Just Another JET Blog

March 24 (Monday)

Thursday is what promises to be my final and most dramatic encounter with getting my Driver’s License. An 8:30 meeting has been planned. In order to get there for this cursed hour I must leave Kamioka at 4:30. Which means waking up at 3:45 in the morning. I will be prepared for it though. I come armed with a mountain worth of identification, completed paperwork and photocopies. I also added a new member to my adventuring party with Will, a level 22 rogue-class character who’s Japanese skills far outweigh my own. I also have a cell phone, prepped to call my school clerk should translation fail both of us. I’ve been level-grinding myself, practicing against smaller amounts of paperwork that are brought to me daily at school. A book has also been brought (the three musketeers!), since I was warned that I will be kept waiting until at least 11:30. All I actually have to DO is an eye exam and fill out some more papers. It is my final quest in the Driver’s License side-story and the last problem standing between me and a trip to Australia. Gaia help us.

March 27 (Thursday)

A successful sortie into Gifu-city has left me filled with joy and in possession of my own personal Japanese Driver’s License. Will and I left Kamioka at 4:30, but we missed the turn-off to the Gifu Expressway dramatically twice (costing us half an hour). Once upon the Expressway I opened my engine up to previously unheard of speeds in Japan. I doubt any have ever traveled as fast before. We managed to arrive at the destination a full half hour early. Once there I proceeded to fill out some paperwork and then have an eye exam. The time was now 8:30. As promised, we were told to wait until 11:00 or so for me to get the license. Bureaucracy at its finest. By 12:00 I had my license in hand, but was warned that my international driver’s was no longer usable in Japan because of it. That’s fine… or so you’d think. Turns out I now have all kinds of more horrible penalties for if I get into an accident or anything. I also have to have a “beginner’s mark” on my car so that everyone knows I’m driving for my first year in Japan… even though I’ve already been driving for months. Awesome. Time to go to Australia!

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Not having to have a “beginner’s mark” on my car. Embarrassing!!

Thing I love most about Japan today: How many times people warn me to be careful when driving because the roads here are more narrow than in Canada. Your concern for my safety is never ending!

Arigata meiwaku is my new favorite Japanese word. It means “thank you” (think: Arigatou) “trouble / bother / annoying” (meiwaku). A better translation of the two words together comes out as: unwelcome favor or mixed blessing. Today I was on Japanese TV. The experience was an “arigata meiwaku”.

My old (I mean “old” as in “used to be” and also in terms of age since he’s over 90 years old and served as a naval officer in WWII) kendo instructor was having a 6 minute documentary made about him for a TV station based out of Nagoya. I haven’t been to kendo in months, but he wanted me to be practicing with him on camera because “it makes the story more interesting”. I was going to be used. When I realized this, I felt something cold and sickly pass through me. I don’t like being used. I don’t like it when people take pictures with me so that they can prove they have a foreigner friend (even though we just met that night at a bar and I’ll never see them again afterwards). It makes you feel soiled. Now, for every single time I get this feeling, I probably reap about ten benefits from being foreign (free food, drinks, rides, information… and forgiveness for my ignorance or rudeness). So I remembered my benefits, swallowed my pride, and agreed (after trying to refuse a few times! Hahaha) to go on camera.

Miserable. That’s how the whole experience probably would have been, except that the interviewer turned out to have studied English in university. Over supper, we spoke in both languages (my favorite way of talking!) and I thought that things were going to be okay. Then we went to the kendo gym. Suddenly, I was being dressed in a kendo outfit (that did NOT at all fit) by three men around me. “We know he hasn’t done kendo in awhile” said one of the men to my instructor. The instructor looked at me and said in English, “I will train you like you are a child. Like a child.” Fantastic.

The outfit didn’t fit. And if the clothes moved just right (or wrong, really) you could see a large portion of my upper leg leading up to my boxers. “Don’t worry,” said the cameraman to me, “we’re only filming you from the front”. So, we practiced kendo in front of a camera. Then, we were interviewed. This was the most shocking part of it all, because the nice interviewer girl that I had talked to over supper suddenly became the stereotypical over-the-top interviewer that I always see on TV and am completely terrified of. Over-acting and over-reacting. While watching her interview my instructor I tried my hardest not to laugh at this sudden facade that she felt the need to create. She interviewed me too. In Japanese. My language level (which isn’t that great to begin with) dropped a little lower the moment the camera light went red. I stammered out a few answers (luckily, they only used one in the final cut). When it was all over the camera pulled me aside and said, “we shot you from the side sometimes after all”. Awesome.

I watched it today, and I’m only in about 15 seconds of the final version (much to my relief). I asked several people to record the event for me so that you all can enjoy it too. I’ll figure out so some way to put it up once I have a copy.

Arigata meiwaku.

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Interviewers interviewing without gigantic fake smiles on their faces.

Thing I love most about Japan today: 24-hour self-serve gas stations. I finally found one. I no longer have to remember to go to my local pump before 7pm!

For a final exam my students had to write out a minute and a half long conversation, memorize and present it. I helped them with grammar and vocabulary, but if what they originally wrote made sense then I left it alone. This, of course, means that they came up with many interesting statements. Here are a few of my favorite moments from the exam:

B: Nothing in the world will change my mind.

A: As might be expected. I respect you.

B: That’s right. I am a prodigy.

A: Oh! …see you.

B: See you.

A: Oh, I watched a basketball game on TV because there was the All-Stars Games. They were considerably bigger than me.

(these girls were talking about what kind of boy they like)

A: What is your priority; appearance or character?

B: When you say it that way, “it is character.” How about you?

A: I should say that appearance is my choice.

A: By the way, have you gotten fat lately?

B: Rude!! And so I walk everyday.

A: No kidding! Impossible! Don’t continue!

B: We are walking and talking now! Together let’s lose weight! By the way are you hungry?

A: I… well… have some patience. Shall we go to my favorite cake shop?

B: I want to go to that cake shop!

A: Let’s go. Anyway, you are on a diet, aren’t you?

B: Yes, I am. I have a poor memory because I love delicious food.

A: That’s right! Young people don’t need to diet!

(talking about the class they’re in. OC = oral communication)

A: OC test is very difficult.

B: I can’t memorize many sentences.

A: I am going to fail.

B: Teachers need not have given us such an assignemnt.

A: Do our best to pass the exam.

A: Is w-inds your favorite singer?

B: Yes I love w-inds.

A: They are not very good.

A: Do you have anything to do today?
B: I will study Swahili language hard.

A: Really? I study Ketyua language everyday.

(I like to think this was a clever shot by two of the students about how useful learning English is to them. But, knowing the guys, it was probably just them being very random and trying to be funny. Actually, one of these two guys (while they were writing the script) suddenly took out his wallet and showed me that he carries a condom. I was so shocked at this random action that all I could say was, “it’s important to be safe”. And he smiled and said “yes, safe.”)

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Knowing what to expect when from the seasons.

Thing I love most about Japan today: It’s getting warm. It was like 12 degrees this afternoon!

Feb. 21

I’ve decided to write an entire post about just paperwork in Japan, since it’s been dominating my thoughts for a while now.

In order to enter and leave Japan, you must have a “re-entry permit”. On the application for it, I found one of my new favorite Japanese to English translations: “If it is found that you have misrepresented the facts in an application, you will be unfavorably treated in the process.”

Unfavorably.

Does that mean that it will take a little longer to process? That would be unfavorable. Or maybe they’d stick me in prison cell with a condemned rapist. That would also be unfavorable. Most likely though, unfavorable means that you will have to do another mountain of paperwork. This mountain would be very similar to the mountain you already had to do the first time around. That, would be very unfavorable. I wouldn’t favor that choice, at all. The thing I would favor least about that choice would be that I’d have to drive to another city to file it again. And, I’d even have to use one of my vacation days in the process. This is turning out to be very unfavorable. It might be one of my most unfavorite things!

The very idea of a “re-entry permit” astounds me. Essentially, you are applying to be able to leave the country and come back. If you did something bad, they will not allow you to do this. That means that they force you to stay here. You did something bad in Japan and now you have to stay in Japan. Shouldn’t they be glad to get rid of the bad people, if only for a few days?

Feb. 25

On the brighter side, getting a visa to enter Australia was incredibly easy. The ticket turned out to be more expensive than expected, but at least that was easy to do to. Both of these things were done in only English, and I find myself with a new philosophy. If it can be done in English then it’s easy.

I’m still waiting for my driver’s license translation to come back to me. After that, I get to go down to Gifu city (twice!) to get my official Japanese license. How nice! How lucky! I wonder if I can convince someone to come with me to make the trip a hundred times less dull… and also possibly help with translation.

Feb. 26
Translation arrived! Hooray!

March 3

Yesterday was my Gifu City adventure. I got a “morning ticket” on a train to Gifu City (thanks for the advice Aiko!) and when I arrived at the station I immediately found the immigration building where I had to submit my re-entry permit. I showed up, handed it in and was then in store for my first surprise of the day. He showed me how much it cost (6000 yen or about 60 bucks) and I pulled out money to pay him… and he refused it. “No”, he said in Japanese, “we can only be paid in stamps.” Stamps??

But it wasn’t a big deal. On the first floor of the building was a post office, so I bought 60 dollars worth of stamps and got my re-entry permit. On the way out, a Brazilian man asked me if I was “Americano”. Another highlight.

I grabbed one of Mos Burger’s delicious Teriyaki Burgers and killed a few minutes reading before getting on a bus and heading to the building where I could change my driver’s. Two wrong buildings later, I found the place (and was still early), but they started my application process already anyways. The guy paged through my passport, and was shocked to find only a visa for Japan in it. He started laughing and asked me in Japanese, “really? None? You haven’t traveled anywhere?” I smiled and replied in the negative. Then, with an even bigger laugh he said, “not even Mexico?” I replied with something about how I had only been to America and Canada and held back from asking him how many countries he had been to by the age of 23. He then directed me to wait in the lobby. And so I did. After about an hour, another JET named Chris joined me. We griped about the process for awhile and caught up on recent events. I looked at the clock, it was now past my last bus back to the station. Fantastic.

Finally, another man came down to the lobby and called me over. We had a lively exchange, and their was clearly something wrong with my application. He took out a beginner’s sticker (all first year driver’s in Japan must have them on their cars) and showed it to me. I told him that the sticker was fine and I understood. I’d put it on when I’d my license. Then he went back to my Manitoba’s license and just kept pointing at “2001” over and over again. 2001 is the year that I first passed the test and got my license. Then he went up and down the lobby looking for a Japanese person who spoke English. I became worried and called up my school’s clerk, Okinaka-san (who has saved me from several catastrophe’s before and I’ll forever be in debt to). He explained to her, she explained to me: I need an exact date for when I first started driving. THIS, was not mentioned on any of the 5 websites I had read about getting a license in Japan OR on any of the 3 different required documents sheets that I had received from them. I was, a little upset. I asked Okinaka-san to explain to them again that I clearly had received my most recent license 3 months before I came to Japan. She did. The phone was passed back and forth for a while… until finally, laughing, she told me: “oh, he’s just saying that because they don’t have an exact date for when you first started driving you’ll have to have a beginner’s mark for the first year.” I was so happy about the fact I could move on to the next stage of these license games that I decided NOT to murder the man in front of me. He gave me a date to come back for my eye exam and we parted ways.

Afterwards, I went back to Chris to tell him what happened, and he offered to give me a ride back to the station (nice guy that he is) after it was his turn to be processed. So we waited awhile longer, and then another (different) man came down for him. This time, the problem was something about how he had a Spanish Visa in his passport. Heaven forbid! After departure and arrival dates were conversed about for a while, the employee reluctantly gave him a date for his driving test (because he’s American) and eye exam. But not before telling Chris that he’ll probably fail a few times. We triumphantly walked to his car, overjoyed that we had somehow made it halfway through the process. He dropped me off at the train station, where I was overjoyed to see that I had miss the last express train back to Takayama and would have the fun of taking the local train all the way there! My two hour trip back turned into a nearly four hour one… but at least it meant my arrival time was the same as George’s (who had been in Tokyo), so we had a 10 pm supper at Gusto in Takayama together. After griping about the day to him I felt infinitely better and managed to get back to my apartment by only shortly after midnight.

The date for my eye test? March 27^th at 8:30 in the morning. The day after the closing ceremony at my school and the day before I leave for Australia. What timing! I was also assured that I would be leaving the office on that day at 11:30… at the earliest.

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Not having to translate by passing a phone back and forth.

Thing I love most about Japan today: Okinaka-san, who helps me out with the infinite train of paperwork that I battle and also teaches me Japanese once a week. Thank-you!