My Week So Far

Sunday, February 7th, 2010 in: News, Travel

I think I might have a little jet lag. As exhausted as I was when we got back from the Hobby Fair, there’s no other explanation for waking up at 6am and being unable to get back to sleep. I took the opportunity to do something productive, and after a yoga session I started sorting through my photos and videos from the previous day, polishing up the past couple posts. Even then, it was still only 9am. Mercifully, Hiro woke up and we made our way over to the office. Near the entrance is Hiro’s dad’s office, where he teaches 囲碁 (Go, one of the oldest board games. I might try to pick up a new hobby while I’m here) . Empty boxes were piled in the main room, artifacts from all the new equipment and furniture with which they’ve been stocking the office.

The office itself is a smaller room lined with enormous computer screens and bulletin boards, with an air purifier on one end to counteract the combined effects of the kerosene space heater across from it and five people occupying the space all day. There are bookshelves but not much vertical space is utilized yet. I would later learn that it would be my responsibility to remedy this. In addition to design, photography and English tutoring, I’ve been brought aboard for what’s known as “DIY” in Japan. In short, I’m also the dedicated handyman for the company. Apparently, there’s an impression that Americans are handy. I’ll try to live up to my reputation. 器用貧乏だからさ。

Jun and Shinya are sharing the living space adjacent to the office, pretty much the perfect size for one or two people. Hiro will be taking over the space once the boys secure an apartment nearby. Below us is the family store, a cute little neighborhood market his aunt and uncle run. They provide us with lunch and dinner on weekdays, an aspect of the job that I didn’t expect to be such a delight. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing the food is, all I can do is post photos for you to feast with your eyes. Considering the nature of our job involves a lot of sitting around on our butts, I’m going to need to develop a serious workout routine to keep myself from getting too fat. Yoga in the morning just isn’t going to cut it! I might have to take up running, or do some karate training in the afternoon. Fortunately, I’ll be meeting up with some former Pipeworks members this Saturday to get some bouldering done. Lucky lucky!

I’ll post more about the work itself when it’s closer to being launched publicly. We’re making great strides towards getting things in order, but we’re playing this one pretty close to the chest. Stay tuned for more details.

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