Flakey Internet, even Flakier People

I meant to blog a bit more, but the Sakura House Internet has been acting really really strange. For the last week or so, I have been able to use Skype and P2P without too much trouble. (Skype did get cut off on a few occasions, but then I was able to reconnect within a few hours... so I didn't freak out.) But for some very odd reasons, I can't seem to use my browser for the last 2 days.

As the Internet services crash, my frustrations mount. Yesterday, I spend all day walking in the rain, from Yoyogi through Shinjuku and almost to Shibuya, visiting one bank then another, none of them would let me open an account with a temporary stay visa. I got even more frustrated when, I went to the mobile phone shops and they rejected my attempt to purchase a prepaid phone for the same reason. I mean, god damn, it's a prepaid phone. I pay for everything up front. What are you worried about, people? That I run back to my country, with a phone and credits that I have already paid for, in advance, and in cash?

It's actually a long drawn game. At first, I was told I couldn't get one without a Gaigokuji Toroku Shomeisho. Fine, I will docilely submit myself to the Japanese surveillance network. So I went to the Shibuya Kuyakusho to register myself, and came back to the phone company to try to buy a prepaid phone again. That's when they tell me that I need a visa that is longer than 90 days to get the prepaid phone. Why couldn't they tell me in the first place?

So I got soaked in the rain, then patiently walked from buildings to buildings, from one bank to another, and got turned down everywhere I went. No wonder Japanese are so patient; I suppose they train you early on. Amazingly, I didn't explode on these poor Japanese bankers and cell phone salespersons. I even bow to them and thanked them for their, um, "helps."

I exploded though, when I went home finally, soaked to the core and miserable. I didn't even realize I was frustrated and upset until I talked to Mr.R on skype. No, seriously, I was almost smiling until he said, "you must be so frustrated." I almost wanted to cry at that moment. Funny how red isn't really red until you call it red, I didn't realize I was upset until someone named my emotion... in English.

It's like, when I am operating in the Japanese mode, being frustrated and impatient and upset isn't part of the vocabulary, and by induction, it also isn't part of my emotional repatoire. But as soon as I switch back to the English speaking mode, I was enraged!



Looking at the brighter side of things though, I now know how to walk to Shinjuku and even Shibuya from Yoyogi, so I don't have to go through the freakish Shinjuku JR station anymore, which is a huge relief.

By the same token, the brighter side of having unreliable internet service is ... is... is what? I am really being trained up to stop procrastination. DO IT WHILE YOU CAN, because the internet connection WON'T LAST.

Which is why I am blogging now. Hell, I better submit my blog entry before I get cut off again.