On soap style dramas

The architect from the bar contacted me last night about starting at their office mid-July, stating how very busy the were. From the start he's been very clear about me not being allowed to say that we met in a bar. This felt pretty obvious to me, since it didn't exactly make me sound awesome either, so I just figured it went without saying. In the email from last night, he stated it yet again, saying "I have a partner (my wife) as design director in my office so please do not tell her we met at the bar :)", giving me some crap story about how I was supposedly recommended to him by some friend of mine instead."Sorry for this but I just need to keep the office nice way." Seeing as he was with some random woman the night we met, my brain kinda went: "Oh. Ohhhh." and things now feel a little weird.

So just in case the stress of watching like a million tutorials for the programs I'll be using that I haven't really been using since graduation, I now have my potential boss' possible affair to remember to keep my mouth shut about. What's up with people in this country and cheating on their spouses? And why with such a shit story, too? Say we met at a coffee shop or whatever and that I sent in my portfolio, that's no biggie. Telling his wife that I came recommended from his friend can just blow up in my face at some point in so many ways, seeing as I a) don't know any of his friends, and b) none of them know me, so if any of them are asked about this random tall Scandinavian chick they supposedly introduced, they'll all be like "Who?". Man, I thought the possibility of switching jobs would make my life feel less like a soap opera.

Anyways, now that things are beginning to feel really real, I'm beginning to really freak out. I remember reading some pretty gruesome horror stories about working as an intern for other companies (*cough* Sanaa *cough*), with interns working for like 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week completely unpaid, using their own computers and own software in a freezing office with no work space of their own and then getting booted home with absolutely zero job prospects in the firm, and I'm wondering if that could happen to me. Why does this guy seem so happy to take me on and hire me? Why would anyone hire anyone if you could just keep them around and make them work for free?

And that's when I start getting nervous about things like salary. One site told me that the average minimum was about 375,000 yen/month, which is more than 150% of what I'm making right now, but I have a hard time believing that to be anywhere near what I'll get, given my non-existent experience and fresh-bakedness, and other sites tell me somewhere between 140,000-200,000 yen/month for a typical office. My Gaba salary, for reference, is usually around 190,000-220,000 yen/month, depending on shittiness. I'm really anxious about what to expect. What can I even ask for? "We are a small practice and also you do not have practical experience yet... so my offer may not be so great for you but I hope you can accept as a part of your experience to lead you to better opportunities." I mean, he's right, and I really do have to start somewhere, but this just makes me feel awful. 200,000 yen a month I can do - 140,000 yen and I'll be starved. I just don't know what to hope for, and if I have any options at all.

I guess all that's left to do now is to just take a big gulp of air and dive into it. You've gotta start somewhere.