Unenviable

It's been a negative couple of days and this is going to be a negative kind of entry. So, if you're all filled with that spring-y, happy feeling, you might just want to skip this one.

Unenviable

I found out the following things last week:

First: I haven't paid my water bill in four months. This is not as bad as it sounds because I am only billed once every two months. Having returned to the States unexpectedly in February, I forgot about slash lost the bill for January/February. I did receive a postcard reminder (all in Japanese) but I assumed that the next bill (with the old and new charges on it) would be sent to me. Of course, none came. Apparently in Japan, when you prove yourself to be irresponsible by not paying the bill, you then have to assume the added responsibility of calling to have a copy of the bill you irresponsibly didn't pay sent to you. Maybe. I don't know. All this is compounded by the fact that you have to speak or read a fair amount of Japanese to handle the problem--or, you get to go to your boss and say that he has to handle the problem for you. (Yes, I am an adult and, yes, I'm tired of doing the hat-in-hand thing here.) So, yes. The new bill (which the boy-wonder of a manager called the water company and had sent to me) is for 7,427 yen.

Second: The part-time teacher who I can't stand (no one else can stand her either) is having a party on the last day of Golden Week. She has been telling everyone that it's my going-away party. (She didn't tell me this.) Think of the snottiest, most disliked coworker you have. Then think of that snotty, disliked coworker trying to make herself look saintly by inviting everyone to a party supposedly held in your honor. Of course all this is made more ridiculous by the fact that her party is about six weeks before my last day. Needless to say, I'm not going to say anything to her or anyone--but I'm also not going to go to her party.

(And I know it's wrong of me to even add this, but you want to know who's responsible for all that Engrish out there? Well, it's people like my snotty, disliked coworker. She is one of the part-time Japanese teachers and recently she was asked to make a sign reminding students that there aren't going to be any classes during Golden Week. The whole sign is in Japanese except for the "heartfelt English" wish that they "Have Happy Golden week Holidays!")

Third: Last night, I ran into the student who had (has?) the crush on me in the lobby of The Kaisha. It was after work and I already had my coat on to leave the school, but I was friendly and said hello to him. I was friendly despite the fact that the last two times I saw him he had refused to make eye contact with me. (It's a long road explanation-wise as to why, so I'll skip it.) But for some reason, last night he wanted to keep me an extra ten minutes to talk about sports. I'm not in the least bit interested in sports and so maybe it's a sign of my turning Japanese that instead of telling him that I'm honestly not interested in sports, I smiled and was friendly. And--and I'm just going to let this one go, because I came home seethingly angry at myself for having taken the high road on this one.

Fourth: My contract with The Kaisha is for one year and ten days. My work visa from the Japanese government is for one year. (They only issue one and three year work visas.) You can do the math, but I'll just go ahead and tell you that there is a ten day gap between the time my work visa expires and the time my contract ends. It seems to me that, yes, it would be a simple thing for the company to have a one year contract because that would prevent me from having to go through the incredibly time-consuming and paperwork-intensive process of appying for a one year work visa to cover TEN days of work. But, no, The Kaisha wants that year and ten day contract, so I have to spend the equivalent of a work day (unpaid, of course) going to the immigration office to apply for a new one-year work visa.

I'm so ready to leave this place. And I will do so--ten days into my new one year work visa.

Welcome to Japan.