It's a Miracle!
Something very bad happened to me this week. I didn't post about it earlier because I figure that I whine enough with and telling this long story of woe. Plus I didn't want to worry people back home and I was hoping and praying that there would be a happy ending to the story. There has been. Now that it's become a great story about how blessed I've been it's time to share.
Tuesday morning, I biked to school as usual. I arrived to class on time and everything seemed to be going good. I had arranged to get lunch with a friend from school and so during our break we went to an Udon shop near the school. When it was time to pay, I reached for my wallet but it wasn't in my pocket. I was able to pay for lunch with high valued change but I spent the rest of the afternoon racking my brain trying to recall if I had remembered to bring my wallet and then lost it or merely forgot it at home.
As soon as I got home I tore through all of my stuff to find that I had indeed taken my wallet and that it was now lost. Somewhere along the route to school, my wallet had worked its way out of my pack pocket without me noticing.
This was a horrible thing. My wallet contained my Alien Registragion Card, my credit card, my insurance card (valid as ID), my student ID and my bank card with account numbers. In addition it had all my money for the next month, about $400 in cash and a months worth of weekend train tickets.The loss was a devastating loss financially and created a terrible identity theft risk. I was left with 72 yen worth about sixty cents U.S..
Needless to say, I immediately found someone to help me file a lost wallet report at the local Koban(police station). From there, the police could issue a general look out for my wallet along the route to school.
Since I had lost it in the morning, the wallet was probably already turned in if it was going to be. I was told that if it was found I would be notified the following day.
That next day I had to get up a little early so that I could be waiting outside the local bank to exchange some travelers checks when it opened. Unfortunately, the bank when the bank finally opened, I was told that they didn't do currency changes until later in the day. Frustrated and penniless I hopped on my bike and headed for school, stopping at every bank until I found one that would do the change. I stopped at six banks from three different companies before I found one with an open currency exchange counter. Fortunately, the actual exchange of funds was smooth and painless and I was able to walk out the door with spendable cash in hand.
All of that day, I waited anxiously hoping for a phone call from the koban but nothing came. At this point, the chances of my wallet being recovered looked pretty slim. Nevertheless, I decided to wait one more day before going out to reapply for all of my cards. Thursday didn't yeild any good news either. It had now been almost three days since I had lost my wallet and it was unrealistic to expect that I would get it back. I contacted my bank and got the phone number to cancel my credit card. It was after hours so I planned to wait until the next day, Friday to make the call. That afternoon, I prayed with some friends that my wallet would be found but it didn't seem likely.
Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to call and start canceling my credit card and invalidating my IDs, my room mate told me that I had mail. It was a postcard in Japanese. I rushed upstairs to get the card translated by one of the other dorm residents who's been here for awhile. He couldn't make out everything it said but it was definitely about my wallet and it was from the police.
I rushed down to the local koban and showed them the card, a friendly officer who spoke a few phrases of English was able with some effort to show me that I needed to go to the main city police station. I biked home, ate a quick snack and headed off towards Yamate-dori.
With the help of a half dozen pedestrians whom I asked for directions, I found the police station. I showed my card to the receptionist and he showed me to the lost and found counter. Sure enough, they had my wallet... with the cash still inside.
Isn't that amazing? Where else could you lose $400 in cash and expect to get it back?
Tuesday morning, I biked to school as usual. I arrived to class on time and everything seemed to be going good. I had arranged to get lunch with a friend from school and so during our break we went to an Udon shop near the school. When it was time to pay, I reached for my wallet but it wasn't in my pocket. I was able to pay for lunch with high valued change but I spent the rest of the afternoon racking my brain trying to recall if I had remembered to bring my wallet and then lost it or merely forgot it at home.
As soon as I got home I tore through all of my stuff to find that I had indeed taken my wallet and that it was now lost. Somewhere along the route to school, my wallet had worked its way out of my pack pocket without me noticing.
This was a horrible thing. My wallet contained my Alien Registragion Card, my credit card, my insurance card (valid as ID), my student ID and my bank card with account numbers. In addition it had all my money for the next month, about $400 in cash and a months worth of weekend train tickets.The loss was a devastating loss financially and created a terrible identity theft risk. I was left with 72 yen worth about sixty cents U.S..
Needless to say, I immediately found someone to help me file a lost wallet report at the local Koban(police station). From there, the police could issue a general look out for my wallet along the route to school.
Since I had lost it in the morning, the wallet was probably already turned in if it was going to be. I was told that if it was found I would be notified the following day.
That next day I had to get up a little early so that I could be waiting outside the local bank to exchange some travelers checks when it opened. Unfortunately, the bank when the bank finally opened, I was told that they didn't do currency changes until later in the day. Frustrated and penniless I hopped on my bike and headed for school, stopping at every bank until I found one that would do the change. I stopped at six banks from three different companies before I found one with an open currency exchange counter. Fortunately, the actual exchange of funds was smooth and painless and I was able to walk out the door with spendable cash in hand.
All of that day, I waited anxiously hoping for a phone call from the koban but nothing came. At this point, the chances of my wallet being recovered looked pretty slim. Nevertheless, I decided to wait one more day before going out to reapply for all of my cards. Thursday didn't yeild any good news either. It had now been almost three days since I had lost my wallet and it was unrealistic to expect that I would get it back. I contacted my bank and got the phone number to cancel my credit card. It was after hours so I planned to wait until the next day, Friday to make the call. That afternoon, I prayed with some friends that my wallet would be found but it didn't seem likely.
Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to call and start canceling my credit card and invalidating my IDs, my room mate told me that I had mail. It was a postcard in Japanese. I rushed upstairs to get the card translated by one of the other dorm residents who's been here for awhile. He couldn't make out everything it said but it was definitely about my wallet and it was from the police.
I rushed down to the local koban and showed them the card, a friendly officer who spoke a few phrases of English was able with some effort to show me that I needed to go to the main city police station. I biked home, ate a quick snack and headed off towards Yamate-dori.
With the help of a half dozen pedestrians whom I asked for directions, I found the police station. I showed my card to the receptionist and he showed me to the lost and found counter. Sure enough, they had my wallet... with the cash still inside.
Isn't that amazing? Where else could you lose $400 in cash and expect to get it back?
6 Comments:
That's amazing! Thank goodness that it was found. :)
And you carry all that in your wallet why?
Glad you got it back. Although a postcard seems a very strange method for telling you.
And you should make copies of all your documents.
I do the backpocket thing all the time... I haven't lost my wallet yet, but my keys keep falling out of my back pocket
Cool. Yeah don't expect this in the states which tells me a lot about the Japanese culture and that is people just do not commit crimes over there. You can leave your backpack on the sidewalk for a few hours and come back to find it still sitting there.
Wow.
This will teach you to duct tape your wallet to yourself, eh?
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