K 

So lately I’ve been thinking about vacation time zones. And for me, so I used to be super American in my understanding of vacations. Like when I was a kid, I was taught that everybody celebrated American holidays like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. And when I started meeting people from other countries, I realized that was not true. They were like, no, we don’t celebrate the birth of your nation.

C 

But why not?

K 

Right, everybody loves fireworks. And when we first came to Japan, I still – even though we had stopped celebrating them in the United States, I was still kind of very connected to Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and all of those holidays, and I find that I am losing touch with them as I live in Japan. And I – because I totally missed Indigenous Peoples’ day. Like I didn’t do any post, I usually post about it on Twitter. And I didn’t. I completely miss Veterans Day this year. And Memorial Day, Labor Day, like I am missing all of the American holidays this year, like none of them have registered with me.

C 

So then are you really missing them?

K 

Missing them is not doing what I would normally do to participate.

C 

Okay.

K 

And like normally what I do to participate for Veterans Day is I bring attention to the black indigenous people of color who have fought in wars since the beginning of wars for the United States and celebrate them because they’re underrepresented and under celebrated, and their contributions. So like the Apache code speakers, they did one movie about them. And there was one indigenous person in the movie. And like, they showed the depersonalization and dehumanization of the code speaker because they called the actor the code. They didn’t actually give them a name. Later on in the movie, they did, and it changed and all of that. It was a great art for Nicolas Cage’s character. But if it weren’t for indigenous people, and indigenous languages being kept alive, they wouldn’t have had – they would have been at a great loss and World War Two because no one could crack the code.

C 

Right.

K 

It was an uncrackable code. But indigenous people aren’t celebrated as playing a key role in World War Two. And so I tweet stuff like that, and like about the Buffalo Soldiers, and all of that, and the Tuskegee Airmen and the contribution of indigenous people. And then I also – so that’s what I do Veterans Day. On Thanksgiving, I usually tweet out and bring up the discussion of what the real first Thanksgiving was, which it was a massacre. It wasn’t a coming together. It was horrible and awful. And on Memorial Day, I memorialize a lot of lives that that don’t get looked at that don’t get representation that, you know, have sacrificed for the United States. So those are like the the big ones that I do. I never do anything on Easter or Lent because I’m an atheist, and those are religious holidays. So I don’t feel the need to be like, your God’s not real. That’s not my thing. Like if you believe in God – yeah, I say if you believe in God, and you’re celebrating your God, whichever God that may be, I completely respect your beliefs and honor your beliefs. And I don’t feel the need to be disrespectful about it.

K 

Yeah. I find it interesting. I’m thinking about it that Japan doesn’t have any war related holidays.

K 

Yes, they do on the DL.

C 

Right, but not official national holidays. Because when the US wrote the Constitution, they were like, nope, you don’t get any of those. Yeah, like thinking about Veterans Day is celebrated as Armistice Day. Initially, the end of World War One, and then I – I forget, like Europe, a lot of countries have an equivalent of Veterans Day.

K 

Yeah. A lot of countries have the equivalent of Thanksgiving.

C 

Right. Japan has a labor Thanksgiving Day.

K 

Yeah.

C 

Which is for celebrating organized labor. And just labor in general.

K 

Isn’t that more Memorial Day.

C 

No, that’s Labor Day in the United States.

K 

Yeah, like the clue’s in the name.

C 

Yeah.

K 

Okay, go on with you’re saying, sorry I interrupted.

C 

But Japan doesn’t have a harvest celebration day.

K 

Yeah. And so Japan also doesn’t celebrate the solstice.

C 

I think that it’s acknowledged, but it’s not a general holiday.

K 

Because we were in Canada, at least on the west coast of Canada. And there was a big winter solstice parade.

C 

Right. And where I grew up in Fairbanks, we didn’t celebrate the winter solstice because that was just not a good thing. But summer solstice was a several day celebration.

K 

It was very Midsommar, if you’ve seen that movie.

C 

Very much, so yes.

K 

Just kidding. Don’t get mad at me if you’re listening from Alaska. Hope you’re staying warm.

C 

Yes, it’s quite cold there at the moment.

K 

So what’s been kind of jacking me up recently is now I have to learn all of these – so I know all of the Japanese holidays. And I love like respect for the aged. And I don’t participate in Valentine’s Day, nor do I participate in White Day. We don’t participate in any gift exchange. Because I really do see what like the marketers are saying. So I used to be like, that’s so agist to say by the time you know, you’re 30, you’re branded. And I do – I have my brands that I stick with. It’s really rare that a new brand can sneak in on anything. And I literally have all of the physical accoutrements that I would want. I have too many possessions at this point.

C 

Yeah, I’ve tried to get you to take swag from my company, from my job. And you’re like, nope.

K 

No, do not have them send me anything. I don’t want anything. I have everything I need. Like the last thing I’m – the things that I’m having to get are things that are related to me being chronically ill and the deterioration of my physical condition. So they’re not celebratory things that would be gifts. So like mobility aid, I love my trekking poles. When they came, it was a great, wonderful, happy day for me when they came. And I love my stegnomomitor. Is that how you say it?

C 

Sphygmomanometer.

K 

Yeah, I love that. When it came, that was a great day. And my blood pressure cuff.

C 

That’s the sphygmomanometer.

K 

Okay, my blood pressure cuff, my stethoscope, my sensors for my blood sugar. To make sure it’s not too low, it’s not too high.

C 

You’re on a continuous glucose system.

K 

Yeah. So like all of these things aren’t, none of them would be wonderful gifts. But all of them are essential and vital to me staying alive.

C 

Yeah, so I just make sure that we keep the ones in stock that get used up, and that we replaced the ones that get worn out.

K 

Yeah, so we do buy stuff. But as I as I’m getting older, I am finding that the things that I buy are not for entertainment purposes. Like I – my entertainment, really narrow. But I do buy books.

C 

Yeah you do.

K 

Because I’m going to a publishing company. But beyond that,

C 

But in the other sense.

K 

Yeah. But beyond that, I mean, I buy books that are completely unrelated to anything that we’re doing, anything that we have going on.

C 

Yeah, so I think we’ve got the Japanese holidays kind of down. Like Culture Day was a couple of weeks ago. The one I don’t have down is the new Emperor’s birthday.

K 

Yeah, that was so hard. The old Emperor’s birthday was really convenient. Because it was in December.

C 

Yeah. December 23. Yeah. Cool. Right on Christmas. I remember that.

K 

Yeah. Because we’re already ingrained with the Christmas holiday.

C 

Right. But I don’t remember what the new one is.

K 

Yeah, like I know. So for me, all of August is Obon. And the first week of May,

C 

It’s either the end of July or the end of August. Because it’s supposed to be the end of the eighth month. But different parts of Japan count that month differently. They say no, no, historically, July was the eighth month. So the end of July is Obon. And others say no, the end of the month is the end of August. So you can go basically west, and it’s July and east and it’s August.

K 

So according to the Nagaya public school system, it’s all August because kids are out of school, they get the month of August off.

C 

Yeah, I think they’re just trying to avoid complications.

K 

You think what?

C 

They’re just trying to avoid complications. They’re not trying to get into a discussion about whether like

K 

Yeah, cuz school goes year round. Yeah. And so they get random months off, and I’ve never quite mastered

C 

There’s like a two week break in March before the new academic year begins. And then there’s a break in summer.

K 

So I was more in tune with it when I had clients that had kids in the Japanese school system, and teachers that work in the Japanese school system. But since I haven’t been doing therapy, I find that I’m not coming into contact with any Japanese holidays.

C 

Yeah.

K 

And because of my work, and owning a publishing company, that my schedule is very much busier during holidays and breaks. Than it is because that – or right after a holiday or break, because that’s when writers are able to write. That’s when they have the time is when they have breaks or vacations from work.

C 

Yeah.

K 

So I don’t stay in tune with American holidays, because we don’t celebrate any of them. Sorry if you can hear me itching, I have hives today. Yay, fun, glorious hives. I’m not doing well. Health wise today not going well. So yeah, Japanese holidays don’t affect me because I don’t work for a Japanese company. And American holidays don’t affect me because I don’t work for an American company. And for my PhD, I’m sort of free range on that. So when I work and when I don’t work, like my chair is always encouraging me to take time off. But never has any idea whether or not I’m working or not only knows the dates that I’m giving deliverables,

C 

And it’s like, okay, you don’t have any class for two weeks, maybe you should take two or three days off.

K 

No, my chair – she was like, I hope you take a solid week off.

C 

Okay. Because I know when I was doing it, Nagoya University doesn’t have classes for like four months out of the year, there’s a two month break and a two month break. But for grad students, that’s not actually a break. So I never got a vacation. I just got times when I wasn’t doing teaching assistant work because classes weren’t running.

K 

So I’m supposed to have times when they can’t expect anything of me. There’s a four week period where they can expect any deliverables. But we don’t really fly with – I’m at the point in my PhD, where that doesn’t actually make any sense.

C 

It’s just so individualized to you.

K 

Yeah. And so like, I’m doing my oral defense on Tuesday for my proposal – recording this a week early, because things are about to get super busy. And that’s can, that’s -I’m having a hard time performing worse today. That is actually the break, the quarter break. So I’m really grateful that they’re doing the oral defense during that time, because if I have to change anything, then I can change it week two of the following term. And so that’ll be convenient. So no matter which way things go, I’ll be collecting data next term, which was my goal.

C 

Right?

K 

I have my own personal goals. Chad thinks I set unrealistic – sorry for that big crash and boom. But Chad thinks I set unrealistic goals for myself and I do not.

C 

I think you set realistic goals and then you move them as you achieve them. I achieved goal one, so I’m gonna push up goal two. I got goal two, so I’m gonna bring up gold three, and hello, goal four. So you’re a very productive person. And I just have concerns because I know for myself that leads to burnout.

K 

So now we’re on. I’m just ignoring that, blowing right past it. Like I do every time you mentioned that, or it comes up. So now moving on to Australian holidays because those surprised me and come out of nowhere. I feel blindsided.

C 

Specifically Victorian holidays, because I work for a company that’s headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.

K 

Yeah.

C 

And I have the option to take any country’s holidays that I want.

K 

Which, again, is weird.

C 

 So I could say yeah, I’m gonna take Japanese holidays and just not work Japanese holidays or whatever. But I thought it’s easiest to take the same holidays that most of my coworkers are taking.

K 

Okay.

C 

Was football games, I got the day off. And there was a horse race. I got the day off. I think we talked about that one.

K 

What are you talking about?

C 

I’m talking about a few weeks ago, I got the day off for the Melbourne Cup, which is a horse race. I think we talked about that one. A few weeks before that, I got the day off for the Australian Football League finals as a state holiday.

K 

Okay, so they have a Football holiday.

C 

They have a football holiday. They have a horse racing holiday.

K 

They have sports related holidays. So like Japan’s sports day.

C 

Yeah. But like if the Super Bowl were a holiday.

K 

That’s American football.

C 

Right. And then I have some time off this month, I think I’ve one day off and then take off for the end of the year for a couple of weeks.

K 

You have some time off this month?

C 

I think so.

K 

We are halfway through the month.

C 

I think I have a day off.

K 

So you think some random day this month you have off?

C 

That’s right.

K 

And you have no idea what it is.

C 

That’s right.

K 

But we’re halfway through the month. So you presume it’s going to be in the next two weeks.

C 

That’s my assumption.

K 

And by the time y’all are listening to this, Chad will either have had the day off, or it will be coming up, or Chad will have realized that Chad does not have any time off in November. Which this this is the crux of my new reality is that Chad never knows when there’s time off.

C 

I have to check on a regular basis. I have to Google.

K 

And we have a shared calendar.

C 

We do.

K 

But the shared calendar doesn’t do diddly squat in terms of helping me know when.

C 

Well my calendar very helpfully says, hey, you’re in Japan. So I’m going to show you Japanese holidays. Which is not actually helpful

K 

At all because neither one of us are on the Japanese calendar.

C 

Right. So I have coworkers and other countries besides Australia, and some of them take the Australian holidays and others don’t.

C 

Okay.

C 

And then Australia, you get 20 days of paid leave per year. And 10 days of sick leave on top of that.

K 

Nice.

C 

So people often take leave, like for a week or so. And then the company asked that people take it, take some of it up during the end of the year, which is part of the Australian work culture that you basically have, like, half of your time is free to take when you want it and the other half the company will ask you to take it on specific days. Japan has 10 days of leave. If you can get your company to agree. And the US has zero.

K 

The US has like weird random days off. It depends on like, what level you’re at in the company what company you work for.

C 

Right. But it’s completely up to the company.

K 

Yeah there’s no like – there are some there’s national holidays. Like I think Martin Luther King Day was recently made, yay, a national holiday. And like, but Thanksgiving Day itself, I’m always confused as to whether or not it’s a national holiday.

C 

That is a national holiday.

K 

Because when I was working in the service industry, I worked on holidays.

C 

Well that’s the thing is that a holiday means holiday for office workers and what do they want to do? They want to go shop and party. So retail and service tends to have to work on the holidays.

K 

Yes, I really like the phrase bank holiday that they use in the UK. I think that sums it up like the bank won’t be open. That’s the only thing that this holiday – that’s the only way this holiday is going to affect your life is that the bank won’t be open.

C 

Yeah.

K 

And I’m like, right on, I’m working. And that’s the real of it.

C 

And I think that’s the real of it for a lot of people. That’s why I think the difference between the vacation policies matters is because if you’re in the US, you have to be careful about what company you joins if you want vacation time.

K 

Yeah.

C 

Or health care or several other things that I feel like living here in Japan has really freed us from. The holiday stuff not so much. But the health care. I haven’t worried since we got here about what will happen to my healthcare if I change jobs or lose my job.

K 

Yeah, in the US healthcare is something that’s negotiated in the hiring packet.

C 

Right.

K 

And also like which provider you use and all of that. So I was very branded, I had Blue Shield Blue Cross my whole life when I was in the United States. And they’re like one of the premier health care things. But I was under my mother’s health care until I was 25. And then I switched over to having it myself from then on. Well, that’s not true from 25 to 30. I was on – I forget what it’s called. I was on a special health care. Can’t remmeber what it’s called – it’s not social security.

C 

There’s like Medicare, Medical.

K 

Yeah I was on Medicaid. And then that wasn’t as good as BlueCross and BlueShield. So in my 30s, I went back to BlueCross BlueShield. I think when it became clear that they weren’t going to be able to meet all of Rasta’s needs, yeah, but they were really good because Rasta was a really sickly baby, and spent – spent like a month and a half in Oakland’s Children’s Hospital, one of the world’s premier Children’s Hospital, and I stayed in the room with him. There was like a bed in there for me, but I had to have my own food and such. But healthcare would have been like a big deal if I hadn’t been raised in a culture of health care, and how to get health care and what to do. To make sure I always had health care.

C 

Yeah, so when I – when I quit working, I lost my health care. And then I told the truth on the forms, and they were like, ooh, you’re too fat. So I had health care while I was at Berkeley. You’re laughing because that’s actually what they said.

K 

It is. Like, why are you saying that? Like, why are you sharing that with people?

C 

Well, I think anybody who looks at the picture isn’t going to be like that as a skinny dude.

K 

No, I mean, like, are you wanting people in America to know like, don’t tell the truth about your weight, because if you’re obese, they will not cover you because everything becomes a preexisting condition.

C 

I think that’s no longer the case under the ACA, under Obamacare.

K 

DIdn’t they undo Obamacare?

C 

No, they voted on it like 80 something times, but never actually undo it. So no, it’s still there.

K 

Okay. Haha. Cuz I think now Americans want Obamacare. I never understand where Americans stand on Obamacare. They want the Affordable Care Act, but they don’t want Obamacare.

C 

Right.

K 

They’re the exact same thing.

C 

So there’s two kinds of health care here, which are exactly the same in the benefits. It’s just who pays for it that differs. So there’s the social insurance, the kokuminkenkouhoken that we pay for, which is for people who work for very tiny companies, or only work part time or a self employed. So that last one, I’m technically self employed, so we pay for that. Citizens healthcare.

K 

Yeah, we pay that for the whole family.

C 

Right.

K 

Using the pronoun we is quite generous you. Chad pays all that I don’t pay for anything.

C 

And then there’s the company insurance, when you’re working for a Japanese company, and they pay half, but the rates are higher. So you pay a little bit last but not terribly less. And it used to be that they had quite different benefits. But now both of them are like 70% is covered, 30%, copay, and no copay after $1,000. That’s the annual deductible. And so I feel like the time that holidays bite me, is when I want to go to my doctor, and I discover it’s a holiday.

K 

Yes.

C 

It happened on Culture Day, I was like, I’m gonna go to my doctor, because I haven’t been. I’m almost out of medicine. And it was like, nope, we’re closed.

K 

And it’s so confusing, because the doctor’s office is not closed for every holiday.

C 

Right.

K 

So I don’t know, when the doctor’s office is going to be closed. And then in Japan, there’s this odd thing where the doctors offices are usually closed, either on a Wednesday or Thursday. Because they’re open on a Saturday, but they’re only open five days a week. And then there are some doctors offices that are open six days a week, but not every doctor in the group is available.

C 

Yeah they might be available half days, with some days off.

K 

Yeah. And it’s the whole thing, like and the same thing with dental groups. So if you want to see like the same dentist or the same doctor, because they don’t make any – I feel like they don’t make any extra money from me seen specifically them.

C 

Right.

K 

So you can go in and see a random doctor or a random dentist. And that was quite shocking to me. Because my doctor was off that day – I made an appointment once to go to the doctor and my doctor was off that day. And I saw a different doctor and I was like, wait a minute, I don’t know you. Like, why are you seeing me? And then they told me very directly. This is what gets done to every time you come here. Why do you care who does it? And I was like, because I’m American yo. Because I know which way my doctor is gonna be rude. That’s why okay, how about that? How about we just pay attention to how you’re going to be rude.

C 

And Japan has the original holidays which are on a fixed date. But I forget what year like decades ago, they put in place the Happy Monday law.

K 

What?

C 

They put in place the Happy Mondays law.

K 

Oh, yeah.

C 

Which says that new public holidays should occur on Mondays. So in the US, I’m used to Thanksgiving occurring on Thursday, and Easter occurring on Sunday. And that’s it every other holiday, it happens on a fixed day of the month, and it floats around. And Australia’s the same way. It happens on a fixed day of the month. And so the day of the week floats.

K 

So they don’t do Happy Mondays?

C 

No, they don’t.

K 

I don’t know why they call it Happy Mondays, because not everybody participated in Happy Mondays.

C 

Yeah. And there are complicated rules around it. Like, museums are generally closed on Monday, unless it’s a holiday. Unless it’s a holiday because it’s a happy Monday. And then they’re open on the Monday, but they’re closed on the Saturday before it unless they never open on Saturdays in which case they are closed on the Friday before. Ugh.

K 

Yeah, it is quite complex, the Japanese, I find the Japanese holiday system to be very confusing. And I find that they randomly change it to make it more confusing. And so when I was a therapist, I didn’t do any of the holidays, because the big companies – it sort of switched, like in retail and all of that are affected more by Happy Monday than the big companies. Because the big companies, it’s more about whether or not your boss is going to take the Happy Monday. Because if your boss is not taking Happy Monday, you can’t take Happy Monday either. And I would warn Americans that came here and they’re like, I’m going to just be American here. And I tell them, when you go back, you will not have a promotion, you will miss out, they will just act like you being away prevented you from getting a promotion. And I’ve helped. I’ve had when I was doing my therapy practice, I started doing a lot of professional coaching on how to get your promotions after you had taken the four years in Japan. Because for some companies, you can take up to four years in Japan. And the people don’t realize when they re-up that they’re out of the promotion cycle because they’re closing plants, or moving things around in the United States that they’re not there for.

C 

Yeah, and holidays play into that to like the vacation days, because a lot of companies strongly discourage you from taking vacation days or demand that you take them a certain time. And if you work in a company with a union, your union can agree that you don’t get vacation days.

K 

Yes.

C 

Or that they will be taken all at once like the entire factory shuts down for a week rather than having people take vacations throughout the year.

K 

Yes. So how do you feel being in these multiple time zones for holidays?

C 

Mostly confused. And I’m confused about how I should feel about it. So I was in a meeting the other day. And somebody said to somebody else, oh, Happy Diwali. You’re not celebrating? And the other person was like, not this year. I have too many meetings. So I’ll do it later.

K 

Well Diwali is a really important holiday.

C 

That’s what I’m saying is like, I I was not aware it was Diwali because that’s not part of our traditions.

K 

Yeah.

C 

But other people in their company, because it was another company were aware and hadn’t said, yeah, you should take the day off. And we’ll schedule around it. And so I find that it really differs between companies. The company I work for I tend to just run amok and do what I think is right in terms of holidays.

K 

You don’t take any time off. And then we have discussions about have you avoiding burnout. Yeah, see, when I tell people about me working too much. I’ll tak about you being a workaholic too. And so we we have talked about several times. So here’s how much of a workaholic we both are. So we talked about making a plan to sit down and talk about days that will take off so that we can take time off together. And when we agreed to it, we’ll like sit down and we’ll be like we’re going through the whole year. Like okay, we’re gonna do the whole year. And we’ll get month one figured out because it’s a total negotiation between the both of us. Yeah. And then Chad’s like, okay, I’m taking it off. And I’m like, I’m not taking today off. I never agreed to that. And you’re like, yes, you did. And I’m like, well enjoy yourself. Because I’ve got this thing do that I need to get done. And so for me like my PhD stuff comes up unexpectedly.

C 

Yeah, that happens to me too.

K 

It’s really hard to say okay, I’m gonna take this off, because my chair will get like really happy for me and really excited for me and be like, oh, this great opportunity, you’re going to take it and I’m like, but no it’s not an opportunity. It’s more work.

C 

Yeah, I remember when my chair was like, you’re going to Boston. I’m what now? And Austin.

K 

And what was even lovelier was, hey, you’re going to Denmark. Like, okay. There was a lot of international travel involved in your PhD there. So and there was international travel involved in my PhD, but it was more

C 

Your choice.

K 

Yeah.

C 

Like you had to do it, but you could choose where and when.

K 

Yeah, and I went to France and Spain.

C 

Yeah.

K 

So as you all know, we did not enjoy France. Sorry, to all of our French listeners. We just did not enjoy Paris. So I, I think that and I’ve always said this about France, that if we ever went to France, I had never wanted to go to Paris because I don’t like big cities. I don’t like hustle and bustle. Just like I’ve never wanted to go to Tokyo. We’ve gone, but I never wanted to go to Tokyo Station area.

C 

Right.

K 

We went there because we were here on vacation. And there was supposed to be things that were fun for children that were not fun for our son in the least.

C  

Right. So we live in a tiny city, Nagoya only has like 2 million people.

K 

Yeah, and that’s how I like it. Yeah, so like we went to Busan, which is a total beach resort city in Korea, but we haven’t – I haven’t gone to Seoul you have. So I never wanted to go to Seoul.

C 

I haven’t gone to Seoul.

K 

You haven’t gone to Seoul?

C 

No, no, I went to the – we went to Busan because I went to Busan. And I said hey it was really nice. So you came the next time. And I went another time because there was a conference that alternated between Busan and Osaka.

K 

Yeah. During your PhD.

C 

During my PhD.

K 

Yeah. So while Rasta I were having fun in the ocean and shooting off fireworks.

C 

I was working on editing my PhD. Yes.

K 

Sorry. I’m making all these weird noises. I know. There’s weird noises on the mic, too. And clacking and stuff. I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I’m struggling today. But we’re recording today because it’s important that we get this out. Because next week, I’m going to be way too busy to record.

C 

Yes.

K 

So for holidays, I guess. We’re non observant. And by that, I mean, we don’t pay attention. And we’re kind of rude. Because we don’t pay attention to other people’s cultures. We’re not culturally sensitive when it comes to holidays. And as a boss, my employees just tell me that they want time off. And so I think that I’m cooler than someone who’s observant of holidays. Because I don’t care. Because everyone that works for us for Cinnabar Moth is disabled, we have 100% disabled employees. And so they’re like, hey, I need time off for my disability. I’m like, right on. And there’s no questions asked, like, hey, um, I just I can’t do it this week. And I’m like, okay, right on, and we shuffle things around. And so the only person who doesn’t have someone that can cover for them is me.

C 

Well I have the same, I have a similar thing at work, there have been days that I took off, I was just like, I’m too sick to work today. I’m just taking the day off. And nobody has told me about it. And the people that I’m responsible for approving, I’m putting it in very heavy quotes, their vacation requests, I just always say, yes. There is a system that counts, because it’s Australia. But as long as people aren’t taking more than they are allotted. I don’t feel like it’s any of my business what they’re doing.

K 

Yeah, see, I don’t even have an allotted – like, there’s no

C 

Yeah no, if it were my choice, I wouldn’t do the allotted, but I also think that if there weren’t an allotted that a lot of the people who worked from for me, wouldn’t ever take time off. So it is useful to say sometimes you really – you haven’t taken any time off in the last seven, you know, 7000 days, please take a little bit of time off.

K 

He would not let anyone get to 7000 days.

C 

No, I would not let anyone get to 20 years with no time off.

K 

Like every three months, you encourage people, your people to take time off.

C 

Yeah. Yeah.

K 

Cuz you guys do that morning meeting. And the morning meeting, you check in and you see what’s going on in their lives. And then you meet one on one with each of your team members throughout the week. And you check in to see if they need to take time off.

C 

I do.

K 

I’ve been one of them was moving, you encouraged them to take time off. And they were like, no, I like having work. So I’m not focused on just moving.

C 

Right.

K 

And so like you talk to them about what’s going on in their lives and why they should take time off and what their emotional landscape is regarding taking that time off or not taking it off.

C 

Why they should not be working overtime. All that yeah, I’m terrified of burnout for myself and for my team.

K 

Yeah, I don’t do any overtime for anyone but me. But I because for me,  I – there are times when I can just walk away from the company for two weeks. And not do any work on the company and just focus on my PhD. That’s been the case for the past two weeks. And that’s not true. I do work for the company every day. So I yeah, I don’t think I really I can’t remember the last time. Okay, wait, no, three weeks ago, I took a weekend off. I’m trying to think of like, when do I

C 

I think three weeks ago, you took a Sunday off?

K 

I know, there was a day that I slept 20 hours. And that was a day off.

C 

Cuz you didn’t work the other four?

K 

No, I didn’t. I was awake. I think I did some tweeting, which is part of my job. During the four hours, I was awake. I think I ate, I was on Twitter, and then I went to sleep. So something that like Musick Notes. If y’all follow us on Twitter, please do not DM me and asked me how can I be so sick if I’m always on Twitter? I think that’s hella rude.

C 

Okay.

K 

Because I’m not always on Twitter. It’s an optical illusion. And it looks like I’m always on Twitter. But just because I’m on Twitter, the same time that you’re on Twitter does not mean that I’m always on Twitter. And just because sometimes I’m on Twitter when you’re not on Twitter doesn’t mean I’m always on Twitter. And if I was always on Twitter, enjoy it. Soak it up.

C 

Right. And I feel like some of these things are so low energy. I encountered this a lot when I was working in the US.

K 

Twitter is not low energy.

C 

No. But when I was working in the US, I was working like 70 and 80 hours a week, which is like in Silicon Valley. That’s a humble brag. Oh, I work so much. Yeah. But really no, it’s just terribly unhealthy. I was commuting two and a half hours each way. I was at the office for 10 hours a day. Like it’s just not good. Yeah. And now with not commuting since I work from home.

K 

We joke because you do walk down the hallway.

C 

Yeah, yeah, we joke. But I try to keep under 45 hours. I’m supposed to work 38 I try to keep under 45. Most weeks I’m successful.

K 

How do you feel about that? Not being able to keep it under 45.

C 

I feel like that’s my personal problem. I feel like some people don’t make it explicit how much time they want. And don’t reinforce that message. And then for me, I am always a I could just work a little bit more kind of person. And so for me, that means that I

K 

Sorry, I totally burped.

C 

I end up working overtime. But telling the people who are on my team don’t work overtime.

K 

Yeah.

C 

But how am I gonna check they’re not working overtime, if I’m not there when they’re supposed to not be started. I’m not there when they’re supposed to not be still working.

K 

But you don’t get paid overtime.

C 

No, I don’t get paid overtime.

K 

And I don’t think any of your people get paid overtime.

C 

No. And it’s not a cost reduction mother measure either. I just really want people to take holidays and take breaks and things. So I feel like holidays can make a nice rhythm to having time off. But then there are the droughts in each of the three holiday system there are those months that just have no holiday for like two months total. Be like a holiday mid one month and then nothing and then a holiday mid the month after. I feel like White Day should be a national holiday. And Valentine’s.

K 

You feel like White Day.

C 

Yeah, and Valentine’s.

K 

That sounded so strange to my ear.

C 

Because I didn’t pair it with Valentine’s right?

K 

And then when you followed with Valentine’s day I was like, okay, I know – are you trying to see if I’m paying attention? So I’m not looking Chad in the eyes while we’re doing this. And so Chad has no idea what I’m doing or thinking about.

C 

None.

K 

So today’s supposed to be Chad’s day to carry the podcast, because we do. So when you come to Japan, and you teach English, they teach you the 70/30 rule, the students should be speaking 70% of the time and the teacher should be speaking 30% of the time. And so I’ve applied that rule to everything because it’s also what they teach you in therapy when you go through your practicum on how to be a therapist is that the client should be speaking 30 – 70% of the time and you should be speaking 30% of the time. So the 70/30 rule has been like a major part of my life for the majority of my life because I was – I’ve either been a teacher or a therapist…

C 

A very long time.

K 

Yeah, for longer than I can remember right now. Sorry if you can hear me rubbing my hands. I feel very noise self conscious today. I don’t know why. I think because I’m moving my mic and I’m twitchy today. I’m aware that I’m twitchy. So today was Chad’s 70/30 day where he’s supposed to do 70% of the talk.

C 

So when I heard that rule for English teaching, I quit. I was like, no, that is not me.

K 

That is not true. Because you can do the 30%, but you can’t do the

C 

The company went bankrupt and was like, we appreciate you coming to work, because we’re not sure we’re gonna pay you. I was like, no. No, no, I’m out.

K 

Yeah. Cuz that wasn’t the first company surprising that you had worked. It was surprising to me. That that wasn’t the first company he had worked with that told you we’re not going to go to pay you.

C 

Yeah, it was just the first one here in Japan.

K 

Yeah. I was like no, we don’t work for free. That does not go down.

C 

Okay, if I’m going to work for free, there are other things I’d rather be doing. I’m working for free, I’m writing. I’m tutoring. I’m doing something fun. And I’m doing it legally.

K 

Yeah. So today was Chad’s day to do the majority of talking on the episode and I think he did a really good job.

C 

Thank you.

K 

I think you did the majority of talking. I think it was really interesting. And I think you have a lot of – really an interesting point of view. And I think you should talk more.

C 

I will consider this.

K 

Yeah, I think that there should be more Chad days. There we go in where the goal is that Chad does most of the talking. Back me up Musick Notes because this is an awesome episode.

C 

Yes. Send a note saying we want Chad to talk more than five minutes. Like be sure you add that last part. Because then Kisstopher – that’s an unfair comparison. Like don’t pit us against each other.

K 

What are you talking about now? I’m sorry for clipping my nail, but it’s relaly bugging me.

C 

You’re trying to pit us against each other on the podcast for who gets more time. And I’m just gonna be gracious and let you win.

K 

I’m not trying to – I’m trying to give myself a break. There are just some days I don’t have it. Like I don’t have 70% of the conversation on the topic.

C 

Okay.

K 

I just couldn’t do it today.

C 

I guess I’m the one who works.

K 

Holidays don’t affect me in the least.

C 

No, they don’t. I’ll tell you hey, I’ve got a four day weekend

K 

Here’s my thing about holidays. What, it’s a holiday? Every time you tell me it’s a holida,. I’m like what? Today is what?

C 

I’ve got a four day weekend coming up, you’re like that affects me…

K 

Are you expecting me to take time off? That’s not convenient for me. You did not discuss this with me. That’s my – That’s my thing. Chad tells me it’s a holiday. I immediately get defensive. You didn’t discuss this with me. You did not telling me it’ was going to be a holiday today. I’m not doing that. No. I’m so busy right now. You don’t even know.

C 

Yeah, so we have an approved way for me to tell Kisstopher it will be a holiday. Like a month before, I have to say there’s a holiday coming up next month.

K 

Yeah.

C 

And then every week, and then just a reminder, there’s a holiday coming up. I don’t expect anything of you.

K 

Yes, I will get stirred. Yeah, it still surprises me. Like, this is the week of a holiday. And I’m like you tell me this. Like babe, I’ve been telling you for a month. That was this holiday. You’re talking about this holiday? And like yes babe this holiday and like on the Friday before you be like, I don’t want to scare you. But I’m not working this Monday. I’ll have Monday and Tuesday off because I’m extending it. And I’m like good for you. You’re extending it. It’s like when you extend your holidays, that always pleases me. Because I think that that’s the best way to maximize vacation days.

C 

Yeah.

K 

I’m a lways about maximizing your vacation days.

C 

Yeah, I agree.

K 

I like you being out here with me, because nothing I do requires privacy. Anymore.

C 

Anymore. Yeah.

K 

Yeah. So at my new job you can like, literally look at everything I do. And that’s been kind of like a whine of mine is like, could you please look at more of what I’m doing?

C 

Yes. All right.

K 

Could you please give me another set of eyes on this? I would love it. So yeah, that was our discussion about being in three holiday zones. And please send Chad lots and lots of love and positive reinforcement for I – we’ll have to look at the – at the transcript.

C 

Yes.

K 

On the website. Because that’s how I was jude like, did Chad really talk as much as I thought? Because some of the episodes I think Chad talked a lot.

C 

So I need to figure out how long each sentence is so that I can say things that are just like, word paragraph. So that lengthens it.

K 

Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what you need to do. Like it’s a game of Scrabble. We’re keeping points.

C 

I’m going to put tracking in between the spaces. I’m going to use all my tricks to make mine look longer.

K 

Well on that happy note, we’re hoping that you’re enjoying the holiday season, whatever holidays you celebrate, and whatever holiday zone you’re in, because we are an international podcast. We’re still ranked in the top 10. Thank you beautiful Musick Notes, on player FM for podcasts about Japan. We really really appreciate your support and your listening. And we love our patrons. And this week, we are going to be talking about – I have to look it up. I had it all ready. And I was going to say it off top my head and then I forgot. Oh, we’re going to be talking about an author in residence and how we decided that and how that whole thing works and why we think it’s a good thing to do for the Cinnabar Moth Collections e-zine.

C 

Yes, so we’ll see you there.

K 

Yep. Bye