At work I usually refocus by taking a few minutes to read random internet writings to clear my mind. Often I read about sports, but occasionally I end up reading the chronicles of expats who are living overseas. I find their stories of adjusting to life in a different culture fascinating, especially the stories from people who find themselves living in Asian cultures. The small details are fascinating. The Wall Street Journal chronicles these frustrations in a column called The Expat Life, but some of the best stories are chonicled on blogs.
One of these is Captain Japan's
Sake-Drenched Postcards. The captain provided a seven-part series on Japanese Hostess Clubs. It is a fascinating concept--men paying for the pleasure of a conversation with women. For many women this sounds like one of the only routes to finacial independance they have, "
It is no secret that the allure of becoming a hostess usually comes down to one thing: money. The chase for brand-name goods and the chance for an affair with a successful corporate executive provides all the motivation necessary for a girl to take up work in one of Tokyo's thousands of hostess clubs."