July 16 - Slow cooking is supposedly healthy... but not if you are the main ingredient

The trip plan for the day was to visit the working holiday visa office, a 2 minute walk from Nakano station, and get some help on job search. 

It didn't go too well from the start, when I was trying to print out my resume in case it was needed that very day.  See, the USB flash drive that contained my resume had kicked the bucket when I was still in Canada (the lesson here: ALWAYS BACKUP your important files) so I was forced to scan a printed copy.  Little did I realize I forgot to scan the third page that contained my education history and came to Japan without it.  Great, what a start.  Now I have to type it up all over again.  it's especially annoying in my case because my education history is blotted with in-between breaks and it never helps when I'm not even sure how old I am most of the time.  Life is very inconvenient when your short-term memory is... well, not working up to par.

After that little jazz, I finally got things ready and headed to Hashimoto station, which is one of the nearby subway stations that take 1 hour and 10 minutes to walk, at least according to Google Maps. 

As you can see from the map, the station is pretty much on a straight course from my friend's place.  However, if my last post was of any indication, I am almost certain to get lost, right? much to my disappointment I did not betray that expectation. 

After walking for about fourty minutes, I got into a farming area.

All I saw up ahead were mountains.  This possibly could not lead to a subway station.  I don't know whether it's Google Maps or me that's more useless, but I decided to ditch the map altogether and grab someone for directions because obviously me and my map didn't get along.  People were few and far between, but I managed to find an old man who was working on something beside a small pickup truck.  Needless to say, I had to set the gaijin context again by starting with "Sorry, I'm a foreigner who's lost" (すみません、道を迷っている外国人ですが。。。) and then ask for the direction to Hashimoto station. 

He was a kind, patient old man.  Granted, I did not understand everything he said. but the gist of his directions was simple enough: just walk towards where tall buildings are.  Hmm, like, why didn't I think of that??  He then added "but you know, it's quite a distance to walk." I told him I was well aware of it and that I would follow his directions to the station.  Then he smiled and said "Go ahead.  You're still young, too." (行ってみなよ。まだ若いから。) I thanked him and was about to walk away when he called me from behind and asked whether I have a hat. to which I responded that I didn't but that I should be fine without it.  It sounded almost as if he was going to give me his hat, but then I could be wrong.

Another 20 minutes of walking took me back to the usual small town landscape.  I passed by a couple of elementary and junior high schools were some students were doing 'radio taiso,' which is a set of warmup stretches performed along a certain music.  The song was broadcast over the radio at the same time every morning (and I believe it still is), and hence the name 'Radio' taiso.  I thought of taking some photos but then changed my mind because I feared that I would be mistaken for a pedophillic pervert.  I wouldn't have that problem if I looked, again, foreign, since people would see that I'm a traveler from overseas and be more forgiving of my taking photos.  Being an Asian gaijin has its advantages, but so far it has been more trouble than it's worth.

After walking and slowly roasting under the blazing sun of Japan for two hours, I arrived at the entrance of Hashimoto station.

From here I must take the Keio line to Chofu station, where I make a transfer to Shijuku, where I make another transfer to the JR line bound for Nakano.  It was roughly two in the afternoon when I got on the train to Chofu and there weren't many people in it.  There were plenty of seats so I sat on one, opened my laptop and started typing about what had taken place so far.  Gosh I smell like sewage after walking and sweating for two hours.

After another hour or so of subway ride with two easy transfers, I arrived at Sun Plaza in Nakano, only to be told at the information centre that the working holiday visa office has dissolved and is no more.  Huh? what do you mean, it dissolved? All was not lost, however, as I was told that the organization is replaced by something similar - 'Ocean' was its name, and it supposedly provides information for international students.  I took the elevator to the 9th floor to 'Ocean,' walked up to the reception and asked whether I was at the right place.  It was Ocean indeed.  I explained my situation to the lady at the reception.  She gave me a small form to write my name on so I wrote my name in katakana, and then she told me to grab a seat and wait.

The building was not smoke free, which I found surprising.  Other people in the waiting area were smoking freely in the building, and although the air purifier seemed to be running, it was still quite stifling.  Japan seems to be a lot more smoker-friendly country than Canada.  Whether it's a good thing or not probably depends on whether or not you're a smoker.

After what I thought was about 5 minutes, a woman came up to me and explained in English that Ocean is actually an information centre for Japanese going abroad to study and that all working holiday visa offices in Japan were closed down about a month ago.  Say whaaaaat? fah real? now, what should I do? 1. fight 2. flight 3. use magic 4. ask why 5. self-destruct.

Two seconds of hard thinking was enough to select the most reasonable course of action.  She told me that the government funding for the visa offices were completely cut in light of the recent economic situation in Japan and the offices could not maintain themselves anymore.  Sensing my disappointment, she gave me a few sheets containing 'potentially useful phone numbers and websites for working holiday makers' and said 'good luck.' 

So it seems that I've made the trip in vain.  Well, I guess I was too soft thinking that someone else would do the job search for me.  This just means I have to do it the hard way.  Oh well.  Bring it on, I guess? I'm eternally lazy and would rather take an easy way out if I had the option, but if push comes to shove I know can hold my own.

It was 5 when I got back to Hashimoto station.  I called my friend Shun (and yes, that's my friend in Japan who's been graciously hosting me) to let him know I'd be home around 6:30ish.  And as some of you may have already guessed, I got lost again, this time even more badly.  I think getting lost is almost becoming my hobby.  I kept veering off course that it took me exactly three hours to get home.  I asked many people for directions on the way, all of whom led me astray and left me scratching my head after 20 - 30 minutes of walking into the directions given.

I still had about half an hour to go when I took this photo, but was at least finally on the right way home.

I covered a good five hour walking distance in total - that's roughly 20km with my laptop in my knapsack.  Although my laptop was one of those ultra-slim 14-inch laptops, I was quite beat by the time I got home.  My friend Shun had been working all day at home and was pretty exhausted, although in a different way.  He makes apps for Apple products and is on his computer most of the time.

After chilling for an hour or so, we decided to jog to a burger place which is just as far as Hashimoto station.  It was pretty late at night and reminded me of my occasional midnight burger runs in Ottawa.  It took us good 30 mins of jogging to get there.  We each had a double patty teriyaki Mos burger combo, mine with fries and melon soda and his with onion rings and also melon soda.

It was almost 11 when we got home and by then I covered about 7 hours of walking distance.  It was another long but rather unfruitful day.  On a positive note, if I keep getting lost and spending most of my day walking, my body will be beach-ready in two months.  Too bad that by then it would be too late for the beach.  Hah.