Still catching up with posts from a couple of days ago, so the tense is still off (today, tomorrow, etc.).
Today I woke up early (as seems to be the case nowadays) and went to the Ward office to register my residence. It’s a Japanese law to register your residence at the nearest Ward Office within 14 days of being in your permanent address. I had a paper given by my dorm/apartment which had directions about the train line and station to get off at, a vague map with landmarks and an arrow, and a note that the office was on the second floor of the ward building. Turns out the map in front of the station exit and the map on the paper weren’t oriented the same way, so since I couldn’t see streets on The Vague Map, I ended up climbing up a super steep slope before realizing that I was going the wrong way… “I thought this was the way to get to the opposite side of the station… but the station is on my right and I don’t see a crossing and that’s a mountain in front of me...” I backtracked, took a left at the Kentucky Fried Chicken, and found the right street to go down. The ward office building was easy to find from there.
There were multiple buildings and multiple entrances, so I dawdled a bit in the square between the buildings before entering through some doors-- turns out I entered into a hallway of a hospital section?? I saw the kanji for child (kodomo 子供) and hospital (byouin 病院) amongst other kanji on the map, mothers coming in with infants on their backs, a mom picking up her kid a little ways down the hall, a poster of a pair of doctors, and the unmistakable smell of antiseptic. So, I exited and picked another door which led to a more business-looking reception area. Right up the stairs there was the sign for Residency Registration. It looked like at a hospital or the Department of Motor Vehicles (or Department of Public Safety)-- counters, and waiting chairs, neutral grey-ish colors and an island for paperwork. There was a counter with the word “English Information,” and another counter which had a ticket number machine (the ones where you draw a number and go up to the counter once they call your number), so I kind of wandered between the area and a lady came up to me. She correctly guessed that I was a study abroad student (ryuugakusei 留学生) and patiently walked me through the paperwork--pointing out what to put on each line and saying where to write my name in katakana and where to write the formal kanji for America (B country* 米国). I could do both, but those who don’t know much (or any) Japanese shouldn’t freak out because I’m pretty sure if you say you can’t write it when they ask, they’ll do it for you (also, the kanji for your country is on your residency card or if you only have your passport they’ll probably write it for you). I also filled out a sheet for a Jouminhodou (copy of residency) and, after pulling a ticket number from this island paperwork counter we were at, she pointed me to the couch-ish chairs saying that they would call me up and I should give the papers to the cubicle worker.
The cubicle worker translated my English-written address into Japanese kanji and asked me where I was for the first day before I was in my residence (I wrote that I started living in Hiyoshi on Sept. 10, but my residency card issued at the airport says I arrived on the 9th). “Hotel” was enough of an answer luckily because I didn’t have the address of the hotel written down with me-- although I suppose the e-mail on my phone would be enough if I needed it. So far he was speaking to me in Japanese and I was able to understand, but then he asked me if I needed National Health Insurance, and I forgot that word, so I could only awkwardly duck my head in a bow and apologize because 分かりません(I don’t understand).
And I was doing so well, too…
He explained “National Health Insurance…” so after responding “yes, I need it” in Japanese (はい、いります), he did a flurry of paper-lifting, copy checking, and pointed me over to that first counter I saw with the ticket-number machine. He said in English that “there would be printed on the back of card” and pointed me to the counter at the end of the row of cubicles for (presumably) picking up the residency paperwork and card.
Another lady caught me stupidly staring at the ticket number machine (“do I need to type anything into that screen? What are those buttons? Do I just take a ticket--no fancy procedure?) and pulled a ticket for me (“Oh, that’s it. No fancy procedure, wow I feel dumb.”). She was just barely explaining that I would go up when called, when I was called and she passed me to the young guy behind the counter with the word “Ryuugakusei.”
Apparently it would have saved time if I brought my passport, but that copy of the info I filled out was enough. Part way through him typing up stuff, I pulled out the handy paper Keio provided (with phrases in English and Japanese like “I would like to request a copy of my residency paperwork…” and “I moved to Japan in September... a Keio University student...blah blah need National Health Insurance… no income in previous year, so I would like to apply for a special premium discount blah blah etc.”) and he immediately understood and typed more stuff in. He gave me the information packet for the NHI in both English and Japanese and explained in English that the NHI card would be sent out on Monday, so I should have it on Tuesday or Wednesday. It only took maybe 5 minutes tops.
I wandered a bit more (a common theme already) and another lady came up to me and asked if I bought a stamp--apparently you don’t pay cash for the Residency paper copy, you buy a stamp worth the 300 yen and present that at the counter. She walked me through which buttons to press and then explained that my number would be displayed on a screen instead of over a cubicle like previously. A little more waiting, a bit of confusion over what counter was the right one (“The one where those other girls went before? The one with the lady? People are always a safe bet--let’s go with the lady--sorry Gladys”), and I received my original Residency Card along with an envelope containing my Residency Registration paper, and a copy of the paper. The back of my Residency Card now has my address printed on it, so that’s pretty cool-- I’ll need that to get a cellphone plan/SIM card/new cellphone and a bank account.
*The thing about America= B country in formal kanji might need a bit of explaining. Before katakana was widely used to transliterated foreign words into Japanese-approximated pronunciation, Japan used kanji with similar sounds to make the word. I can't remember the full kanji writing for "America," but basically it’s shortened to just 米国 (pronounced in modern Japanese as Bei kuni) or "uncooked rice country." There's no real reason behind the choice of kanji used for its sound, so the meaning's irrelevant.
Next: Part II: getting the student’s PASSMO card, orientation #2, and adventures around Tokyo and Hiyoshi
A.K.A “Reasonably expensive…” “Fun classroom activities” “Where are we?” “Let’s eat Ramen!” and “I don’t remember seeing this river near our dorm…”
