Dozo...domo

In a much better mood than I was yesterday - hopefully this entry will actually publish...yesterdays entry, the eloquently titled "Fuckity-fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck" decided not to work, in keeping with the general spirit of the week.

Funny bunch, the Japanese. It`s taking two months to get connected to the internet, a month to get a landline, a month and a bit to get an alien registration card, a week to open a bank account, an hour to buy a mobile phone, but if I want to buy jeans at quarter to four in the morning, no bother.

Can`t complain though - they`re obscenely polite about everything & relentlessly jolly, despite working crazy hours. The Japanese work ethic is, by my standards at any rate, utterly bonkers, yet strangely enticing. I started at my first school yesterday and already the Kyoto sensei (Vice Principal) has me humble in his shadow of authority...without actually doing anything. Had to leave about five hours early today, to try and sort out my bloody apartment (yes, the saga continues...) and I`ve never felt so guilty about leaving work early. In the Library I`d have buggered off without a care in the world (sorry gals & sundry guys, but it`s true...) but here, the job carries a bit more weight. Talking to Ueno san (how is he still awake?) about the worst case scenario if negotiations with the landlord & the company go wrong - he tells me I`d have to leave the country & it would be a great financial loss to the board of education, the school and the company. On my individualistic high horse & utterly pissed off with Japanese bureaucracy, I say "It`ll be pretty infuriating for me too", to which he replies, in his inimitable non-committal manner, "Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah...." as if I`d merely grunted in response. Oh well, nice guy.