"You are practically the American female version of James Bond."
This from my coworker Matt. He has a rather unique image of me, to say the least... We were discussing our online job-hunting efforts (what a great job we currently have which allows us to do this, by the way). I told him how I had migrated to the See Ai Eh website from Monster.com. Got that? I'm trying to avoid detection, see. And it's bizarre how closely I fit the requirements for a "Professional Trainee"--the right GPA, major in Foreign affairs/politics/economy, experience living and working abroad, knowledge of an East Asian language and culture, interest in international affairs... willingness to take calculated risks is where I might fall short but I suppose I could given the opportunity. Gah, the kerosene is getting to my head! Anyway, Matt was encouraging of it. But on the website all the talk of love and loyalty for the Agency reminded me a little too much of the Party in 1984 which I recently read, which put me off a bit.
In other news today, the first year class gave some awesome speeches. Aya's was the best--she spoke about the very equal relationship of her parents (unusual in Japan); how they both work, cook, and her dad washes the dishes because her mom doesn't like to. She said we must begin by fixing the small inequalities of daily life. And she had it all memorized with fabulous eye contact. She got an A plus, needless to say.
And earlier in the day, I considered putting the fascinating "menstrual leave" feature of my contract to use for the first time, but then I started to feel better. But just so you know, they have that here in Japan. Article 14:Special Leave #8. Menstrual leave: when unable to perform duties due to severe menstrual discomfort.
And if you are curious like I was, Danielle perhaps, cramps in Japanese is seiri-itami. Pretty sure that's how to say it.