I made a pan-Osakan venture today in a bid to get the necessary forms to prolong my stay in Japan for one more year at least. I started off with a visit to the immigration office to get the forms. The idea of an immigration office in any country conjures up thoughts of stressed, unhelpful and condescending bureaucrats but in my case the woman who dealt with me was very kind and helpful.

The biggest problem I had was finding the place as upon getting at the closest station I realised I had absolutely no idea what street it was on and had no idea how to say immigration office in Japanese. I called Reiko`s parents who were on holiday but they weren`t sure so I finally called my office and asked them. Of course it was NYU KOKU SHINSAKA (of course!) I asked the bloke at the train station where it was and he gave me a map and I circled the building he pointed to. Of course when I got out of the station I realised the map was in Japanese and therefore almost useless.(of course!)

But wait! I was able to read Hotel Keihan on the map with Hotel in Katakana and one of the few kanji I know – Han (阪) from the mighty Hanshin Tigers. Oh mighty Hanshin Tigers once more you have saved me. I eventually found the place and got the necessary forms which I took to my work`s office.

When I got there I was assisted by a woman. You need some strange things for a visa application – company`s profit and loss statement, total sales amount etc which she got for me. The only worrying thing when I was in there was she answered the phone and started speaking in English such gems as, “No, it`s not me that was wrong, everything I did was right” and “You must check it again it`s not my fault.” It`s not good for my peace of mind.

Anyway I think it`s all alright now. The next few days are national holidays so I can`t do anything more until Friday. If everything`s in order it can take up to two or three months. Fingers crossed.