“Three years”

That may just be the sweetest phrase ever.


I had to go to immigration this week to pick up the second extension of my work visa. My initial visa was for one year, and when I extended it last year, they gave me a one-year extension.

Whoopee.

Sure, I got to stay another year, but nobody likes having to go back to immigration, even if their next visit is a whole year away. When I filed my paperwork last year, I’d asked for a three year extension, but I guess having been here only one year, I was still considered untrustworthy or something like that.

Not any more!

I picked up my new visa this week and saw the most beautiful thing ever.

3years

You can’t imagine how happy that made me feel. Knowing that I was all legal and proper to stay in Japan all the way to the end of 2009. I’m quite sure I was grinning like an idiot for the whole rest of the day.

^.^

But now it’s time to get serious. I’m committed to staying in Japan for the long haul (if not forever), so it’s time to quit screwing around and start studying. My Japanese books aren’t doing me any bit of good sitting on the shelf. I’m going crack them open and tackle the beast that is the Japanese language.

I do enjoy teaching preschool, but it’s not something I see myself doing as a lifelong vocation. I know plenty of guys here who aren’t teaching English and who are doing just fine.

I want to be one of those guys.

And constantly saying, “sorry, I don’t understand” isn’t going to get me to be one of them very soon. No more bullshitting myself with the “survival level Japanese is okay” excuse. I don’t expect instant fluency, but basic communication would be a great place to start.

Now, where are those textbooks….