Starting with my first day of school, I was overwhelmed with
all the lengthy procedures I had to go through in order to just be a student. I
started by applying for my alien registration card. These involved making
several trips by bus to the remote immigration burrow and then wait for hours
to be dealt with. There was no exception if a piece of your identification wasn’t
exactly what was required. I was thankful enough to have a friend whose
Japanese was very good to speak with the people, because I’m sure if I had to
reply on just my ability to communicate I would probably still be trying to get
my identification.
 |
| We made a line to nowhere and Japanese people started to line up behind us! |
I know now that when trying to deal with anything procedural
in Japan, I must ensure that I have all the correct documents, a fluent friend
to speak for me and about half a day to sit and wait to be helped
