So much happened the past two weeks. I haven’t had time to update this blog. Things are settling down again and I will start posting on a regular basis soon. Some people enter your life in the most unexpected of ways. For me, Hurricane Liz blew into Tokyo and swept me up in a ten day long whirlwind. I’d trade those days with my friend for nothing.
Photo by Ibrahim Asad on Pexels.com
Although tired and sleepy by the end of it, they were fast-paced and wonderful. I had great company. I have so much to share that I’m trying to figure out how to organize it all.
(I still need to finish the last of my summer vacation stories!)
On top of that I had to go to the fertility clinic throughout Liz’s entire trip in Japan. And on top of that the Japanese Pension office kept sending threatening letters to me of “Pay us 300,000 yen ($3,000) in the next two weeks or else!”. Which left Mr. W and I stressed as sudden large demands of money from the government usually do.
All of these things resolved within two days of each other.
Now my life is blissfully slow again and I can return to my routine.
I am a little burnout with my current work. Yes, it gives flexibility, but it adds little to my resume. I’ve talked to my husband about starting Japanese school next year. I want to prepare for a possible future of just the two of us. It’s sad to think about, but I definitely want to move on in my career and expand my resume. I’m also tired of only being semi-fluent in Japanese.
I hope I can start posting on a regular basis again in a week or two.
I miss blogging.
Mara Waka 
Ugh… the pension office. I’m having flashbacks of my bank account being frozen suddenly with no warning. What kind of career changes would you like to see in the future?
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The pension office is awful. They like to scare and bully you into paying right away. When my husband challenged them and threatened to take legal action they folded fast and backed off. Claimed it was all a mistake. Yeah, right.
I’d like to go into being a tour guide if I can. It combines my love of history, teaching, and going to places. I know it’s not the most profitable of careers, but I also know I’d love doing it.
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Wait, they froze your bank account?!
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Yeah, the ward office did, and pretty much drained all of my savings. I had no idea it was going to happen. I just went to the bank to withdraw some money, and the ATM kept giving me an error. Turned out not only did they take my savings, but also most of my paycheck. The ward office said they sent a notice in the mail, but I would’ve definitely contacted them if I had heard anything. It was the most stressful thing that’s happened to me since living here…
You have to be really careful with the government offices here. Don’t leave all of your money in a Japanese account, because they can take it at any given moment, and you’ll have nothing left for emergencies.
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Should be illegal what they did to you. It sounds rotten. They garnished your paycheck and savings. That’s horrifying.
They even knew where your money was and what bank accounts to access to get it. Scary!
Several foreigners have also told me of being threatened by the pension office like I was. You’re the first I’ve ever heard that they went this far against.
I feel so angry about this, like other foreigners need to be warned.
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Seconding the pension office urgh. I got a letter from them about six weeks ago informing me that I owed them what would be several thousand dollars, complete with invoices to pay it off over the next year. I’m supposed to be covered by my husband’s pension so we went off to the pension office to resolve the whole thing. Very annoying!
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Ugh. It sounds like what we went through. I’m also covered on my husband’s pension. They backed off once we brought in our evidence. I hope yours was resolved quickly and in your favor.
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Yes, luckily. I’m glad yours got sorted too!
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Good luck. I feel like I’ve been semi fluent forever.
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It’s so hard to get past that point in the language and reach the fluent level. It’s like you’re good enough to communicate, but not good enough to communicate comfortably or consistently.
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