A Morning of Insurance, Cemeteries, and Unplanned Walks to Yokohama

This past week has been full of early morning appointments, and today was no different. Despite feeling a bit drained, I headed out to finalize some essential tasks. Besides health insurance, I needed to cover other important types of insurance—because, let’s face it, being prepared is key.

On the way to the office, something unexpected caught my eye: a beautiful cemetery. I hesitated at first, feeling like it might be wrong to take photos, but the tourist in me got the better of my judgment. So here’s a snapshot that I wanted to share with you all.

The real adventure began after arriving at the insurance office. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, I was finally called up. However, there was a new problem—apparently, my name is too long for their system. Now, for context, my full name consists of four names, each around seven letters long. Sure, it’s lengthy, but it’s my name! To make things more frustrating, I already have a Kanji version of my name, which I thought might solve the issue. However, I was told that wasn’t an option, even though Japanese citizens can use Kanji for their names. The irony didn’t escape me.

Despite my attempts to negotiate, the final decision was to shorten my first name and drop my second name entirely. I can’t express how upsetting this was—after all, it’s my identity—but I was advised to let it go. Thankfully, the kind girl who accompanied us, Nana, noticed how frustrated I was and offered me a drink to calm down. Food or drinks usually do the trick for me, so I started to relax a little.

With the insurance matter finally sorted, it was lunchtime. I asked Nana if she wanted to walk to Yokohama with me. She had to head home, but decided to walk along with me since the wait for the bus would have taken just as long as the walk itself. The day was warm, and the conversation even warmer. We shared stories about cooking, and chatted about both Japanese and international cuisine.

Once in Yokohama, I needed to withdraw money from the ATM to pay my rent—a task that felt unnecessarily complicated. It’s been frustrating navigating this process without a Japanese bank account, something the International Center hasn’t been particularly helpful with so far. I ended up withdrawing a lot of cash, leaving my credit card near maxed out. I have to admit, my patience with the International Center is wearing thin due to these avoidable hurdles.

To wrap things up, Nana had the idea of taking some videos to show off my T-shirt. She wanted to post them on her blog, and while I’m not the most photogenic person, it turned into a hilarious little photo shoot.

And Yokohama at night for the END