Busy Day Off

Today I had a day off from school because my only Tuesday/Thursday class's teacher was unable to come in. Unfortunately, the lack of school didn't mean that I got a lot of time to myself.

First, I got up early and headed into downtown Shinjuku to get the address on my foreigner registration card changed. The ward office I had to go to was in one of the unseemly districts but fortunately, I was spared seeing any of the really gross images I'm told are frequently displayed there. I was able to find it relatively quickly via a handy online map that I retrieved with my phone. Getting back to the proper station enterance proved to be a chore but with a bit of trial and error I eventually figured it out.

From there, I went to my landlady's apartment to get a bike. She had lost the key to the bike so I had to carry it to the bicycle shop where she had the old lock taken off and a new one installed. The process was supposed to take a half hour so she went off to perform other errands leaving me to pick up the  bike when it was finished. Unfortunately for me, she didn't sign to have the registration changed. As a result, I had to take the bike without proof that I owned it, a very dangerous thing to do here in Japan. She also didn't give me instructions on how to get back to my apartment with the bike so I explored a bit until I found the ward office I had visited earlier in the day. There, I was able to pick up a detailed map with which I was able to navigate back home. It was a rather stressful afternoon but I eventually made it back. Still, I don't have registration so I can't use the bike for commuting yet.

After getting back I did a homework and worked on schedules and budgets for the rest of the semester. Needless to say, I'll enjoy my sleep tonight.