Birthday in Japan

Hey everyone!

So, I have a post full of good news on my birthday in Japan!

And, as a side note before I begin,...I don't know if I said this last time, but it's been kinda cool and rainy the past few days in Komagane/Nagano, but the top 5 places where it is hottest in Japan now is up in the Tohoku/Hokkaido regions. Aomori is in Tohoku, which is the northernmost part of the main island in Japan. It's supposed to be 5 degrees (Celsius) colder than Nagano during most points in the year, but for some reason it's flip-flopped right now lol Poor Pumpkin... :[

Anyways, I shall begin!

1)  I made it back to Komagane safely after my grueling trip to and from Aomori!  Woohoo!!

It was so nice to be able to be with Ryan for that period of time, no matter how brief it was!  I look forward to his next visit! Hopefully, we have learned from all of my mistakes lol

Anyways, on my way back from Aomori, I needed to stop by the Regional Immigration Office in Nagano City to get my zairyuu card fixed, since my municipal office couldn't do it (and I needed to have this correct in order to get a phone).  Which leads me to my next point of elation...

2)  I FINALLY GOT MY ZAIRYUU CARD FIXED!!!!

It's amazing how having one letter omitted on my card had caused me so many headaches over the past 2 months. Unbelievable. I was continually turned away from the cell phone company because of this mistake. The cell phone company employees made many calls to their main branch to see if the mistake could be overlooked, but every time, they were denied permission to sell me a phone. I went to 3 separate stores and each time, the phone calls took at least 10-20 minutes each. Some employees tried really hard to help me.

Because this problem was giving the employees such a hard time to maneuver around, I was expecting this mistake to be fixed in an hour or two. I was half-expecting to be turned away and told to go to Tokyo to clear this up.

It took less than 5 minutes for them to print a new card out for me.

...

While I was a little bit frustrated that this problem couldn't have been fixed from Komagane, I was more relieved than anything.

FINALLY.

I wish I could put up a photo of my card up here to show you guys, but I can't bring myself to actually do it. The picture they used is the one they took when we just got off our plane from LAX to Narita Airport, so I look god awful haha

I can, however, tell you that my name is too long to fit on one line on my zairyuu card, so it looks like this:

ARMSTRONG KRISTIN ELIZABET
H

Well, to be honest, I don't really care how funny my name looks on any of my cards as long as they work! ^__^

3)  I got a present from one of my students!

After my trip back, I went to school the next day and taught a couple of classes.  After classes were over, Suzuka (one of my speech contest students) came to work on her speech with me. I recorded a CD of myself giving her speech, so she can listen and practice sounds on her own, and also recorded her speaking the first two paragraphs of her speech, so that she can see what she sounds like compared to me. While I was giving her a few pointers about what could be improved upon (mainly th sounds and some specifically English vowel sounds "ih" and "uh") and my caretaker rushed in, telling me that we needed to leave now in order to get a phone (!?!) ! I had to give her the unfinished CD and cut off the meeting quickly...but she gave me a bag of peanut senbei (peanut cracker cookies) as a thank-you present (いつもありがとうございます～= Thank you for everything/always!)! :] They are so delicious!!! Thank you Suzuka!! I'll have to find these and bring them back to Ryan (and America, when I do go back)!

This abrupt halt to my speech contest training leads to my last point:

4)  I NOW HAVE A PHONE!!

I had been told that getting a phone would take an hour or two, but I got my phone in less than 20 minutes. My caretaker explained almost nothing to me about my phone (and even less about the data plan, which I intend to ask her about today), which normally would've been a cause for concern, but Emma explained a little bit about my phone to me the last time I visited AU with her. I can access the internet, call in case of emergencies, and I even have access to a map! Plus, I can show students a picture of my boyfriend when they ask me about him...hehe :]

While a ton of things went wrong this weekend, I think the worst is over with (I say this before I have experienced winter, so I might regret saying that...)! I learned many lessons about the trains and buses in Japan. People keep telling me "Oh, it's ok if you don't know Japanese because I know English!", but after this weekend, I realized how much Japanese I can't use...and I really need to exercise my Japanese more often if I want it to get better. I will do my best though!  :]

Ok, for reals, next time I will upload some funny things that my students have written to me!

Until next time!