Call me “Warm Bandage”: Master of the Red Tape!

One of the first work-related things I did was go across the road from the Board of Education to apply for an alien registration card (I said I came from Vulcan... jk).  This process wasn’t hard to do since my supervisor was there to tell me where to sign and whatnot (thank you Suzuki-san!).  I was told to expect the official card to arrive in a few weeks and was given a receipt saying that I had applied for it (by law I have to apply within the first three months of my residency).  I did some other paperwork as well including applying for pension, health insurance, and signing up for a Japanese-by-mail language course run by JET (the first textbook will arrive in November!).  So, a lot of red tape...

On a more-interesting note, I was given my very own personal seal/stamp (known as a hanko) that can be used in place of a signature and is often required on Japanese documents.  In my case the hanko has Chinese characters (kanji) with the same sounds as my first name but the kanji themselves have their own meanings as well so my hanko can be translated as “warm bandage”.  It’s kind of a strange-sounding name I suppose but I’m hoping that I can live up to it and help people recover... haha.  I think the people at the Board of Education are hoping for this as well because there are many other kanji that could have been used for my name but they took the time to choose some less-common ones with that specific meaning.

The next day Suzuki-san and I drove to the bank in the early afternoon and while we were there the bank hours ended (they close at 3 PM, which is slightly more ridiculous than in the US banks closing at 4).  Instead of throwing us out the bank employees merely locked the front door to signify that they weren’t accepting anyone else and began to close down their stations; they still dealt with Suzuki-san and me normally.  Metal window shades automatically covered all the windows and doors (which was a little scary) but when Suzuki-san saw that I was nervous about it he pointed out the side door which was still uncovered.  I gave the bank 1000 yen to start my account (which is equivalent to about $14 with the weak dollar right now).  Then we waited about half an hour for my account to be activated but they were able to do it that very day!  I got a bank book and was told that my bank card would arrive within a few days.  I got to use my hanko when signing up for the account and I also signed my name using katakana (a style of Japanese writing used for foreign words, it reminds me of using italics when using a foreign word in English).

Once I get my alien registration card I will be able to deal with even more red tape!   < 9_9 > ... haha.  I’ll have to get a Japanese cell phone and an internet router.  Japan is known for its high speed internet but since much of the landline network in my area was damaged during the tsunami most people use small, portable internet routers which convert cell phone signals into wireless internet (pretty cool, right?).  I’ll have to buy one at a cell phone store and pay a monthly fee but it’s convenient that I’ll be able to bring the internet to school with me if I want to!