I’m not going to go to bed at this moment. There is something that I’d like to quickly post before saying goodbye to the day that ended awhile ago.

 

Autumn is the most popular marriage season here, so we’ve been busy—too busy. We have more business than we can really handle. Knowing that, I wasn’t too surprised when my boss asked me during dinner tonight if I could make more of a habit of working overtime until the busy season has ended. More time at work, huh? Shall I try to push 70 or 80 hours per week (counting commuting)? I guess most annoying things in life get worse before they get better, don’t they?

 

As long as I can continue to go to the gym as I’ve gotten used to doing, then I think I’ll be okay. I’m not willing to give that up without some kind of a bloody fight. It will be hard, I’m sure, but as I’ve said before, this is temporary. The busy season won’t last forever, and neither will this internship. If any of you are concerned about me because of this news, then consider it from another perspective: This is effectively a guarantee that I’ll be coming home after this internship, never to return on behalf of Sato Photo. And I’ve been told that I could stay on as a regular employee if I wanted to, so this is actually meaningful news. Therefore more than being depressed for my sake, I recommend rejoicing.