Finally!

Okay folks, welcome back to the show. As you can all assume based on the lack of the post, it took me longer than anticipated to get Internet. But now that I have Internet, I should be able to go into full swing. Of course, that is assuming I don't go all lazy for a while.

Anyways...

Some friends have requested that I post some pictures to make the blog more visually friendly. That is my term, not my friends' term. I will try and post some pictures now and hope for the best. Seeing as I have proven to be somewhat technologically challenged, you folks can expect some practice post every now and then.

Before I get to that, I mentioned a while back that I had learned some important information that I felt you, my dear readers, had to learn about if you planed on coming to Japan. I am a man of my word so here it goes.

Okay, first thing you guys need to realize is that when you come to Japan, you don't just simply get off the airplane and begin to have fun. No no, that is not the case. If you thought the paperwork and footwork that went into applying and getting accepted to study abroad in Japan was hard... Friend, you have no idea what hard is.

First thing off, Japan likes to keep track of it's foreigner residents. They want to know where you are staying, for how long you will be staying, for what purpose you are here, and what you plan to name your first born son. That last one was a joke.

In order for Japan to accomplish this, they require that every foreigner go through a "gauntlet" of sorts. By this I mean that they want to make sure you are really serious about being here and make you do paperwork, after paperwork, jump through loop, after loop and what not to prove how serious you are. If you should fall during this trial, you are stripped naked and beaten with a bamboo stick outside the city hall. I'll leave up to you folks to figure out which are the jokes.

Anyways, the first piece of documentation you need to pass this "gauntlet" is called an "Alien Registration Card." You get this by going to your local City Hall and applying within. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Before going to the City Hall, which sometimes is not even in the same town, you have to make sure that you have your Passport and 2 Passport sized photos of yourself, not your dog, don't make the same mistake I did. Anyways, if you forget to get your pictures taken before leaving home, do not worry, you can actually take them at any photo booth that you will undoubtedly find near the area you live.

Now, one thing you need to learn about applying for your Alien Registration Card is that you will not get it the same day. If anything, you will be lucky to get it within a month or two. While you wait though, they will provide you with a certificate saying that you have applied and paid for your card. Oddly enough, you don't get this certificate on the same day you apply either. You will be asked to come back in one or two days to pick it up. Since you won't have your card right off the bat, this certificate will be vital to your survival in Japan. I will explain why later on.

So, you go to the City Hall to apply. Easy right?... Well NO! Come on! You folks should know this by now. Once you enter City Hall, you have to find the correct window and pick-up a number for that exact window. After your number gets called out, you will be taken into a room in the back and asked to leave your things there and wait in the room till they call you to go to another window. I kid you not, this room I went to was exactly the kind of room you see in mobster movies where they beat-up and eventually kill the snitch, or "stool Pigeon," in the group.

Anyways, after you wait in the room, which will or will not have a working fan (if there is A/C, you are in the wrong building), you eventually get called to go to another window. You can expect anywhere from a 5 minute to an hour wait inside that little room.

At the next window, the one you are called to, you will be asked to sit in front of a clerk and fill out some forms. While filling the forms out, the clerk will review the information on your passport and ask you to verify what he writes down. This can take a while because they will usually write one word, ask you, write the next word, ask you, write the next word, ask you... Well, you get the idea. They will also verify that they can read what you wrote on the forms. Be careful of making a mistake on the forms too. If you do, you have to start all over again, and trust me, you don't want that. Its worst than the bamboo beating.

Another thing you need to be aware of is that you, as a foreign individual to the country, do not exist in the eyes of the government till you fill out this form for your Alien Registration Card. If you don't have that, you are basically a ghost in the crowd. And I mean ghost is every literal sense. Without the Alien Registration Card you cannot get a cellphone, not even a prepaid one, and you cannot open a bank account.

That's right folks! You cannot open a bank account. Whatever money you have in your pocket is the money you have to live off of. This is somewhat of a major concern, right? Well, do not worry! Remember that certificate I mentioned? The one you get after you apply for the card? Well, you can use that to open a bank account and get a cellphone and what not.

So, in the end, after you have filled out every form they push your way at the City Hall, and verified every word that the clerk writes down. You end up with a receipt that tells you to come back the next day or day after next. You also end up with a deep understanding of the Japanese Government... They love their paperwork. Makes bureaucrats back in the States look like 3 year old kids playing house... Or office... Whatever it is that kids play nowadays.

AND that folks is the first step in beating the "gauntlet" to prove you are serious about being in Japan.

Now for a Picture!
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And I can't figure out how to do it! Yay!