Otsukaresama, Skywalker-san!

It sincerely does not feel like it, but we've been here for two months now!

Current status is that we've successfully moved into a house. A big one.

The house is a little old, and a little larger than we need. But considering that it's meant to house us, our dog, and our fledgling business offices, maybe it was a good idea to aim high.

Achieved a vital paperwork win last month as soon as we signed the lease: I got a juuminhyou. Roughly translates into a "Resident Record," but actually it's a super-important document when it comes to setting things up like mail addresses, bank accounts, cell phone contracts, and so on.

Getting one meant throwing myself at the mercy of the Aoba Ward admin office staff. Walking in off the street with no advance prep, notice, or appointment, I could tell immediately it was going to be an experience.

I walked up to the closest receptionist and flatly admitted I was there for some paperwork. You need a juuminhyou? 8th floor.

The 8th floor resembled something between an American DMV and the Customs and Immigration area at Haneda Airport. A designated helper by the door guided me to the appropriate juuminhyou request form, with accompanying English-language template made out in the name of Luke Skywalker. Well, ルークスカイウォーカー actually, but you get it. My helper (let's call her Leia) watched as I struggled to write my new address.

Filled the form out, was handed a ticket with a number on it. Sit in area D, and when you hear your number go to desk 5. And so on, and so forth.

I barely had time to consider how quickly this was all going when Leia returned to me, and said I should probably go ahead and register for public pension and health insurance while I was there. Processing my request form was going to take a little time, so could I please take the elevator to the 5th floor, and bring them this sheet that explains exactly what I need?

Great! I only came here for a piece of paper and I'm leaving with health insurance? An amiable fellow (with a picture of his dog for his lock screen background) got me sorted out, and sent me back up to 8F.

By the time I made it back up the elevator, the building was officially closed. Checked the clock, and to my horror saw that it was 5:15pm. Workers from the 8th floor were actively packing their bags and heading out. Worse, Leia was nowhere to be seen.

I decided to sit in the waiting area anyway, and sure enough my number was called before 5:20pm. Got the juuminhyou, and got the heck out of there.

On the ground floor, as I passed the receptionist, she bellowed out a supportive otsukaresama from her side of the counter. This is a common end-of-day greeting between coworkers, but the actual translation is something closer to "you must be tired!"

She was right. So, so right.