Big In Japan

So, a week ago yesterday I woke up with the dizzying combination of being employed, insured, and having an apartment. In the past eight days I have seen all three of those things slip away. The first to go was my job. Although my company isn't actually completely out of business yet, all operations have been halted in Japan and abroad. Next to go was my insurance. We were notified over the weekend that anyone with insurance through the company would stop receiving benefits as of November 1st. Luckily, if I am to stay here, I can easily sign up for the national insurance policy (yay, socialism!) Lastly we were informally "evicted" from our apartment on Wednesday. We haven't been served papers yet, but were kindly asked to leave by the end of the month (of November.) Theoretically we actually have 30 days from whenever they serve us a court mandated eviction notice... but no one here wants to be "that guy" who's living in an apartment while the landlord is perusing legal channels to get him removed.

Even though I didn't seem to get a lot accomplished, this last week seemed really long. I think my roommate summed it up best when he described it as "like that movie, Groundhog Day." The days really flowed together each seemingly the same as the last.

Last Friday it was announced that all of my company's operations would be halted while the company went into bankruptcy protection (which I accidentally called bankruptcy.) Two court appointed administrators have been looking over the company since then while at the same time trying to find a sponsor who could help rebuild the company; a tall order when the company is in the hole over $400,000,000(US).

Again, Friday, I just had to get out of the house so I decided to see what was North of the apartment. After getting a little turned around I found myself in the middle of the mountains with generally no idea where I was. It took me quite a while to get myself reoriented and back to town. Later looking at Google maps (what a wonderful thing!) I could see where I made a wrong turn and almost ended up back in Kamakura again (Kamakura being 10km east of Fujisawa.)
Last Saturday was also mostly used filling out applications various places and resting from Friday's adventure.

Sunday saw the first perfectly clear day of my stay here. After nearly two months of waiting and watching I finally got to see Mt. Fuji in all it's glory. The weather was warm so I decided to walk down to Enoshima. I spent most of the day taking pictures of Fuji from various locations. On my way back home I stopped and watched a magic show on the street. As a change of pace I took the Odakyu line train home instead of the usual Enoden.

Monday and Tuesday are sort of blurred together, but mostly I filled out applications.

Wednesday I decided to see what was really North of the apartment and took a nice long walk. In the evening I met my roommates and over a few beers discovered that while I was out we'd been "evicted." Late in the evening some friends came over and we ended up partying until the early morning... a benefit of being unemployed I guess?

Thursday I woke up early, took Odakyu line train, and went to Shimotakaido. I had learned on Sunday that the Odakyu line that runs through Fujisawa is the same one that ran just south of my old apartment. It also turns out to be a fairly cheap way of getting into Shinjuku from Fujisawa. Much to my happiness my old neighborhood from two years ago hasn't changed much at all. After looking around I hopped the Keio line (the one I used to take to school) into Shinjuku. I visited the Tokyo Metro Gov't Building (best FREE sight in all of Tokyo) before heading home.

Yesterday was once again spent filling out applications. In the evening I went to an izakaya with a guy from work who is leaving next week to teach in Korea. As we were getting up to leave the table next to us asked where we were from. We got to talking and when they head which company we worked for they to pity on us and bought us a round of sake. We chatted in a mix of Japanese and English for quite a while. I think it was the first time in the last two months that I said more than two back-to-back sentences in Japanese.

Tonight there is a combination "bankruptcy protection"/"eviction"/"farewell" party in my building. A good time should be had by all.

Tomorrow I think I might head to Akihabara, now that I know I can get here cheaply by taking the Odakyu line. I still can't afford to buy anything, but window shopping is always fun. Also, if I remember correctly, they open that main street to pedestrian traffic on Sundays and there's a festival atmosphere.

Hmmm, for having the feeling of not getting anything done last week, this sure turned into a long post... oh, well until next time:

Jaa Mata Ne!