Tohoku know I'm leaving...

Saita sensei ( lecturer, the one who picked me up from the airport ) saw me today and asked for a 'quick word'. She'd heard something to the effect that I was not taking any classes, and wanted to know what I was doing. I said that that was true, that the classes were wasting my time, and that there was no point me taking any other classes (once again she offered ones that were 'considerably difficult' - which I think was meant to result in me jumping for joy...). She was not in the least surprised when I said I was leaving, but she did seem to think it was all ANU's fault.
Oh well...
Reserved a plane ticket, too!! Very exciting, but the travel agent couldnt tell me on the spot whether there were any seats available, so I will find out on Monday if indeed I am leaving Tokyo at 2pm on the 31st of May...

So all that remains is packing up, tidying up loose ends, and getting out of here! Mombusho want me to pay for that plane ticket from Tokyo to Sendai at the start of February, which technically they are allowed to do under the terms of the scholarship, but I was hoping they had forgotten about it. Need to pay my rent and my mobile bill, cancel said mobile, and I think I'm done! Both the International House and the phone company wanted my bank account details so they could take the appropriate money from my account directly, but neither of them actually have, they both want cash payments now. Silly oompa loompas.

Eugene emailed yesterday too... he wants to deliver the 'rest' of the ANU stuff to my room on Saturday. So kind, but I am then going to have to transport it up to Uni myself. I'll see what he's got, and might ask him to drop it off at uni instead of my nest, and I can put it in a big cardboard box and leave it for the next ANU student - probably in September next year.

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I got my visa!
Yay! So now all that needs to be done is I book a plane ticket and I'm out of here... off into the sunset, away from the Rising Sun.
Looking at tickets right now.

I was amazed how easy it was to get this visa - granted I had to travel from Tokyo and wait outside in the heat for two hours, then another hour in airconditioned comfort (ok, so that wasnt too bad at all :) ), then my interview with the consular official was three minutes, and I was approved on the spot!

Off for lunch with Chie, who worked at Wurruk and Seaspray a few years ago, then navigated the subway network to Takadanobaba (yeah, thats what its called) and wandered to Waseda Uni to meet up with Yusuke. Later, ANU students and a past exchange student or two came, along with Lorna from Canterbury. Was great to catch up with them again... even those whom I hadnt ever actually met before.

Spent that night on a futon on Yusuke's floor - was far more appealing than the couch at RAYs English Club in Saitama, though I did drop in at RAYs on my way back to Sendai. Trying to save money, I took the local train instead of the Shinkansen... I was far from in a hurry, and I saved about $70 - half the price of the shinkansen ticket! The only catch was, it stopped at EVERY station, I had to change trains twice, and finally arrived in Sendai seven hours after leaving Saitama... which was itself half an hour out of Tokyo.

Walked home, showered, then slept solid for ten hours.
Woke up this morning, checked the letter box, and my passport had been mailed back to me with a Business or Tourist class visa, for multiple entries until 2009!
Very exciting...

Photos are up in Scenery and Culture (Strange) albums.

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It was hard getting up at 6 this morning, made all the less pleasant by pouring rain. While it would have been nice to go back to sleep, todays excursion is the most important since coming to Japan.
Fixed the chain on my wretched bicycle in the rain then set off for the shinkansen. Two hours down to Tokyo then navigating the subway to the vicinity of the American embassy where I arrived a full hour before my scheduled appointment.
You'd think that was plenty of time, wouldn't you? But no, due to "increased security measures" because some whacko said he wanted to bomb the place this week, and that getting American visas seems to be the 'in' thing to do in Tokyo this week, meant an hour and a half wait in the street and another forty five inside the gates before being probed again and permitted to enter the building... where I am allowed to sit on some nice comfy seats while waiting for my three minute interview to see if I get my visa...

Im very tired... another update tomorrow!

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Still seems as if the Tohoku people haven't heard from ANU. I base this on having spoken to people here today and no one mentioned it to me, even Uchiyama san. I did ask him where the Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank's local branch was (and made sure I looked at the map he found, just in case he was directing me to the Osaka Toyota Bank instead), and he gave no indication that he was aware I plan to flee the country in only 22 days.

And the purpose of the bank? Had to pay my application fee for the american visa. This was accomplished very easily at the ATM, even though I dont have an account there, with no processing fees, and the ATM even gave me correct change in coins.
Why is this country so advanced in things like ATMs, yet doesn't have internet access in a university hall of residence specifically designed for international students? Why is it possible to take digital video on my mobile phone and email it around the world, but my floor is made of lino?

Found the other foreign import food shop today. Meidi ya (funnily enough, pronounced Meiji ya) got my hopes up by selling Cadbury, but dashed them again when I saw it was made in Canada. Now, I have not tried the Canadian variety of Cadbury, true, but I am very wary of it being similar to the travesty that is American-produced Cadbury. Now THAT is horrible stuff that does not deserve to be wrapped in purple. However today I was in luck, for the other place sells the good stuff. Real stuff.. made in Dunedin. Nick, I thought of you as I unwrapped this, and right now I'm tasting the first bite of Dairy Milk I've had in ... well, OK, it wasnt that long since my supply ran out, but its longer than a week. Almost.

Technical stuff: the Email button on the right has been banished, due to it being highly inconsistent. I did lose emails from that, so if you emailed me via that button in any shape or form and I didnt respond, I am very sorry. It was not my fault.
However to replace the email button, Comments are now available! If things work as I have been led to believe (and we know this is dangerous ground here), you should be able to leave comments after any posts I make. Hope it works...

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say 'I think I'll squeeze those dangly things here and drink whatever comes out'?

Early night tonight and off to Tokyo tomorrow to smile at Americans. (No, not a new hobby nor the latest craze in Japan, but to get a visa! Very exciting. Also meeting up with Chie, who stayed with Mum and Dad a couple of years ago and worked in their schools, and then in the evening catching up with the ANU crowd in Tokyo for a drink and something to eat. Should be fun... might end up sleeping on the couch at RAYs English Club too because the train back to Sendai, even the bullet train, means I would have to leave Tokyo by 9pm. Too early, though I know I'll be tired. So I might head back out to Urawa, for I know I can get there up until 1am, sleep on the couch, get a shower, catch up with the crowd down there before heading back to Sendai... might take the slower trains, its much cheaper.

22

The humidity started today.
It was fine last night, but when I woke up this morning, I could tell straight away that Japan has entered the Wet Season. People I meet here do go on at great length how Japan has four distinct seasons (and is unique in the world for this reason), but I reckon they just have two. Freezing Cold, and Melting Hot. There are a few days in between where it is neither, but I dont consider a week long enough for a true season.

Spring, if it exist here in Sendai, is the season for Cherry Blossom viewing, and Golden Week holidays. I was expecting many comments about the end of Golden Week, but not so much as a sniffle. Why is it that this country weeps at the loss of petals on a cherry tree, but the end of a weeks holiday (the longest holiday many workers ever see in their lives) passes without comment.

Going back to the burrow now to have tea, and make sure I have all the documentation filled out for my trip to the Embassy on Tuesday. Still need to get a photo, but Ill take one myself and get a printout from the digital camera rather than pay $25 to get a photo shop oompa loompa to take one.
Then the only thing left to do will be go to Tokyo, pay the application fee at the Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank, and smile nicely at the embassy.

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