Caught in an Eddy

With danger on the horizon

Once again there are things that I neglected to include in the various writings posted of late. Additionally there are new realities that have hove into view. Let’s start off with the actual comments from last year’s students I wrote of a while back. I found them late last night.

As you may recall, I was specifically forbidden from using material from outside the textbook. Yet 3 comments out of the 7 were positive for this practice and one against. The third comment is interesting as it references the problems with the classes supposedly needing to be of the exact same content and students always comparing them. To which I add…

This student also states they were confused over the exam format and schedule, which I was as well because the SD kept changing these. It is a strange feeling reading positive comments from students for things I was specifically told not to do and complaining about the same things I did. Will keep these with a print out of the school’s emails prohibiting use of materials not provided in the textbook.

This is one I keep forgetting to add to my many rants on the misuse and over reliance on tech, unmanned train stations. On the surface, from this may not seem like anything as we have had these in rural Japan for many years. Featured on TV shows, travel logs and comments from overseas tourists are old but well maintained wooden station buildings with a basket or box of semi ancient origin for those disembarking to put their tickets in as they leave the station. I am not talking about these. Rather the large, insanely busy, bustling and noisy stations of Tokyo are also going unmanned. A couple of weeks ago I witnessed a commuter needing some kind of assistance at Korakuen station. This is one of the stations that serves the Tokyo Dome and the area surrounding it. The station attendant’s booth has its windows covered, so there is no one to ask anything of. Instead, they have a speaker/microphone set at the perfect height for an 8 year old. The already tall for a Japanese woman, young lady wearing g high heels had to bend over in what in other circumstances be in comical fashion, cup her hands as she spoke into the microphone and then place her ear on the speaker/microphone in what apparently were vain attempts to be understood and or understand whatever drowned out by the noise of the station on the day of a concert at the Dome came out of the speaker. She gave up and walked away. Customer service at its finest.

Last night I learned that besides the test the Kid is taking at this moment, they have two more chances to score above 45 Standard Deviation over all or they cannot sit for the entrance exam for Jr. High school. The last of these is in July. If they do not make this threshold, then in looks like I will be moving out during this summer’s vacation. It is not likely that they can, given the record of scores to date.

However, this morning I saw something in the news that chills me.

There has been talk of it, but it appears that it has passed. Apparently there are many tourists from abroad who need medical assistance but leave the country without paying for it. It is easy to immediately blame the tourists and I am sue many deserve the blame, but it could easily be the case that many were willing and able to pay but lacked the correct payment method to do so. Many, perhaps still most, hospitals will only accept the National Health Insurance card plus one or more of the few domestic policies that augment this. In recent years, one hospital system advertised that patients at their hospitals could now pay with credit card and even cash. I can easily see the possibility of a tourist paying for travel insurance only to have the hospital they are taken too clueless as to how to charge it, not accept credit cards of only those issued by Japanese banks and not take cash. Japan’s solution? Make all foreigners pay into the National health Care scheme! Not sure the specifics for tourists but months after they passed a law to collect nenkin payments I got the bill in the mail. They have already passed a bill to revoke permanent residence visas of those who do not pay in to the national health care scheme. In the words of another expat, “We can’t they just take it out of our pay as civilized countries do?”, or at least tell us before we are so far behind in payments that we can’t pay them? Intentional or not, it is a trap. Just as FBAR from the States is.

A couple of days ago I got an email from a friend I have not been in touch with for a couple of years. The subject line was, “Hello from Anti-Trumpland” and it began thus.

“I was going through my phone contacts and you are in it! I'm hanging on to your info just because I would hope you're still doing well and still my good friend. I am doing as well as can be expected for a 67 year old retired USPS employee and fellow veteran, living each day desperately trying to stay sane while standing under the rain cloud of a political coup, getting thoroughly drenched and hoping to not catch pneumonia. I'm now in the second decade of living as a strong Democrat in the Kingdom of America, which is ruled by an evil and vindictive authoritarian regime, headed by an ignorant and corrupt narcissistic sociopath who is in the process of destroying the country, twisting the financial arms of his thousands of real or imaginary enemies, hoping to drive them either off a cliff but will settle for making them declare bankruptcy if they even try to stand up to the orange school yard bully. Takes deep breath. Now sincerely hoping that you are not a MAGA Republican!”

In subsequent emails they wrote this, “…but my goal of getting reacquainted with my family was dashed almost immediately because of our political differences…” and “We have been living in an increasingly out of control world, and the pandemic sure didn’t make anything better. Americans picked an awful time to elect a president who has wanted to dismantle our government for most of his life, and doesn’t give a damn who he steamrolls over to make that happen. It has put the whole world on edge.” They moved back to their home town to reestablish relations with their family but had to move away because they cannot tolerate their family’s political beliefs. Guess I should not be surprised, the civil war pitted brother against brother quite literally in many cases. Then they blame T and his cuts to the government as the root cause of all that is ill in the world while all of my unsurmountable problems are caused by government.

I may not ever get the chance to try out my tent. Nor to even finish this school year. Guess I need a good cover story to tell by employers if or looking more likely when I must beat a hasty retreat.