Weekend in Tokyo & The Quest For a Green Card

Sunday, June 15 and Monday June 16

were spent in

Tokyo

Tokyo is a BIG city filled with lots and LOTS of people, as most cities are. As a rule of thumb, I usually avoid going into any city when not absolutely necessary. This weekend it was in fact necessary that Atsuko and I go to Tokyo. We're on a mission to get Atsuko an Immigrant Visa, or Green Card for the USA so that she can live and work there.

As I mentioned before, I am not a city person and neither is Atsuko. I can appreciate a massive metropolis for what it is and what goes on inside it, but not many cities have caught my interest to a degree that makes me want to return a second time. As a matter of fact, there is only one city that I can honestly say interests me. That would be New York City. New York City - Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the rest of the Five Boroughs - is fascinating to me. Many people have said the "Big Apple" is "It's own country", an entity unto itself separate from the United States. I'd have to agree that it is a bit like that.

Anyway! I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there. Back to Tokyo!

Maybe I have gotten spoiled by the warmth and flavor of Wakayama and the Kansai area of Japan. Kansai refers to Osaka City and all surrounding prefectures and cities. It's a wonderful place in so many ways. The people are boisterous, passionate, and full of character. The Japanese dialect spoken here is endemic to Kansai. It includes so many colorful terms, accents, and so on. Finally, the food in the Kansai area is AWESOME! I've lived in this area for the last 3 years and can say with conviction that I haven't eaten a single meal out that was less than delicious. (Whoops! Another tangent. Sorry!) On the other hand, it only took several hours in Tokyo before Atsuko and I dined at a Chinese restaurant which served the most awful gyoza (dumplings) I've yet eaten, anywhere.

I'll say one thing about Tokyo though - it was immaculate! In the few areas Atsuko and I visited, there were loads of beautiful parks, palaces and well planned streets with beautiful trees lining there sides. For an urban giant, Tokyo is a rather beautiful city

It's said that Tokyo is comprised of people from all over Japan. Of course there are a fair share of international foreigners as well, but even many of the Japanese residents there weren't born in Tokyo. This may have something to do with the city's lack of personality. Basically what I'm trying to say is that one visit to Tokyo was certainly enough to satiate my wanderlust in that direction!

All that being said, Atsuko and I enjoyed ourselves and had quite a pleasant experience at the American Embassy. It seems to have gone really well and we hope to have a Green Card within the next couple of months (possibly sometime in August). The staff there (mostly Japanese) was very kind and welcoming. We didn't see anyone being given a hard time as you often do at such places. When all was said and done, the two of us were in and out before we had time to even get anxious or impatient. Between the waiting and actual time spent talking with officials through a thick plastic window, this ordeal only took one hour. It was a very quick hour and surprisingly delightful.

行って来ました、東京のアメリカ大使館！今回はいわゆるステップ１で、ビルがアメリカで私を扶養する能力があるかどうかの審査が目的。書類・書類・書類の嵐で、早朝出発だというのに、真夜中まで書類の整理に明け暮れ・・・。不備があると、今回の面接がキャンセルさせる場合もあるとネットで知り、目くじらをたてながら、乗り切りました・・・。

Window Washers

We saw troops of these guys several stories up washing away. Just watching them dangling from there cable "lifelines" made me a bit uneasy. While getting dressed in our hotel room one of them suddenly appeared in the window. He just "dropped in" out of "nowhere"! It was really quite funny, like something straight out of a movie.

皇居の前のお堀で。東京に行ったにもかかわらず、ほとんど観光はせず。せっかく前まで来たのに中にも入らず、ひたすら歩きました。

途中地図で場所確認。結局ホテルのあった新橋から秋葉原まで歩きました。その距離約10ｋｍ！

Asakusadera (Asakusa Temple)

外国人観光客の定番、浅草寺へやってきました。ここでもお参りをするわけでもなく、前をスルー。

At Asakusa Temple

A Successful Interview at the American Embassy

★　緊張していどんだステップ１　★

あらかじめネットで２時か３時で予約ができ「もちろん早い時間でしょう！」と張り切って２時で予約して大使館まで来てみれば、２時枠に入れられていた人は軽く１０組。「まさか、全員が同時面接？！」と思いきや、すごく効率的な流れ作業で、銀行に来たみたいにまず生理番号が配られ、番号が呼ばれると、カウンター越しに優しい大使館員のおじさんと、用意した書類に不備がないか一緒に確認。でもさすがに大使館員。確認しながら笑顔で「これはどういうこと？」と重要な質問をさらりと聞いてきたり。私たちの場合、まず２００５年２月１４日に日本で籍を入れ、同年１０月８日にアメリカで結婚をしてるので、どちらで申請したらいいかも分からず、どっちでもＯＫなように、全てに2バージョンを用意していたもんだから、人より紙の量が半端じゃなかった。書類の確認が終わると、楽しい楽しい支払タイム：（

支払が終わると今度はアメリカ人のこれまた優しい女性の大使館員の人とカウンター越し（常に立ちっぱなし）に面接。始めにビルは右手を挙げて、これから言う言葉に偽りがないことを大使館員の前で誓う。結婚２年未満のカップルは、出会いを説明したり、二人の写真を見せたり、交換した手紙・メールなどを見せたりして、二人の関係の証明をするところ、私達は余裕で２年以上なので、このプロセスはパス。

ビルのお母さんの所得証明（☆）を見て「今のところ問題なし」とのお墨付きをもらい、あとはアメリカに書類を送って、ビルの身辺調査して（犯罪歴・裁判歴とか）、２週間後には今回のステップ１の結果が分かる模様。ここで、ビルの出番は終わり。お役御免。今度はステップ２：私の審査面接に向けて、必要書類（日本とベリーズの無犯罪証明書・アメリカ大使館指定の病院による健康診断書など）を収集します。それで、面接の予約をして・・・・です。アメリカ人と結婚するとすぐに永住権が無条件に手に入るわけではなく、ましてやアメリカ人になれるわけでもなく！長い長い気の遠くなる準備と労力が必要なのです！！！まぁ、ひとまずお疲れ様でした。

☆国際結婚にはよくあるケースやけど、実は、ビルは私の保証人にはなれず。私の保証人になるには、アメリカで勤続してる仕事・収入があるコトが条件で、日本でアイレでお世話になっていたビルにはアメリカでの仕事があるわけではないので、今回は扶養審査の請願者になるに留まり、保証人にはビルのお母さんになってもらいました。

Shibuya District's "Scramble Junction"

渋谷のスクランブル交差点

人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人・人

This is the outside of a restaurant which specializes in FUGU, or

Japanese Blow Fish/Puffer

A tank filled with the potentially deadly Fugu. I have not yet tried the fish, but it is said to be delicious. If not cut, cleaned, and prepared properly though, it can Kill you. Apparently Fugu claimed the lives of hundreds during WWII. Bombed into poverty, many Japanese took to the streets rummaging through restaurant garbage in search of edible scraps of "anything" to eat. Not being able to decipher a deadly piece of fish from a harmless one, some unlucky scavengers perished.

Tokyo Tower

One of Tokyo's main symbols

東京タワーが見れる芝公園。東京は都市と都市が比較的近いので、（私達の場合）なんでも歩きでＯＫ。大阪の地下鉄と違って、運賃もたいてい百円台と交通の便が非常に良い！でもタクシーの初乗りは￥710だった。高！！そして、東京タワーの真横にある紅葉公園で長時間一休みしすぎて、1時間前には大使館に到着して準備バッチリだったはずが、遅刻気味で小走りする羽目に・・・。

A big beautiful Ginko Tree in one of the many beautiful Tokyo parks

The hordes scramble at "Scramble Junction"

Only in Tokyo

The quintessential Japanese school girl and an admiring passerby

in the Akihabara District.

This area is notorious for it's Japanese Anime shops, Maid Cafes, sex shops, electronics, and the bizarre crowds that it attracts. Recently (only about a week ago) a 26 year old man went on a killing spree here. He drove into the bustling mecca wielding a knife he had purchased moments earlier. With that knife he stabbed and killed 7 innocent bystanders who happened to be wandering that street at the "wrong time". Others were injured.

Thank you

to everyone who showed concern for us regarding the American Visa situation