The Prestigious Gold License

 So I took time off today in lieu for working on Sunday so I could renew my driver's license, which was going to expire very shortly. I made a post years ago about obtaining a Japanese driver's license, but in this case, and just like 3 years ago, this was purely renewing my license, which doesn't take as long compared to transferring my Australian license in to a Japanese one. In addition, unlike previously where I went to a licensing center to renew my license, I went to the police station to do it this time. 

I had no problems previously with the renewal process, but as I had not updated my address since moving from Ibaraki prefecture, along with the fact that I did not have my residence card due to it being in the process of renewal - though I did have a receipt and photocopy of my residence card as form of proof - the staff at the police station told me there was no problem all.

Source: Hino Maple

But what is different this time round is, as the title suggests, I would be getting a Gold Drivers license. A gold license can only be obtained after holding a driver's license for 5 years - without any traffic violations at all. I was actually a little worried about this part, as I thought I got snapped by a speed camera back in December while driving a company car, and I was waiting for that red speeding ticket (which would have led to a conviction, and possibly harmed my chances of continued employment at my current company), but 4 months on, the company never got any letter from the police, and I never get the tap on the shoulder about it.

The benefits of a Gold license, is that unlike the green or blue drivers licenses where you are required to renew every three years, renewal for gold is every five years. Also, renewing your gold license will only cost 500 yen (renewing my license this time was 3000 yen, which is still cheaper compared to Australia). Finally, the driving safety lecture/video you have to sit in on every time you renew your Gold license will only take 30 minutes. 
In addition, a gold drivers license also grants you certain discounts for car insurance, among other things.

I got in early around 8:30am, and was out by just after 10:00am with my brand spanking new Gold license. This was definitely much more pleasant compared to transferring my license which required me to be at the licensing center for the whole day. To make it even better, there weren't all that many people renewing their driver's license, so I had the rest of the day to myself just relaxing and trying not to worry about work, which has been particularly stressful recently, due to it being the peak of the busy season in preparation for the new school year. 

I decided to call home, as I really had nobody to talk to about my problems, and got some useful advice and words that I really needed to hear. While I have experienced stress in my job in hospitality, it was usually in short bursts of maybe 2 or 3 hours at most, but for this office job, the stress of the work is more akin to a slow boil, and I think I reached breaking point yesterday where I didn't get home until 11pm last night. I just can't wait for the busy season to end, but I'm worried I'll wind up in hospital before that.

Hazaado ranpu

So, it's been nearly two months since I last posted here. I have been pretty busy at work since my last post, so I haven't been able to post anything.

As I'm sure you are aware, Japan officially opened its borders to foreign visitors from October 11th. Furthermore, the daily visitor cap was lifted, and foreigners that come to the country can travel across Japan freely, without the need for mandatory guided tours. On top of this, the Japanese yen taken a dive recently, making it much more appealing for foreigners to come and spend much needed tourist money in Japan.

One thing I would like to talk about is my driving experiences in Japan. Recently, I have been working out of town again, and unlike previous times where I would catch a train and possibly stay at a hotel, I have to drive daily due to the location. This also means I need to take expressways, and deal with toll gates on a daily basis. While the driving system is largely the same as in my country, there are a couple of small things I've noticed that are pretty useful, which mostly center around the use of hazard lights (or ハザードランプ / hazard lamp in Japanese.

The first observation is when cars merge in to one lane - something my hometown has problems doing at times - at least when I was last back home. People in Japan follow the "zig zag approach" for merging, and after the car merges, they use the hazard lights to signal thanks for letting them go ahead of you. In my hometown, people sometimes just wave in the rare cases, though it can be hard to see.

Another instance I have observed is on the expressway when you spot a traffic jam. Given the high speed and the need to suddenly slow down, cars and trucks will signal others of the traffic jam up ahead by using hazard lights. Of course, successive cars will signal other vehicles, and this continues on, reducing chances of a traffic accident.

I don't know if other countries have similar practices with use of the hazard lights like in Japan, but I'm curious if anybody has seen other uses of them - whether within Japan or in other countries.

Kamisu City - Initial Thoughts

After about an hour and a half of driving from Mito city, I finally arrived in Kamisu city yesterday afternoon. I had heard, and also read up about how you would need a car to get around. Man, they were not kidding. Since the driving system in Japan is pretty much the same in Australia (left hand drive, right hand steering wheel, etc), it was pretty easy to get to the hang of things. One thing I will say though: I'm not sure if this is just a Kamisu thing, or Japanese people in general, but for a country that is really hung up on following rules, nobody around Kamisu even tries to do the speed limit. On the major roads, I think it's about 50 km/h (which for me is pretty slow, since the average on most roads in my home city is 70 km/h), but it's not uncommon for people to be going faster. On top of that, I hardly saw any pedestrians out and about - at most I probably saw 10 people, with the majority getting around by car. When even the convenient stores have a sizeable car park, it's definitely a sign that Kamisu is car-dominated city.

Anyway, my apartment upon arrival was completely bare - no fridge, no washer, no microwave, not even any curtains. However, I was advised that the fridge/washer/microwave would be arriving on monday afternoon. On the other hand, I had to go out and buy everything else, and I also spent today purchasing the remainder of my necessities. Learning from my times as an international student, I've stuck to purchasing cheap things, including a cheap mattress, a cheap fold up table, and a cheap stool. As I'm not going to start getting paid until late October, I've been putting together goals, and keeping a closer eye on  my purchases so I can keep my expenditure as low as possible. As I also want to travel to Kyoto for Christmas for the 2 week winter break to visit my girlfriend, it's even more important that I try to get on top this now while I'm in the settling period. Fortunately, most of the necessities I've purchased are the sorts of things I can use in future accommodation, so it's short term pain for long term gain.

I will be starting my first day of work on Thursday. I am a bit nervous, especially because I did so-so on my demo lessons during the training, though I was told in feedback that my lesson plan is technically sound; I just need the confidence to be able to perform in front of a classroom of students, and I am hoping this will become easier after the first few days of work.