Hacker News Reader

Comment by woweoe | Hacker News Reader

Something I learn in Japan was that you also need to have friends/people who share the same ideology as you. In Western Europe there would be people who support you making a startup but also EXPECT you to have free time outside working hours. If you work the entire time in Western Europe then you might be considered an outcast.

View on HN

100% true. Luckily for me, I live in Sweden and work life balance here is great, we get +four weeks of vacation and many benefits. So far, I haven't met anyone with the "hustle hustle hustle" attitude that you can find in other parts of the world, and I'm saying that as something positive!

Lazy West. Leading into already visible decline. I have 30 days regular vacation here in Germany. Plus additional 4 from Big corp I work for. Plus take all overtime as vacation days giving me another dozen free days. Basically no time for work. Days with meetings or time off. My boss from Asia shares my “hustle hustle hustle” attitude and I love it.

If you're challenged to fit a year's worth of work into 9½ months and are still bored, that sounds like a fantastic opportunity to build something you're passionate about.

Curious, you mentioned Japan, was there something specific about Japan that differed from Western Europe in your experience?

The social structure and how you view friends or make friends are different in all cultures including Japan.

Japan does not have the concept of "casual friends" or "light hearted friends" in the same way that places like the US have, but more similar to the way friends are viewed in the UK maybe, and friends take a lot of work and time to make.

In the middle of this is that most of your social life and work life are merged into one, which is different to countries like the UK and US, and you will be expected to work very long hours to show your love of the company.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com