The lady with the bindi.
Dec. 25th, 2008 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
parasitegirlReports from city hall.
Last week Tuesday afternoon a call came up to our desk from the first floor. The first floor is where thing get registered (babies, deaths, new locations, permits, tax changes, pensions) and such...land of red tape. It's the floor where all the walk-in traffic is. The second floor has fewer visitors. My wing is just where they keep everyone working on education stuff...we get a parent or two, some teachers, and yesterday...for reasons I am not clear on, a hour or so of a very special needs 17 year old boy being walked back and forth, laughing and whooping it up.
The first floor had a foreigner who didn't speak any Japanese. I'm not sure which department she was at, but that department figured that somewhere in the bowels of education support there must be an English speaker. Apparently they didn't know that there is a foreigner (me) every every day. As far as I can tell I am the only white gaijin. I suspect that is why I am also the only worker without an official badge. Everyone who works security knows who I am. The security workers have expressed to my bosses that they feel sorry for me, having to come here everyday and being so awesomely out of place. The first floor workers sometimes get walk-in gaijin, which is why they had never pegged me as actually working there.
My co-workers explained on the phone that they don't speak English, but they know someone who does, and escorted me downstairs.
The woman who needed help smiled. I wanted to ask her where she scored her lovely bindi, but refrained. She explained that she was an elementary school teacher, and wrote children's English textbooks back in Nepal. And I translated, having no idea what the issue was.
The issue: Her husband moved here and is a cook. She has a visa that allows her to take a part time job (up to 25 hours a week) while here...but has no clue how to get a job here...so she came to city hall. Our city hall, unlike the one one city away, has no English/other language support or structure for helping confused foreign residents. The next door city, my city, has a help center, help line with English speakers once a week, web page, legal help volunteers and more. If I move I am moving a little closer to Tokyo...but not to my city of work. Besides, if I live anywhere in this city...every Elementary school child near me will be one of my students.
The woman for Nepal is terribly lonely, moved here last month and speaks of living alone in one room. She doesn't want volunteer work, because she's got two teenaged children back in Nepal and money, ya know, would be nice.
I didn't know what to tell her. I got her email address so I could send her information about gaijinpot (online job hunting service) and other support services. She got my phone number, because I didn't know how not to give it. She seemed nice, but not the sort of person I was really hitting it off with. I am uncomfortable socializing for pity sake. I'm also an email person, not a phone person, for the most part....We found a phone number for her for an English speaking Chiba-based, foreigner help line. The city hall people also found information for job hunting places, but they were all Japanese for Japanese ones. Even when she finds English support, she'll meet with resistance finding English speaking jobs, because there is still a preference for white Americans and other white "westerners".
I gave her what info and words of comfort I could and she started crying because she's been starved for any kindness. I told her not to worry, that I cried in public often and with great abandon my first year in Japan and understood.
She's called me twice, including today to wish me a Merry Christmas. She sounded very sorry that I am alone right now but I assured her that once healthy again I would be up and about.
Last week Tuesday afternoon a call came up to our desk from the first floor. The first floor is where thing get registered (babies, deaths, new locations, permits, tax changes, pensions) and such...land of red tape. It's the floor where all the walk-in traffic is. The second floor has fewer visitors. My wing is just where they keep everyone working on education stuff...we get a parent or two, some teachers, and yesterday...for reasons I am not clear on, a hour or so of a very special needs 17 year old boy being walked back and forth, laughing and whooping it up.
The first floor had a foreigner who didn't speak any Japanese. I'm not sure which department she was at, but that department figured that somewhere in the bowels of education support there must be an English speaker. Apparently they didn't know that there is a foreigner (me) every every day. As far as I can tell I am the only white gaijin. I suspect that is why I am also the only worker without an official badge. Everyone who works security knows who I am. The security workers have expressed to my bosses that they feel sorry for me, having to come here everyday and being so awesomely out of place. The first floor workers sometimes get walk-in gaijin, which is why they had never pegged me as actually working there.
My co-workers explained on the phone that they don't speak English, but they know someone who does, and escorted me downstairs.
The woman who needed help smiled. I wanted to ask her where she scored her lovely bindi, but refrained. She explained that she was an elementary school teacher, and wrote children's English textbooks back in Nepal. And I translated, having no idea what the issue was.
The issue: Her husband moved here and is a cook. She has a visa that allows her to take a part time job (up to 25 hours a week) while here...but has no clue how to get a job here...so she came to city hall. Our city hall, unlike the one one city away, has no English/other language support or structure for helping confused foreign residents. The next door city, my city, has a help center, help line with English speakers once a week, web page, legal help volunteers and more. If I move I am moving a little closer to Tokyo...but not to my city of work. Besides, if I live anywhere in this city...every Elementary school child near me will be one of my students.
The woman for Nepal is terribly lonely, moved here last month and speaks of living alone in one room. She doesn't want volunteer work, because she's got two teenaged children back in Nepal and money, ya know, would be nice.
I didn't know what to tell her. I got her email address so I could send her information about gaijinpot (online job hunting service) and other support services. She got my phone number, because I didn't know how not to give it. She seemed nice, but not the sort of person I was really hitting it off with. I am uncomfortable socializing for pity sake. I'm also an email person, not a phone person, for the most part....We found a phone number for her for an English speaking Chiba-based, foreigner help line. The city hall people also found information for job hunting places, but they were all Japanese for Japanese ones. Even when she finds English support, she'll meet with resistance finding English speaking jobs, because there is still a preference for white Americans and other white "westerners".
I gave her what info and words of comfort I could and she started crying because she's been starved for any kindness. I told her not to worry, that I cried in public often and with great abandon my first year in Japan and understood.
She's called me twice, including today to wish me a Merry Christmas. She sounded very sorry that I am alone right now but I assured her that once healthy again I would be up and about.
