Week of July 24th

July 24th 2006

It is weird to be on the downslope. I feel comfortable in my job and responsibilities, I feel like I have learned a lot.

I really love Japan. Working in Japan and Dendoing in Japan are of course very different, but both provide similar experiences. In both you have an opportunity to really get into the none-tourist Japan. You have opportunities to get behind the tatemae. You see the parts of Japan that doesn’t show up in Lonely Planet. I have loved getting to know my co-workers. Brad, as I sit next to him every day has been an excellent mentor. Armin and Thomas, two of the Germans in this German Bank have been very good at teaching me new skills. Among the Japanese, Kohei is an a typical salaryman, but a good example of what I think the modern Japanese businessman will be like. Ken is a really typical salaryman (I think he stays at least an hour later than anyone else) has been a great resource to discuss the company and working in Japan. The three OL’s have been a lot of fun. Very helpful always with a lot of stories, and they all keep on telling me to come back again. Very good people.

As for work, I was originally planning on being in CRM for the next couple of days, I spent most of today going back and forth between desks working on a couple of things for Brad and for Armin. It was okay. For Brad, I was working on follow-up with Honma-san and the OR-Losses. We don’t want to have to teisei the teisei, so we were triple-checking the numbers today. For Armin, I was finishing a rating review. A very busy day, and I got home pretty late today.

July 26th 2006

I missed yesterday. Not really because I was so busy, but mostly because I just had a late night.

Today was good though. We had another Lunch and Learn. This week it was by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal named Yuka Hayashi. She was very knowledgeable and talked a lot about the history of financial reporting in Japan, what it was like when the bubble burst, what it is like now, and how they compete with everyone but Nikkei (as Nikkei blows everyone out of the water).

Work was pretty quite today, and I am getting home pretty early.

July 27th 2006

Today was a great day. Brad was in a really good mood. Not that he had been in any particularly bad mood the last couple of days, but today he was in a really good mood. He forwarded me some anagrams that he had made up about the people in ORM. I guess Tracy was going to have them published, but she chickened out at the last minute. We talked a while today about his apartment search and working in Japan, and I guess we will be visiting his house this weekend for dinner. Brad is a really good guy. I have been pretty lucky I think to get him as a boss.

We have been revising the KOP or (Key Operating Procedure) for ORM. It is pretty easy work, and I mostly just make charts, but it has been fun. I have been updating the Japanese one as well, and it takes a bit of work to get the translation right.

July 28th 2006

This week has just shot by. It is crazy to think that I have only three weeks left. Kimi is gone in two weeks. Wow, time has flown.

I spent most of the day getting my Risk Dashboard ready for discussion on Monday. We are having a call on Monday to talk about the arrangement of the information. Hopefully it will all pan out and by the time I leave work, I will have a good draft ready.

July 31st 2006

Well, Today was lunch with Warnick Sensei. He is traveling around doing kaisha-kankei stuff. What a restaurant. The grill was called Lawry’s. I had a giant piece of prime rib that about put me to sleep when I got back. It was a good lunch. Mitch talked for a while about what it is that they are looking for in the interns. Dr. Warnick talked for a while about what the interns are looking for. Rebecca and I talked for a while about our experiences in Japan. It was good. I felt bad a bit though when it was done as I forgot to really thank Dr. Warnick for providing the experience.

Anyway, things have been good at work. I finished another month. Averaged about 65 work hours this time, so a bit of an increase, but I didn’t really notice. I guess it was a bit easier to stay a bit later now that the Lewis’s have gone. I was trying to get home earlier to see if I could be out doing things with them. But now, I just work till I’m done. Crazy that it is already August. I can hardly believe that I have two weeks left.

Also, next week, Brad has encouraged me to visit other areas while he is in Taiwan for the rescheduled workshop. I have already set up a couple of appointments, so I hope that I can use the time well.