For context: If you leave Japan after having paid into the Pension Fund, you can apply for a refund of your pension money, which we did after we left. That was about two and a half years ago. They owe us around ~$8,000--it was ~$11,000 when we left, but exchange rates. (-_-)

Back around July or so, softlykarou got an email from someone at the Pension Office ( Read more... )

I'm tempted to replay Portal through again, since the new one comes out on Tuesday (before Episode 3, which is the new Duke Nukem Forever to me, even though it hasn't really been all that long). So much else to do, though...well, all in due time, I suppose ( Read more... )

So, recently, our cell phone bill has been going up by quite a lot, even though we aren't using the data-transfer on our cell phones more. It wasn't until recently that I realized the problem.

We're paying for our cell phone bill using a credit card, because apparently it's illegal for gaijin to use their legally established Japanese bank accounts ( Read more... )

So, I just got back from a trip over to Saijō to go to the Sake Matsuri. Some people went both Saturday and Sunday, but we decided to just go Sunday, which meant we missed some of the neat stuff (parades, musical performances, etc.). We did get a brief tour of a sake brewery and went to the sake tasting tent--1500円 to go inside. They give you a cup ( Read more... )