I had a job in England which didn`t start until June 30th. I had the keys to my new appartment and it was near-impossible to find temporary work for only 3 weeks so I came back to see my family in Japan. Actually I came back two weeks ago but I`ve been quietly humming happily in the meantime.
The first time Isabelle saw me after 2 months, she was afraid of me. She hid behind mum and wouldn`t let me come near her. After about 2 hours, she came to like me again. Mainly through slapstick routines - she loves them. I`m a bit worried though – I`m breeding her to like violence. She`s an introvert and fond of violence which means I`m bringing up a psycopath.
The visa for Mrs Quaisi was sorted out. It meant filling in a 17 page form, providing a small mountain of documentary evidence, giving them 500 quid and waiting a mere 3 days for the application to be confirmed. That`s Japanese (or maybe English?) efficency for you.
Now we`re sending off clothes and toys by ship to the new flat in England and trying to tidy up four years of life in Japan into small suitcases, boxes and bags. On the plane into Japan I brought a nearly empty suitcase and bag so that I would have more space to carry on the return flight. Between me and the wife we have 60 kilos allowance. I don`t think it`s enough.
What? Are you saying you got your wife’s immigration sorted in 3 days and only 17 pages, or are you talking about her visa? Man, if it was the immigration papers, I can only say that you are lucky and that I wish more countries were like the UK.
As it happens, I’m also back in Japan. I meant to ask you where in Osaka that big beer restaurant was that you blogged about a few months ago, but then I realized that I’m probably not going to Osaka. The closest I’m going to get is Kamakura, and that’s not even close.
Yeah the application only took 3 days of waiting.
The old saying “work to live not live to work” is one step on the way to a healthy lifestyle. Better still is finding a job that you actually love doing and getting a happy balance between work and leisure. Well done.