So today is my last day of spring vacation. I can’t really say that I took the time to relax, but I did have fun traveling all over Honshu.

Tomorrow, I am officially back teaching.

Wah, wah.

During the break, though, I had a couple of messages from work. I got an email from head office that outlined my schedule for the year. I will be teaching thirteen lessons, pretty much similar to what I taught last year. Later on, I got scheduled in to work one Sunday this month. We also had to have a teachers’ meeting one of the days. For that, we were required to prep and get things ready. Even before I teach tomorrow, I had to do some kind of written task to prepare myself for the year.

Even though we were officially off work for spring break and not paid for any of the preparation and other little stuff, I still had to think about things related to the work I do.

This makes me wonder if we truly are able to separate away from work. Again, I stress the officially part. Usually, the three weeks after the last lesson I teach and the first lesson of the new year are spent traveling and spring cleaning. I need all the extra time I can get to make sure that the house is in order. I also usually get my financial house in order, too, during this time.

I need to because in the US, April 15 is the date our taxes are due. It’s a good time to get all the paperwork and files organized, not just those related to taxes. Since I am cleaning anyway, might as well do the whole lot and make sure that whatever I need for the rest of the year is on hand. Again, it’s all about spring cleaning and getting things done during my off-work time.

With all the little things involved for my job, I realize that I don’t really have any time that I am not thinking about work. I am always going to be a teacher, and being a teacher means you have to be prepared to do anything–whether this means contractually obligated to reply to work emails and messages or getting prepped for lessons.

This is part of the reason why I want to move into a different field and eventually become fully financially independent. I don’t want to be completely dependent on a job for income. I want to be able to say no to the things I don’t want to do or just don’t want to be bothered with. I want to be able to dictate the times that I am working. I really believe that my personality thrives on separating off time and on time. I would like to be completely off and be able to relax when I don’t have to think about work. When I am working, I am focused and driven. It takes a lot of energy and bandwidth to teach children.

Because I usually give teaching my all, I would really like to have some time to not have to think about work. However, even during times that I am not supposed to be working, I still am bothered by my job.

Okay, rant over. Thanks for letting me vent.