Today is a national holiday for most people in Japan, but at the factory where I work they are keeping it open. They don’t like single holidays much because it involves shutting everything down, putting everything away, and then coming back the day after the holiday and starting it all back up. What they’ve done is move all the single holidays into strings of holidays during the hot summer months. What that means for me is that I’m one of the few people going to work today in Japan, but later in summer I’ll get a day off to relax while everyone else heads to work in the heat. And I’m just fine with that.
This is also a special day because next week is Golden Week, and most people have the whole week off. I’ve got a relatively easy day at work today, and then, let the relaxation begin. I’ve got about four books lined up that I want to read, as well as a couple of movies I want to watch.
Last night I had a plan to meet Renato, an OTC coworker, after work in Nishi Akashi. Usually my office hours end at 5:30, and I have plenty of time to get to Nishi Akashi at 6, but yesterday I had three students show up out of the blue to ask questions, and I ended up being 20 minutes late. Renato was a good sport and killed time with coffee and donuts in Mister Donuts.
We caught a quick meal and some beers at a small place that Yoshi took me once before, with lots of international beers available in the bottle. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I had a rare chance to drink a Samuel Adams, and I was a bit disappointed. It was a lot lighter than what I remembered. Oh well.
The dinner was good, the beer was cold, and it was fun talking with Renato about his work, life and travel plans. He’s a really nice guy.
OK, I’m out of here soon. It is a holiday train schedule so I’ll likely have a chance to sit down on the morning commute, which is a very rare luxury for me. More updates later…
