All Work and No Play...

Day in and day out I work. Sometimes it feels as if I am always working. I have worked for the past nine straight days. Sadly, I had not really noticed that I had been working so much until this morning. As I was putting my tie on, I happened to glance over at my leather jacket hanging from the wall and could not remember the last time I wore it. It was at that moment I realized I had been working my ass off non-stop. For a second, I thought about tossing my tie in the trash, skipping work, and getting drunk all day. Of course, I did not skip work. I finished getting ready and walked out of my apartment with my head held high.

I tend to fall into the ` work like a dog` habit far too easy. In the past, I have worked a whole month without a day off. I just kind of get into a groove. There are times when I cannot fell when I am tried. Usually, I just kind of pass out in the most comfortable spot available; giving short notice to those around me. I can make myself go beyond normal limits, when I focus on something. Most people would worry about experiencing burn-out from working too much. Staying in good health would also be a natural concern for the average person. Well, such worries were never instilled in me.

I grew up with little options than to work and hustle for every penny. I guess living in such a rough place taught me the value of hard work. This back breaking work ethic has proven to be an advantage for me in Japan. In the Japanese culture hard work is expected and treated as normal. It is very rare for me to hear Japanese people complain about working too much. They seem to actually enjoy working their ass off at times. I guess I now find myself effected by Japanese culture. In the past I worked hard simply because I had to in order to survive, where as now, I work hard because I actually enjoy working so much. As of now, I have a steady job I go to five days a week. In the evenings, when I do not get off work late, I usually try to teach at least one independent student; in the mornings sometimes as well when time permits. On my days off I travel around Tokyo either teaching independent students or doing trail lessons. Apart from all of these things, I am always studying on how to be a better teacher when I have the time. I have found that the train is a perfect place to get in some studying time.

So yeah, I am keeping myself busy. I like the Tokyo work ethic. If I wanted to I could everyday with no end, but that would be real stupid. I know that I cannot keep this up forever, so I have planned some down time in a few weeks. In the mean while, I have started to pace out my schedule so I will not be going full steam all the time. I have to have some time to relax during the day or else I will start falling asleep during lessons. Overall, I am having a good time as of late. All this hard work is going to pay off down the road. I just have to be careful about how much I drink!