HELP!

I don't know what happened to my pictures online. There wasn't enough free space on my computer so I transferred all of my pictures to my external hard drive. The Picasa program that is installed on my computer finds pictures that are all over my computer AND my external hard drive. When I moved the pictures the Picasa on my computer still found them, but the albums somehow got erased. So I moved the folders with the pictures back into their original location on my computer and the albums didn't come back. There's more. I tried to create a new photo album of pictures from Mt. Fuji - pictures that I downloaded to my external hard drive and NEVER moved, and that album appears in the Picasa on my computer but NOT online!

What happened? What do I do? Can anybody help me? >_<

JK?

Nevermind... I think Picasa is just being retarded today. I hope that's it, at least!

Uh-oh

Crap. I reshuffled all of my pictures - moved them from my computer to my external hard drive - and now they've disappeared from my Picasa online picture album.

Crap. Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!

Fuji, Part II

Where I left off in Part I my friends and I were resting at the 9th station. We were about 5.5 hours in and so almost at the end - the summit - in time for the sunrise. People who climb Fuji during the summer season know that it will be crowded; common knowledge that floats around advises people to allot extra time going from 9-10 because the sheer number of climbers on the mountain really slows things down. It was no different for us; I estimate that there were hundreds if not just short of a thousand people on Fuji-san that night. As a result, moving up was slow going; literally stop and go. We had passed the hardcore rock climbing section at this point but the trail was still part rock and part path so in areas I would literally put one foot up on a rock and then stop mid climb; wait half a minute if not more, then continue with my other foot. I might make it a few steps before repeating the process a few minutes later. While we were doing this routine the sky began to lighten. Although the moon was still out the bottoms of the sky started transforming from midnight black to a deep, deep, pre-dawn blue. We could see the summit, but we could also see the thick zig-zag trail of climbers winding up the path so we decided to find a good spot on the side of the mountain from which we'd be able to observe the sunrise. And observe the sunrise we did. It was stunning! I've seen sunrises before, but never from so high up. Being 3,750-odd meters above sea level offered an unrivaled experience, an unparalleled view of the true expanse of the sky, an opportunity to see the sunrise, in all its deliberate and glorious beauty, face-to-face.

We came. We marveled. And then we rested. We hopped back on the trail intending to power up to the top but the way was still ridiculously crowded so chose another spot where we could eat, drink, have oxygen, and rest. It was so nice - just hanging out, talking, joking and eating with my friends but with an amazing view as both backdrop and centerpiece. We were all pretty tired - of course, because we had just spent over 5 hours climbing up a mountain, but also because we had essentially pulled an all-nighter! All of us woke up Thursday morning as usual, but none of us were that successful in taking a nap; personally I got about 40 minutes of sleep on the bus. So finally we slept. We slept on the side of Mt. Fuji after witnessing an incredible event, and then literally basking in its glow.

There was still a little bit of a crowd left after we woke up (we didn't sleep very long), but it didn't take us inordinately long to reach the top. When we finally got to the top we walked around a bit and then Amber and Jim went off to look for a bathroom. I sat down with the bags... and fell asleep. When I woke up Jim was back but Amber wasn't, and I felt sick; really nauseous. I put my head down to sleep but I just kept feeling sick. I took some oxygen but I just felt overwhelmingly sick. After a few minutes I was able to sleep a little bit, or rather, I closed my eyes and found space in my head to forget my discomfort. After a little while I woke up, felt better, looked around and found Amber and Jim sitting not far away. I joined them and then we got up to take a look around the top of Mt. Fuji.

There was quite a bit of a marketplace up there, and I considered some souvenirs but exploring was a much higher priority. I was still feeling mildly nauseatic, but nothing too strong. We walked down and peered into the crater, took some fun pictures, then walked over to some torii (wooden gates signifying a shrine) and took more pictures. Next up: the post office. The post office at the top of Mt. Fuji is the second highest in the world, and all three of us had postcards to send. We asked an old man where it was and he pointed towards a small hill and said to go up there and then about 25 meters; that’s where the post office would be. By then the altitude sickness had kicked in again and I didn’t feel up to it. Amber offered to take my postcards up for me, and I found a nice rock in the sunshine to sleep on in the meantime.

I woke up feeling worse than before. It was bad. Nearly simultaneously I felt like I was going to faint, and then vomit. I shot my hand out to the nearest rock to steady myself as I felt my head getting light and my vision cloudy. I clutched my hand to my mouth wondering if I was going to see the trail mix and peanut butter and banana sandwiches that I ate earlier. After those moments passed I thought ok, what am I going to do? I can’t just faint out here on the rock. Nobody’s going to notice, much less help me; and I can’t let my friends find me crumpled and unconscious on some rock. I can’t vomit out here either. I’m not in the midnight streets of Tokyo, where nobody chastises the retching salaryman or the dangerously wasted student – because that was them last week, or will be in the future. No, I couldn’t stay out there. I was reluctant to go to the bathroom – because they charged you for it – but go there I did. Between gathering my money and handing it to the attendant I put my head down on the small counter to steady myself, and briefly passed out. He started shouting at me and so I woke up and went to go hug a toilet for a little while – just in case. But these were traditional Japanese-style toilets (a hole in the ground), and while I wanted to vomit I was in no way in a state of mind that would allow me to take the necessary precautions. Basically, I was too sober to camp out next to the toilet. Luckily there was a wide wooden bench right inside the entrance that I conveniently passed out on.

Wake-up! Wake-up! You’re sick - you have to go down! Down the mountain! The old man was shouting at me again; no doubt he’d seen this happen before. Another man was standing nearby; he spoke English and attempted to explain to me what the old man was trying to communicate but I already understood what was going on. I explained to him that I knew I was sick but that I couldn’t leave because my friends weren’t back from the post office. Such a helpful man, he offered to take me to a little inn that was part of the market elsewhere on the mountaintop. I wanted to leave a note for my friends though, just to let them know that I wasn’t in the vicinity of the bathroom, and as I was doing that I looked up and finally saw them walking down the hill. As it turns out the post office wasn’t 25 meters, it was 250! I quickly explained to them that I needed to leave ASAP and leave we did. Eschewing souvenirs we peeled off our mountain-at-midnight layers, stuffed them into our bags, and began the descent to the 5^th station.

PS

According to CNN yesterday the yen was at a 4.5 month high against the dollar. I had been monitoring the yen myself for a little while and I knew it was the lowest in over 30 days but I didn't realize yesterday's rate was the lowest in a span of months! And at 117.52 it's even lower today! I must say, it felt really cool to see important international business news on tv so closely parallel my life; especially because it's important to my personal life as well! Let's hope this trend continues until next payday; or least resurfaces!

Fuji part 2 coming soon, for real. But first it's off to a friend's beach house - without internet - for the next couple of days!

How do you like THEM apples?!?

I'm so happy right now. The exchange rate of the yen to dollar is 118.39 AND it's payday. 118 is the best exchange rate I've seen in a loooooooooong time!!

oh, and Fuji update part 2 is coming soon.

Sometimes I Like to Climb Mountains (Notes from Fuji-san), Part I

From August 9-10 I climbed Mt. Fuji with 2 friends, Amber and Jim. We left the 5th Station (2305m altitude) at about 8:45pm and planned to climb to the top (3776m) to see the sunrise. The trail up the mountain is puncuated by stations, with a hut at each station and scattered between. As promised to my family and friends in an email, I promised to write about climbing Fuji-san when I took a rest at each station. Those notes are in italics.

6th Station, 2390m
Was supposed to be 45, we took 30 - although I tend to walk about 10 paces behind. We saw fireworks somewhere from the path.

On the rough map of the mountain that was passed out to climbers just outside of the 5th Station were estimates of how long it should take to clear each section of the trail; the approximation from 5 to 6 was 45 minutes. Oh, we were all so excited and in good spirits at the beginning! We were walking pretty briskly and passing up a number of clusters of people and I asked if we should maybe pace ourselves but Amber was confident that our pace was fine. Well, we quickly fell into our own speeds, which basically meant that I walked a few minutes behind. At one point going up we were able to see fireworks in a distant or not-too-distant prefecture; we could also hear them! That was the first of many incredible things I saw on the mountain.

We started out making conversation as we went up but it didn't take long for my voice to falter as I concentrated on breathing excercises as a distraction to my physical discomfort and monotony of the trail (it hadn't gotten interesting yet). Amber and Jim, however, were up ahead singing '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,' and they even had a little bit of a syncopated rhythm/comedy routine going on. At one point I called out - save a bottle for me! I think that they gave me bottle 32.

7th Station, 2700m
Took maybe 40 mins. I partook in some singing - "ants: hurrah" then bits of Grease. We got sticks stamped. Gotta eat something. Jim is carrying my water, how nice! Man, this is difficult though. I hope I make it to the top!

The suggested time between 6 and 7 was 60 minutes, we took 40. Even with my slower pace we were making really good time. At some point after a rest I was able to keep pace with Amber and Jim for longer than usual, and we started singing 'the ants go marching...' It also served as sort of a marco-polo type excercise where Amber would start singing 'the ants go marching one-by-one, hurrah...' and then from behind I would call out - 'hurrah!' So, for anyone climbing around us I guess it was like surround sound singing.

At the 5th station you can buy sticks that can really help you as you climb up (and on the way down); there are places at each station to get them stamped, and of course at the top. We all got ours stamped; in fact, we treated the stamps like rounds of beer. Each time we got a stick stamped one person paid for all three, a different person at the next station, and so on. We also shared snacks and water. You can buy food, water, batteries, oxygen and anything else you might need at huts on the way up the mountain but it's mad expensive. I decided that to avoid that I would bring a 2L bottle of water and a 1.5L bottle of some ion-replacing sports drink (Pocari Sweat). Unfortunately I hadn't thought about how they would weigh me down. Jim was super nice though and took on my water bottle for me! This is also around when the trail started getting difficult - more steep and more of a challenge to decide where to put my feet. It was also between 6 and 7 that I saw a shooting star!!

8th Station, 3020m
It took is the full 100 mins - but this was the longest segment of the trip that we'll have! A couple of British girls we've run into are looking for their friends Lucia and Jenny. I guess they fell behind? So now it's pretty much just climbing rocks, sometimes holding onto the chain, sometimes going along with hands on rocks. The 3 of us stopped at one point and admired the view - we could see the clouds above the mountains. They were different shades of gray and purple - it really felt like being on top of the world. PS - this climbing is hard work!

This was the longest segment and we took the full amount of time, but it was also the most interesting. Fuji-san is a volcano so the terrain isn't vegetation; it's rock. From 7-8 the trail was pure rock, and we had to scurry, lunge and climb up the rocks. There were chains and poles on the side and poles scattered up the middle to help us out. At one point there was a big rock right in front of me - too big to step over, too smooth to provide a foothold, and too vertical to step on. For a couple of seconds I hesitated thinking, I'd have to be Spiderman to be able to stand on this rock! But then I noticed that I was right next to the chain, so I grabbed on and gave it all my weight so I could clear the rock. I certainly felt like a superhero but the source of my powers was no secret and neither were they mine alone.

The view was absolutely beautiful. At some point the three of us took a break and just sat on the side of the mountain admiring the night sky. I've never seen anything like it - the clouds were beautifully deep and variant shades of gray and purple. It took my breath away. And I really felt like I was on top of the world.

I think the break after 7-8 is when we also started taking oxygen. Sometime around the 7th Station I started feeling a little naseous and getting mild headaches; oxygen is supposed to take care of that. And, I'm not going to lie, there were a few 'puff puff pass' jokes.

9th (original 8th) Station, 3360m
I'm cold and tired. I just put on a 2nd pair of pants, hopefully when we get moving I'll warm up. We just sat to have or have been sitting down for a good sized break out of the wind. I ate a pb&b sandwich, had one ion juice and took a number of hits of o2. It's 2:15, sunrise is around 4? We have a lot of time. Oooh, but frankly right now I'd just really like to be sleeping. 1 more station!

I don't remember how long 8-9 was supposed to take, but by this time we had all added to our layers and were getting a little tired. We were getting up there on the mountain and in addition to the thinner, colder air it was getting windy. I said "one more station" but really that was the last station and the next would be the top! I don't remember much about this section except that I saw a second shooting star (!) things things had started to slow down a little. The Fuji sunrise is an incredibly popular destination and the mountain was really crowded. It provided for cool visuals - you could see all the headlights snaking ahead up the mountain, and headlights below zig-zagging up behind you. I wasn't making a whole lot of mental notes though; I wouldn't say I was miserable, but it was certainly unpleasant.

Adventures in Immigration, part II

The lastest chapter in my immigration adventures began in earnest this past weekend. I went to Nova on my day off to pick up my visa extension pack and... sign a new year-long contract. The visa extension pack is pretty awesome. It contains:

• a little booklet outlining the process in 4 easy steps
• a copy of the contract to submit to immigration
• a piece of paper with Japanese written on it that immigration officials like to see
• a photo copy of the forms I need to fill out, with a star by the required sections - which is great because apparently half of the form isn't important, AND
• key information filled in, like the official "status of my residence" (specialist in humanities), my "reason for extension" (to be engaged in a teaching position), and information about Nova, such as their "capital" (5 billion yen), "number of foreign employees" (4,611), and other such information that I don't know.

And in addition to the extension pack, at my request Foreign Personnel faxed me a map and directions to the two immigration offices in the Tokyo area, which was incredibly helpful.

Because of travel issues I outlined a couple of posts ago (I got 99 problems...) it was imperative that I start the renewal process immediately and my original plan was to do that on Friday, and if not Friday then Monday. But I realized something. When I moved in February I never updated the address on my Gaijin card, and without an accurate address there is no way the Japanese government would even accept my visa application. I never updated it because I imagined that it would be a huge convenience, and I certainly hadn't intended to submit any more visa paperwork. Not knowing how long the update would take worried me, but I knew it would take as long as it would take so early Monday morning I cycled over to the city office hoping that I wouldn't spend the whole morning there, and that it wouldn't take more than a week to get a new Gaijin card. Well, I was anxious for nothing. The whole process took maybe 10 or 15 minutes and I left with my card; all the lady did was write my new address on the back!

Crisis averted on the Gaijin card, but I knew I might not be so lucky at the immigration office... but still lucky to some degree. Nova cautions against going to immigration on a morning before work in case things take longer than expected, but as I start work at 1pm on Tuesdays I wasn't inclined to follow that advice. I also took a gamble on which office I chose. There are two bureaus in Tokyo - in Shinagawa, which is at least 45 minutes from my house, and Tachikawa, only about 20 minutes away. Foreign Personnel gave me directions to both offices but they weren't sure which one I should go to; the man I spoke with recommended Shinagawa just to be sure but in my head I was like, I'm already waking up early for this. I'm not going any further than I absolutely have to go! I got to the station without a hitch - I've been to Tachikawa before - but as I was wandering around the massive station area I started to doubt my choice. I thought crap - what if I really did have to go to Shinagawa... By the time I get there it might be too late to get anything done before work, and I don't want to wake up early again tomorrow... etc etc. I seriously walked around the station for a good 15 or 20 minutes before I found the correct bus stop, which I could have found in 2 minutes had I been paying closer attention. But the upshot was that I actually knew the Kanji (Chinese characters) for the bus route that I was looking for - even though I didn't know where it was I felt so empowered!

At the bus stop an Indonesian woman asked me if this was the correct bus to the immigration office; I told her that it was, and feeling a good samaritan moment I told her which stop we should get off at. As it turned out she'd been there before but had only forgotten which bus to take; and anyway when the bus started going an announcement was made in English, Chinese and Korean that this was the bus to the immigration bureau. The voice indicated which stop it was and right after the stop before said, 'the next stop is... get off here for the immigration bureau... please press the button next to your seat if you want to get off. If you don't press the button the bus will not stop.' I thought that last part was great; it's nice to know that even the most clueless Gaijin is being accounted for. The woman I met actually ended up helping me out. When we got off the bus it REALLY wasn't clear where immigration was located (there was a map on the bus that I didn't see - talk about a clueless Gaijin), and she wasn't going directly there but she made sure to point me in the right direction, which I really appreciated. The walk wasn't far, but there wasn't a whole lot to indicate that I was approaching an important government building so I started to get a little anxious about the distance I might possibly have to cover. I started thinking crap, maybe I shouldn't have tried to do this before work after all!

The Indonesian woman came in while I was still filling out the first section of my forms, and noticing that she took a number before completing her forms (albeit for a re-entry permit, not a visa extension) I decided to take the same gamble. I was feeling pretty good about it until I realized that I had made a few mistakes AND totally not realized there was a 3rd page to be done. And my number was up in two turns. I started to get a little frantic and just at that moment the woman came up to say good-bye. I thanked her quickly and said good-bye. I wanted to give her a better thanks but I was also really intent on trying not to screw anything else up with my paperwork. She kind of stood there for a few moments and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be making some kind of conversation, but by this time they were on the number right before mine and the information I needed I couldn't just copy from the sample form. Well, she soon left but as it turned out my frantic-ness was for nothing; the number before me took more than enough time for me to complete everything.

When my number was called I was still worrying that something would be wrong - I had everything: the paperwork, my Gaijin card, passport and a required tax form that came with my last paycheck - but still I was holding my breath that everything would be accepted. It was. And the immigration agent told me that I could expect to pick up my new visa in 3 weeks! I was definitely happy to hear that, and to boot the whole process took no more than 40 minutes so I had more than enough time to relax in Tachikawa before heading off to work.

Adventures in Immigration, part I

These past couple of weeks it seems as though there have been few things on my mind, mainly anything and everything pertaining to when I'm leaving this country, the countries I might visit before I do and the visa status I'll have when I do so; which is funny, because the past 2 weeks have been pretty eventful in their own right...

... I recently had the opportunity to wear a yukata (summer kimono) to a fireworks festival and outdoor party with friends. Wearing the yukata was really fun, I felt so beautiful and Japanese! Putting it on was a little complicated though; I looked at the directions that came with it (in Japanese but with pictures) and I looked at more directions online (in English), but I still needed a (Japanese) friend to help me put it on - especially the obi, the sash that goes around the waist and ties at the back. That in itself is like origami!

... I also got to go to a Japanese baseball game! While the game is of course the same, the experience of the fan greatly differs. For starters, you're allowed to bring food and drinks into the ballpark. Not only that - if you buy beer they'll pour it into a cup for you! It should be noted that I brought in a couple of Coronas and they had to hunt around for a bottle opener; glass bottled beer is not common over here (much to my dismay). I think the best part of Japanese baseball is the cheering. Each player has his own cheer and is cheered for the whole duration that he is at bat, even if the ball is being fielded. I don't know who makes them up, but the crowd seemed to have memorized each one, with accompanying hand motions and what seemed like full body dances. Not only that, there was small pep band in the back of the stands, and a real cheerleader in front. I mean, this guy was really a cheerleader! He had one drummer next to him and a megaphone in hand, and was leading the crowd in the cheers and gestures. It was deliciously interactive, except on a few occasions I got so into following the dances that I completely missed the play!

... and Thursday I CLIMB MT. FUJI!!!! As exciting as this sounds it has honestly been at the back of my mind for the past few weeks. In fact, just today I emailed one of the friends that I'm climbing with like, uh, shouldn't we buy bus tickets to Fuji soon? I guess she was spacing out on it too. We're doing what most Gaijin climbing Fuji do, which is arriving in the evening, climbing overnight, catching the sunrise and then hiking back down. As of now I'm about halfway prepared: I have a head flashlight (to keep the hands free for climbing), cannister of oxygen (in case of altitude sickness or something), and I'm pretty sure I'm good for cold weather gear, as it's pretty darn cold at sunrise on the top of Fuji. I still need: to buy the bus tickets, write out some postcards so I can be ready to send them from the summit, buy water and granola bars (or some other trail snack). If I'm inspired and have time I might concoct my own trail mix!

In response to June 15th

June, 15 2007.

Today the exchange rate of the Japanese yen to the U.S. dollar is 118.59!!! That's the lowest it has been in a good while. After continually being frustrated at high rates such as 124 and 124.63 I decided to sign up email alerts when the exchange rate hits a certain low. I chose 119 as my ideal rate, and this morning I received an email notifying me that today JPY 118.59/USD.

This is exciting. Obviously not to 99% of the people reading this, but hey - I'm a Gaijin in Japan and this is my life. And in my life a weak dollar/strong yen is a great combination! Now, if only this occurs on payday (8/15) and again against the South Korean won when I go to Seoul (9/10). That would be fabulous!

I'm Fuming

I am so angry right now, I have a number of bones to pick and I'm going to pick them clean!

First, what is up with this bridge collapsing in Minneapolis?? Bridges in America should not be collapsing! Why is there not more money being poured into infrastructure? You want to talk about HOMELAND SECURITY? well then secure the fucking homeland! Who is the head of the Federal Department of Transportation? Probably some moronic college cokehead friend of George W's who doesn't know the first thing about bridges or roads.

Second, let's talk about rescue. The current rescue and recover teams are making valiant efforts in extremely dangerous underwater conditions but it seems as though at times the water is too dangerous for even trained professionals. But I'm pretty sure there are teams trained for even conditions such as these... too bad they're in the fucking DESERT in Iraq.

People - make the connections! The president wants to keep taxes low, fund a massive war, and basically divert important resources away from every sector in this country AND THESE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES:
'Hurricane' Katrina - it wasn't the hurricane that caused the damage. It was the flooding that resulted from insufficient levees. And what hampered the rescue effort? The rescuers were fighting in a desert halfway across the world.
A Bridge falls in Minneapolis - the money, support and pressure should have been there for infrastructure projects. The rescuers should be there, but they're otherwise engaged. The resources should be there, but they've drowned in the bathtub along with the government. Yeah, I said it. You drown the government, you drown the resources too.


Enough about politics, on to the 24-hour news cycle. After it's repeated so many times it fails to be news, it's just information. And you only need so much information. You know what will happen? People will watch CNN, or MSNBC or their local news over and over and over and they won't get any new information; they'll just get scared. I don't know what the solution to this is, but let it be known that the 24-hr news cycle pisses me off!

And the New York Times, anyone who knows me or has received an article from me knows I'm a fan, but even they have aroused my ire. I check the NYT every morning; in fact it's my homepage. I checked it late yesterday morning AFTER the bridge collapsed and there was nothing on the front page about it. In one of my lessons later that day I was teaching students vocabulary for urban landscapes and when one student learned 'overpass' she said 'oh! An overpass collapsed in the US yesterday, somewhere near Chicago, I think.' And indeed, when I checked the NYT this morning I saw coverage of DAY 2 of the events. Where was day 1??? And this isn't the first time. On CNN I saw reports of floods in China and massive heat waves in Europe, nothing of which I had seen in the NYT.



One thing that did make me happy was that I saw all different backgrounds of people interviewed in Minneapolis - a Mexican immigrant, a white lady, a latino man and a young black male teenager. Because honestly, from living in a foreign country I get the feeling that people think all Americans are white. And who can blame them? I mean, techinically I'm not American, right? I'm African-American. The only people who don't have to hypenate are white people.


I'm still mad, but I'm done picking bones now.

This really happened

Yesterday I was eating my lunch/dinner outside of McDonalds and I noticed a small group of old people sitting nearby, eyeing me: 2 old women with small dogs and 1 stooped and stubbly old man. The old man got up with some trash in his hand, took a few steps, looked around, and then stopped short. I was sitting between him and the trash can. He could walk past me to the trash can or he could go inside McDonalds, which was slightly more inconvenient. I could tell he was thinking: walk past the Gaijin? or go inside? walk past the Gaijin? or go inside? He decided to walk past the Gaijin. And when he was next to me he spoke. I couldn't understand what he was saying - even if I knew the words I think his Japanese was moderately unintelligible - but he seemed to be muttering some question about Nova and pointing in the direction of where I work, so I answered yes.

Now, it's not uncommon for people to speak to me, especially old people. Usually they're smiling and they repeat their words a few times. Not this man! He didn't smile and what he said to me he said only once. I'm pretty sure it was offensive. As an English teacher and a functionally illiterate resident of Tokyo I've gotten pretty good at non-verbal communication, and yeah, I'm pretty confident that this man really wasn't a fan.

I got 99 problems and my visa ain't (but) one*

My Japanese work visa expires on 9/13. After the 13^th I’m not allowed to work in Japan, and without a visa I’m not actually allowed to stay here either. If I overstayed my visa they wouldn’t necessarily deport me, but I might not be allowed to set foot in Japan again once I left. To solve that problem I planned my trip to Korea to happen while my visa expired so I could return and simply be issued a regular 90 day tourist visa (Seoul, 9/10-9/14).

Problem solved? No! I was originally thinking that I would leave in late September or early October (9/24 or 10/1). But then I decided that I might stay through part of October to either a) visit China with a friend after her visa expires on October 10^th or b) stay in Tokyo until Columbus Day weekend when my sister will be able to be in NC the same week I get home. Either way it could be at least three weeks from the time that my work visa expires to when I want to leave; but if I’m going to be here for 3 week then I’ll want to be working. So resign with Nova and go with a tourist visa or renew my contract and stay for another month? Because of the time it takes to process a visa renewal I had to notify Nova if I wanted to resign or renew my contract. To gain the most flexibility I decided to renew; as my block trainer reminded me, I can always change my mind once I say yes to a new contract, but it would be difficult to do the opposite. So renewing my contract and visa is all well and good, except… Enter problems #3-5:

I’m not allowed to leave the country while my visa is being processed. It might be Sept. 12 or 13 before I get a new visa; I have a flight to Seoul booked on the 10^th.

I would want to continue working up until the last week of September, or as late as the 2^nd or 3^rd weeks of October, BUT I have to give Nova, the sponsor of my work visa, 4 weeks notice before I leave. If I gave 4 weeks notice in late August or early Sept. would they even continue the visa/contract renewal process? Would I be able to work that extra 2 or 3 weeks?

Whatever the answers to these questions are, the default is to go home sooner rather than later. But luckily, I think there are some answers.

Yesterday I confirmed with Nova Foreign Personnel that I’m not allowed to leave the country while my visa is being processed. I immediately called the person in charge of my visa/contract renewal, my regional assistant area manager (RAAM), and spoke to him about it. He told me that there’s a good chance I can get a new visa before I leave, but that technically Immigration allows up to 6 weeks to process visas. He guessed that I might need it to happen in 3-4 weeks. Luckily for me, my RAAM called the Nova Head Office in Osaka to try to fast track the Nova side of my visa renewal. Here is what we came up with: he thinks that he’ll have all the materials by Friday, on which day (my day off) I can pick up the papers, do my part to complete them, and ideally bring them to Immigration the same day. That gives them/me 5 weeks in order to be able to pick up my new visa the Friday before I leave. My RAAM also suggested that I bring a copy of my flight reservations and make some sort of explanation/apology for the situation in hopes that they might make an effort to issue my visa sooner rather than later.

If this doesn’t work I’ll go to Korea and forfeit my contract and work visa; and probably return to the States ASAP… which I hope doesn’t happen because a) I’m not wild about the idea of booking last minute (I consider 2 weeks as last minute) international air travel, and b) I would feel really bad if I couldn’t give Nova 4 weeks notice. I don’t so much feel like I owe Nova anything, but I’d hate to put my RAAM in a scheduling bind.

If it does work, then I’ll have found myself in quite the sweet spot! There are still a couple of details I have to confirm, but it’s possible that once Immigration has my visa papers that Nova can’t touch it, regardless of when I quit. With that I can continue to work and quit any time I want! Now, if only I could decide what I wanted to do.

*the title of this post is a reference to which song? bonus points for artist and album.