Day 295 ~Monday, again~
Day 295 ~Monday, again~
Like many other people I am not fond of Mondays. I have never took a notice of it in Europe, but in Japan and USA calendars start with Sunday. I still find it weird, because for me the week starts with Monday and then in the end you have weekends=2 days off. But if you start you week with a day off (Sunday) it makes even more difficult to get in shape on Monday. And then you have a feeling that after Friday there is only one day you have to rest - Saturday. I do not like it. No matter how tiring Mondays are , I still prefer our traditional Mon-Fri work week and 2 days weekend calendar!
And do you know why I am writing all this down? Because there are some slight troubles at work (storm is ahead) and I'd rather have a silly chit-chats than face the reality)
Have a great start of the week!
Day 294 ~ Gloomy Sunday~
Day 294 ~ Gloomy Sunday~
"Gloomy is Sunday,
With Shadows I spend it all"
Day 293 ~Fukushima trip~
Day 293 ~Fukushima trip~
By 6 am I left home to get on time to the bus leaving for a tour to Fukushima.
I stopped by conbini to get some breakfast and hot coffee).
On the bus were mostly Philipine girls, Indonesian guys and me from foreigners XD and some Japanese people.
4 hours drive to get to Fukushima for the concert.
At first of course I got a chance to get a look at all omiyage and buy some. I was tasting sake quite a lot and I bought some for my dad and mom. For dad more traditional 3 types set and for mom a more sweet peach based sake. The peach one is called "momo no namida" = "tears of peach" it was soo sweet)
So after tasting sake , wine (I bought a nice bottle of cherry sparkle aka champagne) and some sweets and fruits the concert finally started.
People from various regions came to support Fukushima and I truly enjoyed the mood. The matsuri spirit from the beginning to the very end! And there was this one cute guy who was playing on some kind of traditional panpipe.. I like the way he was dressed - simple black jeans and shirt with a sweater and a bright turquoise scarf: loved it!
But what impressed me the most, when we were leaving the concert hall all the participants lined up to bid us farewell. It was so sweet).
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After that we drove to a different location where the gyoza festival was held.
Gyoza.. lots of gyoza!!! Lots and lots of gyoza.. and what was not as nice - lots of people. I had to stand for about 40 minute s in line to get some gyoza. But as we agreed to buy more and then exchange I got to eat lots of various kind tasty gyoza)
And then after another 4 hours of drive we were finally back in Tomioka.
Day 292 ~Friday night out~Day 292 ~Friday night out~
My German boss's family left for Germany for 2 weeks so he decided to take a week off and go to mountains XD logical I know! So it means that for the upcoming meetings I will be preparing data on my own) One thing he did well - he agreed my trip to Shibuya on Oct 18th^^ There will be very important meeting with all big bosses and (I guess) me XD
Many of you know that status is very important in Japan. And I have heard before that me attending meeting with all managers is weird, when I was given a chance to present report at such a meeting it was even a bigger surprise. so now I can only imagine what people think about me going to Bosch Japan headquarters for all divisions business plan presentation XD But before the meeting I need to update two presentations!!!
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In the eve we went for a farewell party for SJ. He is being transferred to Gasoline systems as of Nov 1st. Actually for me it was a bit tiring. This time there was no place for legs under the tiny table on the floor: I am not a big fan of seiza... After all I decided not to drink. I am still taking sleeping pills and next morning I had to get up extra early. But it was fun to watch others get drunk and talk nonsense.
~~~
Lately I noticed that the more people are present the less desire I have to speak Japanese. It is embarrassing enough to make mistakes in front of one person and the entire group staring at you:no way:
Day 291 ~GM3~
Day 291 ~GM3~
GM3 -> gross margin 3 = total net sales over variable costs; indicates the coverage for fixed costs and profit.
Do you know why I am telling you all of it?
Because my task was to analyze about 10 business units (basically separate divisions) in regards to fluctuations of their GM3: for several years: including all special impacts: including all structural changes: etc:
I am sorry: I like controlling: it is really interesting and challenging. But to do it all in 2 hours XD
It is just mission impossible! The more fun it is I guess. In this cases I think that I have some great colleagues (no matter how much I complain about some people, others are truly amazing!)