Anna Matsushita

  I’ve been to the office only two days during September 2020, due to reduced working days. The last day at office came very quickly. It was ironic that we should leave the company in September, when travel industry should have been enjoying one of the peak seasons. Quick farewell greeting was exchanged with those who were at the office on the day. It was quite hard to find the right word, as we all knew that no one wanted to leave the company because of Covid-19. I had my last lunch at the office with my old boss and colleagues, chatted over lunch how long we worked and what we were going to do next. One of my boss and my former colleague gave me a box of biscuits. It was a lovely gift from our local chocolate shop. I will treasure this box, as it will be a reminder of our working days together. On the last day of September, our team manager invited the team for farewell lunch. Most of us could make it. It was good to meet them once again, as I could not say good bye to them prope...

  September 2020 was busy period. As I agreed on early retirement, I started look for a job on the internet every day. At the same time, I updated my resume and CV. Due to reduced working days and paid leave, I only went to office half a day each week. While at office, I shared information with my colleagues on what we would be doing next. We were all forty something, or we should call it around fifty in Japanese way. Many of them have been working at the company over 20 years, and we did brain storming for their career, what they did during their term in the past 20 years. I started using a job agent from mid-September. The company recommended the job agency, and one job consultant took me under his wings. He was very modest, experienced person, agreeable and helpful. Adding to the job agent, I also registered several other job agency. It has been several years since last time I changed job, and I was amazed how the job application process has been changed over the years. Last tim...

  The summer 2020 in Southern Kanoto was unusually hot and muggy. To keep good physical condition, I had homemade green smoothie every day. I followed recipe by an essayist Ms Michiko Miyamoto, known as “The most beautiful diet”  Despite of mushy appearance, the smoothie taste like fresh drinking vegetable salad, with plenty of Konatsuna green (Mustard-Spinach), tomato and cucumber, with a dash of lemon juice and Japanese basil. During summer 2020, I never felt giddy or tired, possibly helped by this eating habit. This is pretty voluminous smoothie, it can be replacement for lunch or dinner in case if you are on diet. Recipe :  A bunch of Mustard Spinach (Komatsuna) (100g) 1 Tomato 1/2 Cucumber 5 Japanese Basilico 1 tea spoon of sea salt 1 Table spoon of Safflower oil 1 cup of water (200 cc) 1 Lemon, freshly squeezed 1) Mix ingredients (except lemon juice) in mixer until smooth. 2) Add lemon juice and mix (not too long) 3) Mix ice cube if the weather is too hot Recipe is ...

  HR sent us an e-mail. “CEO will give us a speech. Please make sure to log on to computer. ” By that time, we cancelled all the businesses we have prepared for the year 2020. One day during lunch break, I chatted with some of the sales staffs, and was enlightened that they were working on few quotations. “I don’t know the exact purpose, but some are seemingly traveling abroad. Not sure if they are travelling from Japan. They are all last-minutes booking. I can only give them a couple of days to decide whether they want to book or not.”  So, we still had some businesses. I knew the volume was not sufficient to feed us all, but looked like business was still continuing – but until when? That was the biggest question I think most of us had in our minds. At the speech, the CEO formally announced that the company will lay off some employees. The detail was to be announced through managements. I remember we were all very quiet, listening to what the CEO was saying through the compu...

  There are many poetry and quotes from literature posted on SNS, which express the air surrounded us during Covid days. Followings are memorandum of what I found on SNS, which were circulated as early as March 2020. Very powerful poetry and quotes. WHEN THIS IS OVER “When this is over, may we never again take for granted; A handshake with a stranger, Full shelves at the store, Conversations with neighbors, A crowded theater, Friday night out, The taste of communion, A routine checkup, The school rush each morning, Coffee with a friend, The stadium roaring, Each deep breath! A boring Tuesday. Life itself. When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we were called to be, we hope to be, and may we stay that way — better for each other because of the worst.” Poem by Laura Kelly Fanucci It was the best of times, it was the worst of times , it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of i...

  July came. I was already adjusted to new daily routine, both at office and at home. The office was always quiet and looked empty, with only one third of us were on a shift. Some people only turn up at office half a day in a month, due to the company's instruction to use up this year's paid holiday. We were supposed to be bracing up for busy winter period. Because the company expected that once the business return in winter, we would be too busy and no one couldn afford to take any day off. We started to cancel business scheduled in autumn. Anxiety begun spread among us, as the business was estimated to pick up from autumn onward. Our CEO was constantly in touch with employees, trying to convey his principle to keep the employment. However, rumour continued to spread about possible closure of some of the branch offices. All we could do was wait and see if the corona infection will cease, or at least remain at low level after the lockdown in almost all over the world. Europe se...

June 2020 was another beginning to adopt to new life cycle. Normally I read books on train while commute, sometimes at station café in the morning. I had at least 2 hours to delve into reading books. With corona virus, I gave up reading at café as they requested customers to stay maximum 30 minutes. Café was no longer the place for relaxation and reading books with a nice cup of coffee. Reduced working days also lead to a need to change reading habit. Reading on the train was not bad after all, with almost no distraction. How was I used to such daily routine. After checking e-mail from office, I tried to sit down and read books at home.  It was somehow difficult to sit down and read books at home, especially fiction with nice ending. With so much was going on in the reality, not only because of the virus but the uncertain future of travel business, it was hard to escape into the world of fiction. I managed to finish few books. The Canterbury Tales (Puffin Classics) (English Edition...