When will I learn?
Just got busted by the NHK guy >X(
NHK is like the public programming everyone gets on their TVs, and it's like a tax you have to pay for owning a TV - the tax supports NHK. So the NHK guy comes occasionally to your door to collect.
Another JET in the city had told me how she got away with not having to pay (she said she told the guy that she never watched TV since she can't understand it - he bought that), and I know it's not impossible, but no luck for me this time. Why couldn't I have just not answered the door?
The sucky thing is, just earlier today I made the decision that until the end of the month, when I got my pay, I would try to stretch my last 4000 yen in cash. I consciously made that decision and had determined to stick with it. And then the NHK guy wanted 2700. In a mix of trying to play dumb at Japanese and really being dumb, I told him I couldn't do that, although he was persistent about trying to get the cash. So instead I had to fill out one of those bank/postal account transfer forms, and now NHK has my bank account info, and can take money out whenever they want >X( He just HAD to ruin my money-spending resolve, didn't he?!
Which is why I wish I hadn't opened the door. The light just outside my door doesn't work, so at night when people ring the bell it's impossible to tell who's outside thru the peephole. I asked "who is it?" (since, chances are, whoever has business with me would be able to speak with me in English... or at least identifiy themselves), and I almost always know when someone's going to ring my bell, because they would have told me about it in advance (usually it's my neighbor downstairs), but if no one says anything then I have no idea. Actually, that's somewhat creepy - if I were in a larger town I would be very scared to open my door... (curse my trusting naivety!)
BUT, apparently the front entryway - the genkan - is considered public property in Japan. I've heard stories of JETs leaving their doors unlocked while they shower and having their mailman walk in on them. If it's not locked people could very well just walk in. Thankfully, I have a lock AND a chain.
The more I think about it, I'm really in a very precarious situation. I'm a clueless gaijin in Japan - I'm a perfect target for conmen. Anyone could come to my door and say I owe them money, and I would have no way of knowing for sure if they were conning me. And once they get my money, there's very little I can do to get it back. I know Japan's suppose to be a much safer country than the States, but my instincts that kept me from being victimized at home have been failing me lately, and I clearly need to kick them back into gear. I need to stop being so complacent and passive.
OK, that's it. No more giving out money to whoever asks. First the newspaper delivery guy rips me off 2000 (never got that money back - I hate my stupid newspaper now), and now I get busted by NHK for programming I don't even watch. Resolution 1: No more blindly accepting bills to pay, unless I KNOW who I'm paying and I KNOW what I'm paying. Resolution 2: No more answering the doorbell unless I know for sure who it is.
NHK is like the public programming everyone gets on their TVs, and it's like a tax you have to pay for owning a TV - the tax supports NHK. So the NHK guy comes occasionally to your door to collect.
Another JET in the city had told me how she got away with not having to pay (she said she told the guy that she never watched TV since she can't understand it - he bought that), and I know it's not impossible, but no luck for me this time. Why couldn't I have just not answered the door?
The sucky thing is, just earlier today I made the decision that until the end of the month, when I got my pay, I would try to stretch my last 4000 yen in cash. I consciously made that decision and had determined to stick with it. And then the NHK guy wanted 2700. In a mix of trying to play dumb at Japanese and really being dumb, I told him I couldn't do that, although he was persistent about trying to get the cash. So instead I had to fill out one of those bank/postal account transfer forms, and now NHK has my bank account info, and can take money out whenever they want >X( He just HAD to ruin my money-spending resolve, didn't he?!
Which is why I wish I hadn't opened the door. The light just outside my door doesn't work, so at night when people ring the bell it's impossible to tell who's outside thru the peephole. I asked "who is it?" (since, chances are, whoever has business with me would be able to speak with me in English... or at least identifiy themselves), and I almost always know when someone's going to ring my bell, because they would have told me about it in advance (usually it's my neighbor downstairs), but if no one says anything then I have no idea. Actually, that's somewhat creepy - if I were in a larger town I would be very scared to open my door... (curse my trusting naivety!)
BUT, apparently the front entryway - the genkan - is considered public property in Japan. I've heard stories of JETs leaving their doors unlocked while they shower and having their mailman walk in on them. If it's not locked people could very well just walk in. Thankfully, I have a lock AND a chain.
The more I think about it, I'm really in a very precarious situation. I'm a clueless gaijin in Japan - I'm a perfect target for conmen. Anyone could come to my door and say I owe them money, and I would have no way of knowing for sure if they were conning me. And once they get my money, there's very little I can do to get it back. I know Japan's suppose to be a much safer country than the States, but my instincts that kept me from being victimized at home have been failing me lately, and I clearly need to kick them back into gear. I need to stop being so complacent and passive.
OK, that's it. No more giving out money to whoever asks. First the newspaper delivery guy rips me off 2000 (never got that money back - I hate my stupid newspaper now), and now I get busted by NHK for programming I don't even watch. Resolution 1: No more blindly accepting bills to pay, unless I KNOW who I'm paying and I KNOW what I'm paying. Resolution 2: No more answering the doorbell unless I know for sure who it is.