Snow?
(Day 4) I woke up today to the lovely but cold sight of snow! It is very rare for it to snow in Tokyo, so I tried to make the best of it as I sloshed around the streets with my soaking wet shoes. I have only been back in Tokyo for 4 days now, but I thought I would have accomplished a lot more. Getting things done in Japan takes time even if you speak Japanese. The Japanese love to follow rules, and the thought of thinking outside the box and maybe bending the rules isn’t even considered. My first order of business was getting my Alien Registration card. The card basically allows me to get an apartment, cell phone, bank account…. etc. After spending 4 hours going to 3 different City Hall offices, I finally found the office that I needed. I applied for the Registration card and left with my temporary paper that was “supposed” to be good enough to get a cell phone. I then found myself at one of Tokyo’s biggest electronic districts where you can buy any sort of gadget in the world. After spending 30 minutes asking if anyone spoke English, I opted for my poor Japanese and hand signs. I was able to get someone to call the English help line and they translated for me back and forth between the store employee. To make a long story short, I am now a proud owner of a kick ass High tech Japanese cell phone. The instruction manual is in Japanese, so I have no idea how to work this thing, but I have plenty of time on the subway to figure it out. Tomorrow I’m off for the next big adventure “Getting an apartment” and setting up a bank account. I’m sure tomorrow will be filled with puzzled looks and more wrong turns, but I like it when things aren’t so easy… it keeps me on my toes!
Posted by Jimmy under Japan, Updates | Comments (0)
