I'm official!

I finally got my alien registration card (also known as a "Gaijin card") today! It's an ID card for foreigners. I had to apply for it, then wait a little over 2 weeks to be able to pick it up. If I move, I have to go to my new city hall or ward office to get it updated. Now that I have it, I can get a cell phone.

I also signed up for the National Health Insurance. I have less-than-positive feelings about being associate with nationalized/socialized medicine in any form. Unfortunately, it's my only option for health insurance, and it's mandatory. Generally, you don't hear the awful stuff about the Japanese health care system that you do about the British system (or Canadian). However, I have heard of expectant mothers having to go to upward of 9 hospitals before finding one with room. If childbirth is the only area where there are problems, I'm fine. In any case, the system is set up where the patient pays 30%, and the rest is picked up by insurance.

My one encounter with Japanese doctors was when I had my health check. The doctor diagnosed edema, and gave me the name of his brother-in-law near where I live, along with an introduction. He went over all the possible causes for edema in English for me, but didn't include the most likely culprit: a recent, long airplane trip. And the tests that were done there eliminated the two most worrisome possible causes: heart problems and kidney problems. My own doctors in the US eliminated the endocrine system by previous (and unrelated) tests, and if it was caused by a high sodium diet, then I'm in the wrong country for fixing that!

I had just gotten back to my apartment from picking up my ARC, when a delivery man showed up with a box for me. It was from a very nice friend of mine here in Japan. Rice, tea, cookies, soy sauce and a very cute teapot. Of course it has kitties on it! I have such nice friends!!

I think that American car model names have been reduced to meaningless (and forgettable) letter and number combinations by spineless companies that don't want to research the implications of real names in the different markets in which they sell cars. They got burnt watching Ford try to sell Novas in Spanish-speaking countries, unaware that "no va" means "it doesn't go." Fortunately, Japanese cars still have real names, and they are fun. Here is a small sample:

• Platz
• Alto
• Move
• Belta
• Litz
• Carry
• Hi-jet
• Fit
• Life
• That's
• Mode
• Vivio
• Stream

I have yet to see a car model name that was in Japanese script. With gas prices going the way they are, look for these car models to show up at a dealership near you!

I did some listening practice for the first year students. There are a lot of sounds that are hard for Japanese to distinguish. Most famous is the r/l pair. Other are v/b, s/th, d/th and f/h to a certain extent. I'm sure it's as boring for them as it is for me, but they have to study English for 6 years, and this will be a good foundation should they ever actually have to use it. It's really the one thing that I bring to the table that the Japanese Teachers of English (JTE's) can't do. There is nothing really wrong with the house in this picture, it just looks like it needs a good foundation!

Finally, another little difference between Japan and the US: the texture of white sugar. It's granulated here, but it doesn't pour like it does in the US. It's not exactly like brown sugar, but somewhere in between granulated sugar in the US and brown sugar. I'm sure it bakes the same, but having no oven, I will probably never know for sure.