Touge Session

Moving back to Japan

I'm at LAX now waiting for my flight to Narita.  I have my life packed up into my 2 check-in bags and carry-ons.  I've had a pretty terrible last few days when it comes to my moving situation.  My passport arrived with my visa 2 days before I left, that was actually pretty good, but my apartment situation has been pretty bad.  I had been saving my favorite apartments over the last month or so that way when my company emailed me about my selection I had a good list.  Well one day before I left (yesterday) they emailed me telling me about the apartment they had already setup.  It was tiny, far from the train station, and not in an area I wanted to live.  After lots of emailing and a very long distance call they have cancelled it and are now trying to get me into one of my choices.  Thankfully I've at least gotten this far in the process.  I sent them 6 apartments ranking in order from most desired, to least desired.  number 5/6 were the only two that were willing to accept foreigners.  I don't know what it's like in your country, but even in Japan (being Asia) they are still allowed to discriminate.  I mean this wasn't news to me or anything but it's pretty crazy.  Saying you can't live here in America would get you on the news, sued, and probably ruin your life.

Anyhow, they are working on the one apartment for me now, hopefully all the paperwork goes through and I can get it, because I really like it more than the other.  Unfortunately the process takes a while so I actually have to find somewhere to stay for around 1-2 weeks depending how long it takes.  Luckily I have a number of friends in the area and am sure I will be able to crash somewhere without having to pay the ridiculous hotel prices in Japan.  So that's where I am at now in my process, in about 14 hours I will be in Tokyo and heading to my hotel so I can begin training.  I am excited to start a new chapter in my life again, although I will miss my family tremendously, hopefully they will be able to visit soon.  My brother will be actually trying to teach abroad as well, probably in Russia, Czech Republic or somewhere else in eastern Europe.  That will give me a good opportunity to extend my travels to Europe so hopefully he achieves his goals.  I'm sure he will.  I will try blogging more consistently again.  Yes I plan on getting a car and getting back into drifting, but the startup costs for moving to Japan are pretty high so it will probably take some time before I feel comfortable wasting money on cars again.

For those curious about moving to Japan they recommend bringing $5,000usd to get you buy until you start receiving a steady paycheck.  You can expect to spend $2,000-$3,000 immediately just to get setup into your apartment. as they require 2-3 months rent ahead of time, 1 month worth the rent for a deposit, and one month worth the rent as a gift to the landlord.  Of course there are places that don't require a deposit or gift money, but I am just giving you the normal situation and worst case of what to expect to spend.  Anyways until next time :)

No phone so no pics, sorry!

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