Stoat - Where?

The daily frustrations of not being able to communicate easily mean that even the smallest victories are immensely satisfying and cause a hugely disproportionate amount of self-congratulation. Thus, I was quite ridiculously happy this morning when, having retraced my steps of the other night, I was able to find my keys in a Coco Ichiban curry restaurant using only Japanese to explain the situation and describe them to the staff.

The irony of course is that, though I was able to retrieve my keys, the night I actually ate at the curry shop, I still wasn’t able to perform the substantially easier task of ordering a meal correctly. Even so, it’s nice to know that I can fix some problems and that, even if I never become fluent, it won’t have been a complete waste of time! And in retrospect, it wouldn’t have really felt like I’d lived here at all if I hadn’t lost something.

Three, if you include death. Firstly, taxes. I was landed today with a Japanese tax bill which informed me that I’m now considered enough of a long-term resident to pay local city taxes. Can I buy a house here, though? Don’t be silly. The form helpfully reminds me that this is still required even if I leave Japan, all written in perfect English. See, they can do it when it’s about money, but have them write about love and philosophy and it all goes downhill. The bill itself isn’t so bad, coming to ¥40,000 for the year, which is about £200. After you take into account that income tax is only £50 a month, you can’t really complain.
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