Mom and Bridget come!!

Friday, May 16

Ugh, today was super isogashii. I had so much to do!

The first thing I did when I woke up, was head to campus to eat the anpan I didn't eat from last night and drink some OJ, while I used the wifi. My Japanese friend Yuna came over to talk to me. She said "hisashi buri" which was true because we hadn't seen each other in a while! She asked if I had class today and I told her no, I was all done and graduating tomorrow. So she gave me a hug and said bye! So sad!!

Then I went to the office to get the student discount for train tickets, so I could buy Shinkansen tickets to ride along with my mom and sister while we toured Japan. The people at the office were so nice to me! They handed me the papers and then I asked for the information about closing the bank account because I didn't have it with me, so they made another copy of the paper and I set off to the bank to close my account.

I had forgotten my inkan, so I had to go back to my room. I didn't want to have to go all the way through campus, so I went the way I went way back in January when I got lost. This time, I was more comfortable with my surroundings and didn't get lost at all! :)

I saw Deanna at the bank, so she and I talked while we were waiting. She reminded me that we have to back to the ward office to cancel our health insurance and alien registration cards. Ugh, I forgot about that. I really didn't want to go back to Ichinomiya anytime soon, but I guess it couldn't be avoided...

The bank only took about 10 minutes! It was awesome. :) So I walked back the way I usually go. As I was going across campus, I ran into Brendan and he said he hadn't done the ward stuff either. We both talked about what a pain it was!

I went back to the CJS office and they gave me a map to the ward office in Ichinomiya and said I could call if I had any issues communicating since, you know, I don't have a host mom to come with me anymore...

I was meeting Shogo for lunch at 12:35, so I went over to the lobby to sit until he got there. He said he'd be a little late because he was coming straight from class. While I was waiting, Yukari came out down from class and sat with me. Usually we talk in Japanese, with me struggling to follow her fast pace, but today she spoke all in English for some reason! Maybe she wanted to get practice in before I left.

After a bit, we were joined by some other ryuugakusei who we're both friends with. Then Shogo showed up, so I stood up and Yukari gave me a big hug and then I left.

Shogo and I were supposed to eat lunch on Tuesday, but then I'd had to cancel to move all my crap, so I'd postponed it to Friday. After seeing Emma and Minju go to Cafe Downey Tuesday, I decided I really wanted to go before I left since my friend from back home (who's from Nagoya!) had worked there and recommended it, so I had asked Shogo if we could go there. And he had said it sounded good. So that's where we were off to!

It's nice and close to Nanzan. And it turned out to be a really cute cafe! Emma had recommended the lunch set because it's a good deal, so that's what I got. 

It came with this super creamy soup that was maybe potato? It was good! And a salad too. And then the best part. A kabocha sandwich!!!!

Omg I love kabocha. And it's even better on a sandwhich! 

Shogo got this humungo hamburger that was hard for him to eat, haha. It was really fun and the Cafe Downey staff were so nice!

Then I said I had to leave so I could go to Ichinomiya to do my stuff at the ward office, unfortunately. So we walked to Yagoto Nisseki and said goodbye. Gosh, all these friends I've made that I'll probably never see again!

I stopped at the JR office at Ichinomiya station to buy all my Shinkansen tickets. The poor guy had to make me like eight tickets haha. But he was super nice! And it didn't take quite as long as I figured it would.

Then I walked outside, following the map the school had given me, to the ward office. The map said it was on the side with Lawson's and not the side with Circle K, so that's where I went, but I walked around forever, not finding anything, when finally this lady with a little kid stopped to help me and told me it was on the other side of the station. Argghhh. 

So I walked back and crossed the station and then I found where I was going. This lady up by the ward office asked me if that's what I was looking for and I said it was, so she walked me inside to the information desk.

From there, everyone was super helpful, showing me where to go. I got the alien registration stuff taken care of and then walked back over to do the insurance.

When I got to the insurance desk, there was some issue and they said all this stuff I couldn't understand. And they tried to say it in English, but they couldn't speak English well enough for me to understand what the problem was. So I suggested calling the school. They asked who they should ask for. I couldn't remember the name of the lady who had helped me, so I just said Kano. But Kano was out at lunch, and so they just hung up. They kept trying to explain what was going on and were chuckling among themselves because no one could make me understand. Finally they got this guy who could speak good English.

He told me I hadn't paid my insurance bill for April yet. Ohhh. Ok. So they asked if they could send the bill to my host family's house. I told them no, because I don't live there anymore.

They looked at each other helplessly, so I asked if they could send it to the school. They said no. So I asked if I could pay it now. They said it hadn't been calculated yet, because they hadn't been planning to mail it out until July. I said I wouldn't even be in Japan in July!

So then the guy was just like, "you know what? You don't have to pay it. Actually, I'm not allowed to say you don't have to pay it. So we just won't bill you."

Okay, that's cool!  I'm pretty sure my April one would have been more anyway since I went to the hospital and stuff. So they told me I was done and I just walked out.

It had gotten pretty chilly and I remembered how cold it had gotten last night when we'd left the club, so I decided to go all the way back to the dorms to get my sweater. So I was kind of worried I'd get to the airport late.

While I was on the train from Nagoya to Centrair airport, I was freaking out, thinking I'd get there like 15 minutes late. But I got there right on time!

It was my mom and sister who were late. Their flight was badly delayed and I waited almost an hour for them! Thankfully I had wifi and so I checked my email and saw Father had sent me an email
telling me their flight was delayed, which was really nice of him!

They finally got there, completely exhausted, but they'd brought me beautiful freshly baked cookies filled with caramel (my favorite!) like I'd requested, so that was awesome! :)

Then we headed to Sakae to find their hotel since we were all super exhausted. Sakae looked so pretty tonight! We went out the Oasis 21 exit and Oasis 21 was all lit up pink! :)

They got adjusted in their hotel and then I left to head back to my dorm before the subways closed. This drunk salaryman fell across the stairs of Sakae Eki in front of me and his friends apologized.

When I was walking to my dorm at 11:55, I passed Tanaka san from CJS with the hot CJS guy with the goateau and the CJS guy with glasses. They looked like they were coming back from a bar. It was dark, so I couldn't see them too clearly, but was pretty sure one was the hot guy.

But then I heard "Biseru san" and saw Tanaka san had stopped to talk to me. She told me it was late and I should get to bed since the ceremony is tomorrow. I told her I'd been at the airport picking up my mom and sister.

I was exhausted so I just went right in to shower and collapse in bed.