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Published: July 31st 2012
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Night off my balconyAfter 4 1/2 weeks, I was FINALLY able to pick up my residence card from immigration today. Why it took so long must be because of the new system everyone is going on, but it was still pretty annoying considering I could neither get a cell phone nor a bank account without this stupid card (despite having the CERTIFICATE saying THAT I WAS GETTING IT). Anyway, I ended up choosing the Kawasaki Immigration office when I was doing the paperwork at the ward office since the Yokohama one just takes soooo long to get to (a whole day!) and this one was closer. It's the ward just north of me, but of course there is no direct way to get there, so it took me 3 train transfers and 45 minutes to get there.
The good news is that I did NOT get lost because for ONCE (and I do mean
once), Japan put a government building that foreigners have to go to NEAR the station. I could actually see it from the station itself! Easiest thing to get to ever, ugh. Why all of them aren't as easy as this, I have no idea. So I got there with
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House near 十下市場. absolutely no problem, train transfers included, and it took all of ONE minute to pick up my card. All they did is take my certificate out of my passport, ask me if everything on the card was correct, and that was it. All that travel and waiting for a one minute stop.
Since I was in the area and had spent money to get there (sigh), I thought I might as well look around. I found the Book Off in the department store and always enjoy going through old idol mags and finding singles for 100 yen. I never buy anything, because I don't need them, but it's fun to look. ^___^ I walked through the stores and looked around and saw cute stuff, but I'm still on money lockdown so then I headed back home.
On my first train, I realized that it stopped at Machida. This is where getting the hang of my area, the trains, and the lines has come in handy - I wanted to stop at B-style, the discount clothing/homeware store on my way back to my apartment, and it is really south, and I knew that Machida connects to the station south
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I love the architecture of it. of me through the Yokohama Line. So I went hey, I should just get off here instead, and get on that line, and walk north from that station! Not only was it perfect for the errands I wanted to run, but it cost me less money! WINNING.
So on my way north from the station, I stopped to take some pictures of this gorgeous residence en route that looks like a temple. And then there were flowers, and the river looked so pretty, so I ended up taking quite a few pictures, haha. It was such a pleasant walk, despite it feeling like 96 degrees - I feel like a Japanese when I carry my umbrella and use it as a parasol in the sun! As I was walking I thought that I was really craving some fruit, because I really never eat it since it's expensive. But it was hot, and I was in a good mood, and the grocery store was on the way, so I stopped and got plums AND an avocado.
Then I hit B-style like I'd wanted to, and found this ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE white sundress for 200 yen!! For Americans: that's like $2.
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It looks like a temple! LOL I'm going to take it to Kyoto/Kobe when I take my birthday trip in three weeks to see Lauren! asjkfjsdkfjksjds I'm so excited, omg, it's seriously so cute and airy and pretty and it's PERFECT for my summer holiday! 200 yen, what is that. I LOVE B-style!! And I have to say, I have officially never been happier that I fit into Japanese sizes. I'm a Japanese medium, probably since all the walking (and sweating) here has dropped me another US size. Haha, awesome. 😉
When I got home, I sat on my floor and ate my plums that were so juicy it was running down my arms and ate my avocado and what a wonderful day it ended up being~ every day I am so happy and thankful and grateful that I am here, and that I stuck with it and worked so hard to get here. It was all worth it!! I only have a four-day work week this week because one of the leads did a shift swap with me, and on Friday I am pulling day-shift at the secondary location since my boss-boss asked me to (which is apparently a big deal!!!) so it's
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Peering in. kind of an abnormal week for me anyway. ^____^ And it's so close to my birthday! A week and a half!!
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