Here at work I’m in the middle of a long slog without holidays. One of the nice things about working for Kawasaki Rolling Stock Company is that they do have a lot of holidays, and they are really flexible about taking your own holidays, too. This goes against the grain of a lot of big manufacturing companies in Japan that seem to work their staff really hard with no opportunities for rest. However, even with the wealth of holidays there are some parts of the year that are a little dry. Now I’m working through the sixth week of ten weeks without any extra holidays. Of course I get two days every weekend, but sometimes five days a week every week gets a little boring.
The good news is that in anticipation of this feeling, we scheduled a quick weekend trip to Seoul, South Korea to do some serious eating. I’ve been to Seoul several times before, and so has Kuniko, but this will be the first time for us to stay there together. We’ve been watching youtube videos of street food in Korea, brushing up on our Korean phrases, and we’re starting to make some space in our stomachs. I really can’t wait.
After we get back I’ll have three weeks of regular work before the power-savings holidays start in July. That is a whole week off for me, with nothing on the schedule. It would be a great time to travel except for the fact that my wife is working a regular schedule, and also that the temperature in late July is excruciatingly hot. Previous years I have considered going to a theme park somewhere because I have a holiday when most other workers don’t, but school is out and you could probably die waiting in line for a ride. From next week I’ll start to put my thinking cap on and make a list of projects to do around the house (that are close to an air conditioner).
Watch this space for a recap (and hopefully some pictures) from Korea next week!
