Update 2: Odds and Ends--Daily Life

We've continued to teach lessons four times a week at the Buddhist temple, and we've all made a bit of pocket cash doing that which has helped this time of unemployment be a bit easier. (Other than that I've been mostly living off of Shoko).

In gratitude for this, we offered to help the priest clean out his temple and prepare for a big festival he was hosting in November. He accepted our offer, although how much help we actually were to him is another matter. Because none of us knew what we were doing, I felt like I spent most of the time standing around watching him work. And then to thank us for all of our "hard work" he had us stay for dinner in which his wife had prepared a huge feast.
At least it was an interesting experience for us. And I figure the exposure to Buddhism can balance out the visits I've been getting from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Speaking of which, they've been continuing to come to my apartment. And we've been continuing to hold our little debates. (Shoko was furious with me at one point because I forgot to clean the apartment before they came, and then invited them in anyway. I had to promise to always clean before inviting anyone in).
A couple weeks ago they invited me to their Church service ("Kingdom Hall") they called it. There was some kind of special speaker coming that Sunday and they really wanted me to come. I was reluctant to give up my Sunday morning but they were so eager for me to come and hear this speaker and meet everyone that I didn't have the heart to say no. In the end I decided at the very least it might be an interesting experience.
Which it was. Everyone in the Kingdom Hall was so eager to meet me, I had people lining up to talk to me. Some of this is probably just the natural friendliness extended to a new face in church, but I suspect most of it was the celebrity status most foreigners have in Japan. This wasn't the first time I've experienced this, but it's something you never really get sick of.

The Church service was more similar to a protestant service than dissimilar. They had hymns, announcement time, more hymns, and then a sermon. There were various small differences. (There's no offering taken during the service. Instead I was told people go to the collection box on their own initiative. The idea being you are supposed to give in secret. Also there were no crosses anywhere in the church, as Jehovah's Witnesses believe the cross counts as a graven image or idol. Plus they don't believe Jesus died on the cross, they believe he died on a stake. This is another point we've debated in the past).

All in all though, the members of the church all seemed surprisingly like nice normal people. Which maybe goes without saying, but since I've started these weekly discussions with the Jehovah's Witnesses, a number of Japanese friends have tried to warn me that Jehovah's Witnesses have a bad reputation in Japan, as almost like a cult. Which is probably more or less their reputation back in the US as well.

In order to balance this out, I even attended one Church service in Japan. I had a Japanese friend who went to church every week, and I asked to tag along, I had forgotten how great attending a Japanese church service was for my Japanese practice. I thought about getting back in the habit of weekly attending, but work starting up has tabled that plan (more on that next post).

Health Insurance
When Nova went bankrupt, our health insurance, which was a private company run as a subsidiary of Nova, also went under. Leaving everyone looking for new health insurance.

Among the many shady business practices of Nova was a way they found around the National Health Care System. All of their employees were enrolled in an overseas travellers insurance system, of dubious legality.

I had heard stories from other people who tried to enroll in National Health Care system after Nova, and were told that they had to pay the back fees for all the months they had been in Japan (despite having already paid into Nova's system during this period).

Because I was already aware of this going in, I had tried to gear myself up for battle. Shoko went with me to help explain some of the Japanese, and when the official began explaining we had to pay back fees since I arrived in Japan I started shaking my head and saying, "No, no, no, no, no!"
I used all the arguments I could. It wasn't fair. What is the point of pointing for health insurance in the past? And if the Japanese government wanted those fees, why had they allowed Nova to set up its own health care system? Why should I have to pay twice for health care insurance I never even used once? I glared, I stared, I growled.

Typical Japanese, they were very apologetic, but they couldn't budge on this point. And it wasn't really there decision anyway. They didn't make the rules, they were just helpless bureaucrats. Which is why they say you can never beat the Japanese bureaucracy.

A couple weeks later I actually met one of the bureaucrats again at the new year's eve party. She was one of the friends of the priest's daughter. I apologized for giving them such a rough time, and she was able to just laugh it off.

Link of the Day
The Commons, The State and Transformative Politics