Done!

They shut off my internet. We didnt pay the bill (because we havent got paid). Now Im at some smokey internet cafe paying 480￥ an hour to send out my resume and update my blog.

I am poor. Send me money.

Food!

My first attempt at making "sushi" or whatever you'd call rolled up vegetables. A student explained to me how to do it. It came out OK, but a little messy.

Turning Japanese

Let's lighten the mood and forget about all this "bankruptcy" stuff. So, below I document my second attempt of dying my hair (or denying my roots?). What is not pictured it the 30 minutes I spent at the pharmacy looking at boxes and trying to figure out from the design and model on front what exactly the product does. The first stuff I bought did nothing, but it had an amazing applicator that only technology advanced Japan couldve developed. It was like a comb, and the product was completely drip free (and unproductive). The second attempt got the results I wanted plus many bonus side effects.


First, the tools. Who needs directions? I've been doing this since I was 12.


The "foam" was more of a drippy bubbly water, that stained everything it touched.


It was all over the place, my neck, hands... the sink, floor, washing machine. Luckily my roommate was there to document and moisten paper towels for me.


I scrubbed my skin all night, but the next day I still looked like I'd been punched in the neck and hand. And like a gaijin dying to fit in. Which I'm not!

Bankruptcy!

My company has filed for bankruptcy. Ive been been with my coworkers all day watching the Japanese press conferences and having no idea what's going on. No matter how hard I concentrate I just cant understand Japanese.

Click here to read the latest news.

What does this mean for me? I have no idea.

Pick my next country!

As far as I can tell there's no work for me in Japan. The market for hiring unskilled gaijin is flooded. Where should I head to next? Suggestions/offers? I'll go anywhere and do any job, live on a couch (beats my futon mat), do your dishes, laundry...

Serious offers only.

Full

I just ate Indian food in Tokuyama! It was amazing. It was the best meal Ive had since Ive been here. I decided one of the cooks is my new boyfriend.

So, we still havent been paid. The President of the company is missing. And now it's getting real, when friends say they have no money for coffee and they literally have none. I'm still looking for jobs, I have a lot of work to do with that, but they're turning off our internet soon for lack of payment, so that will make it very difficult.

If I dont quit my job and the company goes bankrupt I will receive 80% of the wages due to me in 6 to 12 months. And then I dont know if they'll deposit that into my bank account, or mail the money, and to where. I dont know how I would access the money outside of Japan. I dont know if I should keep going, or devote myself to finding new work full-time.

My belly is full and happy.

Another "Run In" With The Law

I guess I'll start with... I learned how to make paper cranes. It was a small goal I had set for myself ever since I picked up a random pack of origami paper from 7-11 one night. I had the idea that instead of keeping all the cranes and letting them overrun my apartment (yeah, Im talking to you), I'd take them to the river, douse them in vodka, and set them on fire. This had been the plan for weeks... or days.

So the other night after a bottle of red wine [each] I forced my roommate, neighbor, and a teacher from Tokuyama (who has the good sense to be going home) to make cranes in the kitchen. We decided after all we'd been through at work the last few days it was the perfect time to go light these guys on fire. So we gathered our supplies and went.



As far as I can recollect, it worked like a charm and everything was going fine. We were quietly standing on the bridge lighting the little birds ablaze and throwing them down to the water... where they softly floated away, bringing with them all of our troubles.

Actually, it was dark, and once they fell you couldnt see much.

But, since it's Kudamatsu, this paper-pyro game lasted about five minutes before the cops showed up. We all knew the routine, alien card, sumimasen and arigato. As the cops were leaving it dawned on me, we need a picture! So the four of us ran back to the one newbie cop saying picture, picture! He looked a little confused, but he agreed. I think he thought we wanted him to take a picture of us. Once I snapped the [really awful] photo below he ran back to his cop car. And the gaijin stumbled home and assumably went to bed.

Fake Sick

I didnt go into work today. I called out sick. I decided today will be better spent finding a new job and doing some laundry.

The situation is bizarre. They're closing massive amounts of school, teachers are being relocated, quitting and going home, or finding other work. So no one would give a shit if I left. It would help them.

Even when I called out sick today, I had to call the Osaka office. Osaka is far away, but that's how this company works. I dont have any managers to fight with, give ultimatums, or ask questions.

There is this one guy in Hiroshima who's like my boss and possible knows that I am not getting the salary advance I was promised. And I fully intend to bitch him out over the phone next time he answers. Because they havent send me any notes telling me that money isnt coming.

That's another thing about not getting paid yesterday. The company didnt say shit about it. Monday we received a fax that pay would be delayed until Friday. Friday came and went...?

I realize now I'll have to really focus on getting a new job, even if September's pay comes through soon. And then there is always October's pay to worry about next month (a much fatter check for me). I know I will get paid eventually, but I need to make sure I can survive in Japan long enough for that day to come.

(Not to mention my stack of unpaid bills in the US I was going to take care of with my advance.)

A friend, and one of the teachers at my school is booking her ticket back to England this weekend. My roommate doesnt plan on working past October 31st. She said she'd travel and go back home.

And I really wanted to go to Iwakuni on Monday, to get some Tex-Mex food and see some old bridge.

Ok, no more blogger, time to send out some frikkin resumes.

Hmmm...?

I didnt get paid today. When they said we'd get paid.

I cant afford to live. I cant afford to change jobs, I cant afford to go home.

I dont know if I should go back to work tomorrow.

Hikari Beach

Nothing like a beach trip in October.