Working Visa...CHECK!

Got my passport back in the mail today, complete with my new working visa for Japan.

Just got back from Vancouver today...24 hours worth of driving...took a 6 hour nap as soon as I got back to Winnipeg...NOS energy drink is NOT good for you! Felt like I was on drugs after I finished driving.

Great fun tonight, seeing Heritage International School teachers from days gone by in Egypt at Alive Bar was surreal and nostalgic. Been too long...2 years since I was bussing by the Pyramids on a daily basis.

2 weeks left before I leave Winnipeg. Time to get things done...

PS. Halfway done my Hirigana & Katakana 2 week course.

3 weeks to go...

In Vancouver now for a few days. The working visa process went well at the Japanese Consulate in Calgary. They HAD to see me face to face...it was "MANDATORY". The whole exchange took 5 minutes...they didn't interview me, all they wanted to see was me physically hand them my passport and documents. Good thing I came out to Vancouver with my sister...otherwise a plane or driving to Calgary would have been a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME & MONEY!

The visa process takes 5 working days, so by the time I get back to Winnipeg on Saturday, my passport should be waiting for me in my mailbox.

Anyways, I'm enjoying my time here in Vancouver with my family and soaking up some Canadian things that I probably won't see again for a long, long time once I'm in Japan:

Poutine: Thank you Belgian Fries and The Backstage Lounge

Miscellaneous: Thank you Caribbean Days Festival Parade 2011

To the Consulate!

I'm in the middle of nowhere right now, somewhere in Saskatchewan. It's 2:30AM and the sky is doing it's best to put on a strobe light show.

The Japanese Consulate in Calgary is where I'm heading. It takes 5 days to process the working visa for my passport, so this really needs to get done before I leave Canada in less than 4 weeks.

I was hoping to do all of this through the mail, but Mr. Japanese Consulate says I NEED to see them in person. It's a waste of time, but at least I'm getting a road trip out of it.


My sister is driving right now while the 3 kids and her boyfriend are sleeping in the back. They were planning on going to Vancouver for a summer vacation... How convenient... So I'm hitching a ride with them to get this stuff done. One thing to mention: She almost killed me less than 1 minute after leaving the house by barely missing a parked car... Oh boy...

Driving to Vancouver will be a bonus, but I'll be flying back this way anyways in a few weeks.

Apparently, I have to call and make an appointment at the consulate before I show up...I guess I'll have to give them a ring in the morning while I'm on the road.

Here's a conversation that happened earlier once we were 5 minutes outside of Winnipeg:
5 year old niece: "Mommy, are we on the other side of the world?"
Me: "No."
Niece: "Almost?"
Me: "No."

Nadeshiko Win!

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup: Japan vs USA

Amazing game that would be the epitome of "never giving up". Tying up the game in the last minutes of the game, not once...BUT TWICE! Japan is definitely the most deserving team in the tournament. All Japan should be proud of these ladies. Wonderful story of a few individuals who captured a country that was in need of something truly uplifting. Here is a YouTube video of the highlights and some gorgeous photos of moments in time:

Winning Penalty

Running to Celebrate

Group Hug

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Champions

T - 1 month and counting...

Hello Interwebs!

This is my first attempt at keeping a running blog of whatever happens to me in Japan.

So I will be saying farewell to my home city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on August 15, 2011 and will be landing in my new home, Tokyo, Japan on August 21. (with a few days in between, which I'll be spending in Vancouver, BC)

Anxiety has not hit yet, as I'm still on summer vacation mode, and enjoying the kind of Winnipeg weather that makes clothes stick to skin. Apparently it will "feel like" 45 Celsius on Sunday...and I thought I left those temperatures after I finished up teaching in Cairo, Egypt...


I've made my first list entitled: "First list of things I need to get done..."

• get Japanese working visa
• get rid of apartment items
• buy luggage
• learn Japanese

Regarding the first item, I'm finding myself to be headed to Calgary sometime next week to finalize my working visa at the Japanese Consulate of Canada. Apparently mailing documents just won't do and my in-person presence is the only way to satisfy the visa gods.

In Japanese news: I read there was another earthquake (5.5 magnitude) in and around Tokyo yesterday.

Anxiety: 2 out of 10
Excitedness: 2 out of 10