this will be like being in high school again, kinda. i'm not getting a D in chemistry now so i guess that's different

Damn, only 2 posts for the whole month of October?

guess that's what happens when you're sick though, you don't feel like doing anything productive and just sit around being sick all the time. I actually got better about a week & a half ago, until i got sick again last week. that's ok though, in Japan, the combined cost of seeing a doctor and buying some medicine is like 2 packs of cigarettes.

anyways, with a steady regimen of kimchi and kiwi fruits (remember to eat the skins of those too-that's where all the fiber is) I'm pretty sure i've blown away whatever was ailing me in a devastating blitzkrieg of vitamin C.

so anyways. i've got to deal with something over the next month or two that's gonna occupy alot of my time

How much do you like the DMV in wherever you're from? seems like most people, whether they're astronauts, bakers, accountants or whoever tend to have an unfavorable view of it. well I think i've only been there about 4 or 5 times, but yeah there's long lines and the people working there kinda suck and so on and so forth, probably the same kind of DMV stories that you have.

well maybe you think your DMV sucks, but do you want to know how bad it is over HERE?????

actually it's not bad at all, sure there's a language barrier (for me anyways) but it's efficient and not such an unpleasant experience. i mean it's not like there's a party or something in there, and there's definitely other places in Japan that i'd rather be at any given time, but it's really not bad at all to go there is all i'm trying to say.

yeah, if i wanna stay in Japan for another year (I do) i have to get a Japanese driver's license, cos the international permit only lasts a year. I guess i better hurry up and go driving in the United Arab Emirates while I still can! now if i were Canadian, or British, or lots of other things, I could just go to the DMV, sign a few forms and get a Japanese license. That's cos, in all those countries, you get a license from the national gov't. not so where in the USA, i've got a drivers license from my state. and that makes things much more crappier.

I have to take the written and driving test, which are of LEGENDARY difficulty. there's a local english teacher's forum i read quite abit, and regarding the tests, all the advice on there seems to range from 'just kill yourself now' to 'just kill yourself now.' there's pages and pages of stories about this thing, more than 1 person has failed before even starting the car. hey, safety first right? even my boss sent an email in which he basically said, 'you WILL fail this thing at least once,' well thanks. thanks, boss. it's good to have a nice vote of confidence like that. especially with so much riding on this test. if we get rehired but cant get a Japanese license, it seems like it'll be a guaranteed assignment to sulfur island. i can't remember the name of sulfur island. it's so volcanic that the 400 or so people who live there breathe sulfur all the time, and they all get checks from the government for it. i'll try to look that up for another post maybe. getting goverment money every month might be a nice consolation prize actually.

so, starting probably next month, i'm off to Japanese driving school, with the high school kids. the cost of driving school supposedly equals the cost of failing the test a few times. i'm not looking forward to spending my free time like that to be honest. i guess this would be the 2nd time in my life going to driving school. in the states you usually only go twice if you get a few DUI's. well at least this time i don't have to wait for a ride home afterwards.

so will Japanese driving school be a totally bonkers adventure? or just driving school? if i don't have anything to say about it next month, you can guess for yourself which one it was.

--gaijin who writes this
signatures go here

sickitude

Why no posts lately? First I was sick, then I was simultaneously busy and sick, this week i'll be busy again. Next week i'll hopefully post something.

Yes, there was a sumo tournament

--gaijin