hey all,
Yesterday I received a letter from the Immigration bureau, and I figured that meant I was supposed to come in and finalize my my visa status. I got up, got on the train, and was at the front door of the Immigration bureau before I looked at the back of the card more closely and noticed that I was supposed to come in on April 10th. Why?!? When I went to get my gaijin card, they gave me a piece of paper right there that told me when I had to come back in. Why send me a letter to tell me the same thing?
I don't really understand this thing anyway. I've already been hired by the company; I've already been approved to teach in Ageo-shi by the local Board of Education. Do I need the approval of the Emperor himself?
Anyway, yesterday Masa and I went to a Buddhist center in another part of Saitama-shi. It was quite impressive and had a meeting area that was 750 tatami mats in area; it could fit something like 4 thousand people in it.
After that, we finally met up with the friend of the girl who was trying to sell us bikes. I now have a slightly beat up bike, and I'll be taking some fotos of it. It has a built-in lock that is kinda interesting. Otherwise, it looks exactly like the kind of bike I would not want: a granny-style bike w/ basket, narrow handle bars (which makes steering it kinda twitchy), and only one gear.
I think today I'm going to ride my bike over to Ageo-shi and find the schools I'll be teaching at. The only thing I can do in the meantime is get a cell phone. It turns out that in order to qualify for the family plan, you need documented proof that everyone is related, so we'll just have to sign up for individual plans. One plan that looked really nice actually requires one person to be physically or mentally disabled.
'S all for now.
