The Secret-sauce

The rumor is true! The japanese work like mother fuckers!

When I came here I didn’t know what to expect. The jobs I’ve had before have always been the 9-5 kind where you put in a certain amount of hours, and then you’re “done”.

I knew the advertising industry is a line of work where you gotta put in many hours. I also knew japan is a country where they like to work for many hours, period. Where this would take me I did not know.

Now… A few months later  I DO know. And we put in a lot of hours. Every day. And I guess I’m fine with it. It’s funny, but the co-workers mentality matters a lot. Back at home, at a normal job, people starts to twist and turn and whine when they realize they have to stay longer. Which makes it hard to stay motivated for me. 

Over here, there’s a different mentality. People stay till they’re done. No messing around. And even I haven’t completely adapted to that yet, it’s almost a comforting feeling having people around who are committed to follow through on their work. It makes it easy to stay around for a couple of hours more, finishing up. 

So? How many hours DO I work?

A normal day, I’d say I spend 10-11 hours at work, with lunch infront of the computer.

Long days with 12-13 hours happens maybe one time a week or so. 

Short days, which is less than 10 hours almost never happen. For a whole month I didn’t go home before 20.30 pm.

But please, don’t take this as complaining, it’s not.

The hours I put in are just facts. Nothing else. As long as I enjoy my work, long hours isn’t a bad thing, although it would be fun to see something else on weekdays than my room, the office and the subway.

Mr Miyagi isn’t playing around. Wax on, Wax off. Until you’re done. That’s the japanese working mentality.

After a great lecture, my keyboardfingers are sore

Once in a while we get a lecture that that stands out. Today we got the lecture that is perhaps the most useful one yet. 

Mathias Wellström was over today. Mathias is the founder of headhunter agency Trib.He works with providing some of the best agencies in the swedish advertising industry with new talent. 

He taught us all the tricks he knew, and after an interesting day it actually feels like I can get ahead of other people looking for the same jobs as I can. Even though alot was said, much of it can be summarized in a couple of words: JUST RELAX AND BE YOURSELF DUUUUUUDE!!

These guys are likely to get a job in advertising.

Being scared of what the future might bring

Coming back after christmas, it doesn’t seem like fun and games anymore. School has gotten serious. What used to be all about having fun and living in the moment has now brought a sense of urgency.

We now have so many things on our shoulders. There’s the class project that is just taking off. We need to start building our portfolios so that we can have something to show off when applying for internship. And we have modules on the side. Doing all this and still have time off seems less and less likely.

It’s not all bad! While there is loads to do I know I will have loads of fun on the way.

Lightspeed engaged!!

Christmas break over. Time for a new start!

Christmas is over. When break christmas started, my arteries slowly started clogging up by overconsuming the traditional swedish christmas foods - christmas ham, mommy’s meatballs and loads and loads of home made sweets.

We’re in the middle of January, and my have veins have started to clear up again. As my brain wakes up from winter hibernation, I realize that it’s time to start writing blog posts. Look forward to reading posts about life at hyper island, my interests and  - just anything that’s on my mind!

Fast times at Hyper High

During the last weeks we’ve had a fuckload of stuff to do.

I’m part of a new school project called The Black Box Project.

We’re a group of 7 people, working on a whole new way of seeing your own body. The only thing I can say right now is that whatever we’re doing is going to be presented in a big black box.

Stay tuned, guys!!

The Dangers of sitting still

Apparently, sitting still is bad for us. This is no news, really, it’s just that lately I’ve been hearing more and more about it. Going to a school that is mostly about sitting infront of a computer, I should get nervous. 

This morning, before I went to school, a scientist visited a morning show on TV I was watching. She said that it doesn’t matter if you go to the gym 3 times a week, you will still get sick from sitting infront of that computer!

She said that the best way to fight those diseases was to take a break every 4 hours and do some gymnastics. Like that’ll happen. Haha.

We are doomed :/ Luckily, Sit still spiderman is here to save us. If he can get out of his chair.

My guide to coffee - pointers and tips

Over the last 5 years, I’ve had many cups of coffee. I’ve tried different brands, different ways of brewing and I’m gonna share some of my wisdom! I’m gonna start posting some tips on how you can learn to make good coffee.

Robyn is awkward

Robyn makes great music, she’s perhaps the best thing sweden has to offer right now, yet, whenever I watch her videos, I get the feeling something is wrong…

Whenever robyn performs live, dances in a music video she just seems so uncomfortable. My theory is that Robyn deep inside really is a big geek that loves making music, but in reality, isn’t very comfortable on stage at all. It is as if she has decided who she wants to be on stage, and tries to be that person without really being it.

Just take a look at this video from the VMA awards. She dances and moves like a sober guy on a dance floor.

http://www.mtv.se/videor/dancing-on-my-own-live-571790/?playlist=vma-live-konsert-2010