So back when all of the ALT's were together, one of them started a Facebook group. This was useless to me, since I was not on Facebook. Now, however, I am. So far it looks like a lot of random "hey we should meet up some time" stuff, but it might actually be useful.
The room I'm staying in has been pretty cold, actually colder than the outside temp. I have a heater, but the remote for it was in Japanese and mine was not good enough to read the kanji. The school was kind enough to include a photo of a similar remote and I was able to get it working. If you think this doesn't matter, try staying in a room that is always too cold when you don't have all those blankets from home to wrap around yourself.
Yesterday, I went to the local city office and applied for an alien registration card (gaikokujin torakusho). This basically gives me permission to reside in Japan until my visa expires. Since my visa is currently that of a tourist, I also applied to change my visa status today. Once I get both of these pushed through, then I need to go back to the city office and update my alien registration (I couldn't just update the visa then go to the city office because I needed proof that I've applied for the gaijin card just to change my visa status.).
On the list of things to get done, this leaves:
- Get a bank account
- Get cell phone
- Apply for national health plan
I've gotten an invite to a Buddhist center, and I know there are some ALT's in Tokyo that want to show people around, so I might head in to Tokyo this weekend and try to get a feel for it. If nothing else, I definitely want to see Edo Castle.
Cheers,
