A day full of efficiency, surprises and freedom

I had two exciting experiences today. Firstly, I had to go to the Japanese citizens' office against my will and then I went jogging for the first time in Japan, in Ohori Park, which is a very popular jogging spot in Fukuoka.

At the citizens' office in Japan

I went to the local citizens' office today, as every foreigner who has a working holiday visa is required to register within 14 days. And I'll be honest, I was dreading it. I like to rethink things for the first time, as anyone who has read my articles or knows me knows. And then something with bureaucracy? I don't have much self-confidence, I'll be honest. Because of my language barrier - which is particularly big in a bureaucratic environment - I had a lot more respect for today, but my 14 days expire on Friday 14 February and I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid it anyway.

So I prepared myself as best I could, printed out my papers at the local 7-Eleven (a small shop selling everyday items) in an exemplary fashion, which could help me, and waddled to the citizens' office after the language school. Of course, I only realised that I had forgotten my passport when I was applying for it.

Once I got there, I spent another five minutes on my mobile phone to prepare a few helpful questions in Japanese that I could then present if I didn't understand or needed answers.

And then I went to the entrance, the automatic doors opened in retro style and I entered the building.

Efficient administration - what Japan can do better than Germany

Once inside, I was greeted by a large hall with hundreds of people all standing in their chairs or in a queue in an orderly fashion. I quickly joined the queue for the reception and went through all the screenshots of my questions again. I definitely hadn't prepared enough questions, even though there were over 10. When I got there, I went up to a friendly-looking man who spoke to me in Japanese. I explained in skilful and rehearsed Japanese that I was just learning Japanese and only understood a little. The next few moments were crucial. He nodded politely and explained everything I needed to do in a flawless Japanese accent. And without having to ask him, he filled in all the lines for me on a huge form. He always asked for my details and we made steady progress.

The form was filled out and I had to go to the next station, he also noted my concerns and extra requests on the form so that the person processing the application at the next station could probably solve everything without asking. I took a number from a machine, sat down and waited.

And we know this moment in Germany too, you have a number and you wait. But here it didn't take long at all, it was quick and I was on after 10 minutes. You have to imagine that - a huge hall with a good 300 people and it was my turn after 10 minutes. In Germany, if you're lucky, it's your turn after 10 minutes in a waiting room with 7 people.

At this station I handed in all my documents and sat down opposite the official. Unfortunately, she only spoke Japanese, but quickly brought a woman over to translate for me and her. And in this building, this woman was my angel, really. She was so nice, took care of my questions and needs, it felt like a relative was sitting by my side and sorting everything out for me. She occasionally asked me questions and explained everything to the officer. I don't know if I was lucky or if it's always like that, but this nice woman walked with me from ward to ward, clarified everything for me and accompanied me for a total of 90 minutes. Without her, I would probably still be in the building without having achieved my goals, because the language barrier was really big. But thanks to her and the efficiency of this Japanese citizens' office, the whole visit was stressful, but nothing more.

At the end, I thanked all the staff who helped me and of course the lovely lady who helped me so much. I'm thinking about going back tomorrow and giving her a present. Thanks to her, I save about €100 a month. As we said goodbye, she told me that I had looked so worried, that everything would be fine and that if I had to do the whole thing again in Osaka, it would be much easier and I would be able to do it.

What an angel.

Freedom and reward - jogging in Ohori Park

I rode the rest of the day on the high of having today's challenge behind me and had a lot of energy to get rid of. Despite all the help, lunchtime was pretty stressful and I arrived home sweating profusely. I needed to de-stress. And then I thought about my jogging shoes, which were neatly lined up but still unused in the wardrobe. So instead of my daily walk, I thought of a route I could jog along, which is not so easy in Japan. Although jogging is a popular sport in Japan, simply jogging on the street or pavement is not the order of the day in Japan.

The mantra in Japan is: don't disturb the general public and don't put yourself in the foreground.

So I decided to go to Ohori Park, the picture of which can be seen at the top of the article. The special thing about this park is that it has an artificial lake and an island in the centre. A cycle, jogging and walking path has been built around it. The walking path even has markings every 100 metres and covers exactly two kilometres in one circuit.

I took the next bus and realised three quarters of the way round that I was on a different bus to the one I had planned and that it had made a turn here. I got off and still had a good kilometre to go to the park. However, as it was quiet and almost deserted here, I warmed up a bit and jogged a little. As it was raining lightly in the afternoon, there weren't many people out and about.

And then, out of nowhere, my first encounter with Shintoism

On the way, I saw a cat for the first time, a cat sitting behind a tree. I stopped and marvelled at the beauty of this cat. Slightly orange, slightly greyish and looking very intelligent. When I crouched down two metres away and ‘Pspsps’ and held out my hand, she just looked at me and didn't quite know what was happening. I wonder if Japanese people don't do that? In Germany, cats have one of two reactions to something like that: Either they come to you slowly, or they leave the situation. This cat, however, was sitting there, just as peacefully as before, but not inviting me to come closer. She sat there and looked at me, obviously wondering what the strange-looking human was doing there and what he wanted from me. I gained respect for this cat and also a certain awe.

For some reason, I thought of the Shinto religion, which is the most widespread religion in Japan alongside Buddhism (Buddhism = 46.3% of all Japanese people, Shintoism 48.5% of all Japanese people). This is because this religion believes in the so-called 8 million gods, not just one. The eight million metaphorically represent an infinite number of gods. And there is no god who rules over everything and sees everything. Instead, the gods, called kami, can be found in the form of people, animals, objects or abstract beings.

So the Japanese see a god in everyday things, not the one god, but a god who is to be treated with reverence and respect. At Japanese airports, for example, you see employees bowing to the aircraft on departure to show it respect, because a kami could also reside there. And today, on the way to the park, I saw this cat and I had a lot of respect for it. I sat there for another 20 seconds and we watched each other, but I didn't want to scare it away from its spot, which it had probably chosen carefully. I stood up, walked a few metres and turned around. She looked after me for a while.

And then I jogged freely and calmly for 20 minutes in the park, completing 4 kilometres - two laps - in that time, which was okay considering I hadn't been jogging for a while.

Satisfied and physically exhausted, I decided to run home, even though it was raining. I wore my rain jacket and enjoyed the evening as it fell.

A day full of efficiency, a surprise and freedom

I was really impressed by the efficient process at the citizens' office, as a German I can only marvel at it. Of course, seeing the cat was only one minute of my whole day, but somehow this moment touched me today. I think it's good for me to discover this country with an open mind. In general, I like to be open and always remain curious and this attitude is particularly rewarding right now. Jogging afterwards, a dream. If you like jogging and are visiting Fukuoka, you should definitely stop by here. There were many joggers on this track, it was kind of nice to see how we all gathered here in the rain, just to jog and enjoy life.

Speaking of enjoying life. I was in an English pub the day before yesterday, where I had a beer or two and spoke to a woman for the first time. You can read more about it in yesterday's article here.