2008/02/29
Live to Work, or Work to Live?!

フィオナ バート
HIUC大阪校スタッフ
オーストラリアパース出身
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オーストラリアで14歳から日本語を学習し、高校卒業後日本の高校へ1年間留学。
マードック大学在学中はアジア学を専攻し、日本の大学にも留学しました。
大学卒業後は三重県庁の国際交流員として2年間勤務し、現在はHIUC大阪校で
海外留学を目指す学生たちのサポートをしています。
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Live to Work, or Work to Live?!
(働くために生きる? 生きるために働く?)
G’day, my name is Fiona and I am an Australian living and working in Japan. Last week I wrote to you about the expression ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’. Thank you for writing to me and telling me about your experiences visiting and adjusting to the customs of overseas countries. Please keep writing to me!

Today I would like to discuss with you the expression “Live to work, or work to live.” Have you heard this expression before? I use it a lot in Japan! Australians work very hard within their working hours so that they can earn money to enjoy their free time with friends and families and relax, so you could say that they “work to live.” However, after I came to Japan I felt that a lot of Japanese people center their lives on their work and give spending time at work a higher importance than spending time with their families, so I felt that they “live to work.”
In my opinion, Australian people prefer not to do overtime at work, because it takes time away from their private lives, so they try to go home exactly on time. They also expect to be able to take all their paid holidays in a year, even if it means they take 2 weeks off work. This is because they strongly believe in their rights.
In comparison, many Japanese people seem to sacrifice their private lives by not putting anything in their schedules because they expect that they will have to do overtime as ordered. I was surprised to find out that most Japanese people do not take all their paid holidays in a year, and even if they take holidays, it is usually only a day or two at a time.
However, recently I have changed the way I think. I used to think Japanese “live to work”, but now I understand that Japanese people work very hard to support their families, even if they have to sacrifice their own personal time and holidays. They also have a strong team spirit, and try to support their co-workers, even sometimes coming to work if they are sick. It may be said that some Australians just work for their own personal gain or pleasure, so maybe we can learn from Japanese people too.
Have you had an interesting experience learning about a foreign culture? I would love to know! Please email me at: b-fiona@athuman.com and tell me, or ask me any questions you have about English study. I promise to reply!
Ooroo (good-bye) until next time!















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