10-28

10-28-05 First Morning

Jet Lag. Yeeesh. Last night I went to bed at what was, in Pacific Time, around 6 or 7 in the morning. It was like 10 at night here, but, they say that in order to get over jet lag the fastest that you have to stay up as late as you can, and then try to get up with the sun or schedule wherever you are. So, naturally, having gone to bed at 10 at night, I woke up promptly at about 5 in the morning fully rested and there was little to no way I was going to be able to get back to sleep. But, out of courtesy to my roommates I stayed in bed until around 9.

I met Tim today, he’s an American from Sacramento, been doing this for around 2 years. Ash, the Aussie, came home late in the evening last night, and he seems pretty cool too. I don’t think I am going to have a hard time living with either of these two guys, as long as I can do something about the bitter, sharp odor that lingers around this place. I assume it’s from vinegar from cooking rather than some other malodor emanating from one of the two of them, but, whatever it is I’ll find a way to get rid of it. I’ll just have to cook the crap out of some other things to take over the scent in the kitchen.

You really get the feeling like this is either some sort of extortion gig on the part of Nova, or that people really do live pretty humbly for the most part in this country. I know that being the last to arrive I got the smallest of the three rooms, but, I mean, I’m living in a water closet. Oh well, such is life. I imagine that after a time I will seek out my own place, outside of Nova’s influence, that way they can stop garnishing my wages and perhaps I’ll find a better, larger, maybe even cheaper place. Hell, maybe I can even talk Greg into looking for a place with me at some point. That would be all kinds of cool.

Greg’s going to be gone for a few more days, and I’ll probably be pretty well settled in by the time he arrives. That will be nice, because I wouldn’t want to be juggling trying to get a hold of him at the same time I’m trying to get my feet on the ground around here.

Anyway, I have to try to find my way to the Alien Registration center today to get my card, so I can have everything in order by the time I go to orientation in Shinjuku on Monday morning.
10-4.


2:32 pm – Getting Stuff Done

So I went down today and got a bunch of stuff done. Well, actually, I only got one thing done really, but it took a lot of effort and walking around so I am going to count it as a bunch of stuff. I went down to the City Center of Nagareyama, and registered as an alien there, and got my official statement of Alien Registration, so when I go to orientation on Monday, I will have all the paperwork I need to get my bank account set up, get my phone, set up my taxes, etc. I will use my alien card as my ID once I get it, which means I can keep my passport locked up, which will make me feel a bit more secure.

The city center is a little bit out there, you would figure it would be in a more accessible place, but, instead you have to take an odd combination of local stops and local access only trains to get there. The lady there was really very nice though, and made the process really easy. I am glad that Dan tore off and placed one of my address cards in my pocket first thing upon arrival yesterday, otherwise I would have had almost none of the information I needed today while registering.
Ash was nice enough to escort me out there, so afterwards I offered to take him out to lunch before he hit the gym. The place that he took me to in Matsudo proper was pretty full, so instead, we (you’ll like this Amanda) went to Starbucks. The fucking thing was exactly, exactly like Starbucks back home. I had my usual espresso and a small sandwich, and that was that. Weird. I suspect that will be one of the last times I eat at such a blatantly American restaurant. I don’t really want to be a part of that. I get the impression that Ash sticks mostly to places like that, or at least places that have something of an American influence, since he doesn’t really speak any Japanese. I aim to avoid that.
I had my first real immersion into the Japanese language today at the City Center. By immersion I really mean dive head first. It’s weird, if you never say a word of Japanese to someone, they talk to you in broken English and you manage. But the moment you ask them a question in Japanese, or use Japanese to clarify something you didn’t quite fully understand, it’s all over. The floodgates are open. From that point on it’s all in Japanese, with English used to punctuate important points, or to ease dumbfounded looks. She was pointing out fields on the form that I needed to fill out, one of which was phone number. So I looked at her, and instead of being half understood in English, I decided to just throw out one of the few phrases that come easily to me still in Japanese. Eeto ne, ima denwa bango wa nai, daijyobu desuka? (Umm, I don’t have a phone number right now, is that alright?) Ooooh Lordy, things got interesting after that. But you could tell it took a load off her shoulders, so, I kinda ran with it. And besides, after that, I’ve been thinking increasingly in Japanese, which is good.
Now I’m back home, after stopping off at the local Family Mart (7-11 equiv.) and picking up some ocha and some ramen bowls for light meals. It’s fun tossing out the occasional arigatou gozaimasu (thanks), they never see that coming, what with the good accent I’ve been blessed with. I think that’s what gets me into so much trouble, that unlike Ash, whose Japanese accent is atrocious at best, when I speak in Japanese it sounds as if I know whatever I’m saying actually means, rather than speaking from rote memorization or parroting. I took a moment to compile my paperwork for orientation, and now all I have to do today is wait around (matsu) and smoke cigarettes (tobako o suu) until my luggage arrives between 6-8pm.
Note to self: The extortion gig I figured this job was appears to be the truth, from what Ash says. The majority of which comes from the living situations. I’m living in a water closet currently, so, look for a new place as soon as it becomes affordable. That’s gonna be how I pocket any amount of money. Additionally, play along with the game overtly, otherwise my probationary period will be extended and I won’t get my raise until 6 months or so instead of 3.



4:36pm – Finances

I did a rough calculation of the cost of living out here, to figure out what I have to be making each month in order to keep afloat. I didn’t factor into it the cost of insurance, which I will need the amount for when I go to orientation, but I figure I will need around 125000 yen each month to cover food, rent, phone, and loan/credit payments. That works out to just over $1200 a month. Which means that I have to be making more than that. I know that part time workers make a bunch less than full time, but I don’t know exactly what my salary here will be, and I need to remember to ask for a copy of my contract when I go in to orientation. I also need to know the exact amount of my salary, so I can budget accordingly.
My calculations used a pretty sparing estimation for food, so, I really have my fingers crossed that I will be making somewhere in the area of 200000 yen per month. I think I remember those estimates from when I was checking salary information online, but, that might have been for full time, and there’s also the matter of the probationary period for the first three to six months of work. For all I know, I could be making 160000/mo, which would barely cover my expenses, especially after travel and convenience, which will be covered by Nova but still has to be spent.
As much as I hate to admit it, aside from the incredible experience I will have here, the primary purpose of my being here is monetary in nature. Back home, I was paying $280 a month in rent, here I pay ~$590. I am paying $310 more a month here in rent alone, so that means I have to be making at least that much more. Now, I can only assume that I will be, I have to be, but who knows anymore. Living in Eugene, I had more credit expenses, but I didn’t have my student loans to worry about. I have taken on quite a bit larger financial burdens, despite having unloaded some too. Basically, it just works out to that I need to be making a lot more here to not go under. I can plan to have a fairly meager phone plan, since I don’t anticipate at least at first needing to make many phone calls, aside from to Greg and any friends I make in the first few months.
I guess what that means at least for now is that when either Tim or Ash get home, I need to ask them what they were making when they first got hired, and what they’re making now, so I can get a feel for where I’ll stand.


9:15pm – Not So Hot

It’s getting cold at night. It was warm during the day, but, night time? Not so much. The AirCon doesn’t do warm, just cool. We were hoping it was a dual function, but it appears, much to my chagrin, that it is not. Either that or I was inept pushing buttons on the controller in an attempt to get warm air to come out. It appears that either I will be wearing many, many layers this winter or we are going to have to seek out space heaters, and quickly at that. I can’t stand to be cold, and I am certainly not going to go the entirety of this winter wearing as many layers as I own. I’m sure Ash will empathize, being Australian and all.