Well, after such a great weekend i guess something had to go wrong.
Last week i finally received Japanese health insurance. Because of my visa, and various other things i couldn’t get it until then (couldn’t get private because they won’t cover existing conditions, ie asthma). So my visa got extended, i picked it up, took off work the next day and went to get health insurance.
No problem, filled in the forms, told me it was all fine, gave me the stuff (including the card to take to the doctors when you go) and thought YAY. I was so happy…..it was the start of a great weekend. That was Friday. As you can see from my previous post the rest of my weekend was fab…
Tuesday morning, a phonecall came about 10am, woke us both up (bit of a problem first up since Shumpei actually starts work at 10 and we hadnt’t even woken up yet) and it was the town hall saying they had made a mistake and they shouldn’t have given me health insurance.
dude on phone: Hello, this is so and so from the town hall. I am very sorry but we made a mistake and you can not receive Japanese health insurance.
me (groggily): what?
dude on phone: repeated his lines
me: What? You can’t take away my health insurance, you approved it last week, gave me all the stuff and now your saying i am no longer covered? I asked you on the day if that was all, and you said no problems
dude on phone: again i am very sorry, but your visa is not the right one to get health insurance
me: yeah, so that is why i extended it for you?
dude on phone: well yes but i am sorry
I handed the phone to shumpei and said “some crazy dude saying they are taking away my health insurance”
shumpei: hello, yes….yes…yes….ok….yes….i understand
And then he hung up.
I was like “why the hell didn’t you say anything? They can’t take away my health insurance”
and shumpei tried to explain that they had taken it away because of my visa etc…he didn’t exactly understand why either.
I was so pissed off, just because well, i can’t beleive they gave it to me and then decided i couldn’t have it anymore. I didn’t know you could just take away something like that? So i was a mess, cos well i am always getting sick or hurt and basically i need health insurance. I spent most of the day just been pissed off with the whole thing…..poor shumpei was 3 hours late for work and didn’t get home til after midnight that night. Apparently unless i get a new visa, or a letter from a company stating i will be working for them for at least a year then i can’t get health insurance……wish they had told me this before. I know other people have gotten it too by extending their visas…..Such a mess!
Follow on to Wednesday. Actually yesterday was a good day, i had work, got a lot done, had lunch with work mates (even if one of the waitresses was a zombie the food was still good) and then last night was the monthly Girls Night Out in Roppongi for Being A Broad which is where i work. We had organized for a guy to come and read palms and do numerology readings, which was a lot of fun. The night ended late and i was last there, and i was worried about catching my last train (which was going to be in 15 minutes) and i said good bye to the palm reader, everyone else had left earlier and i had helped him pack up. I walked outside Paddy Foleys Bar (where the event is) turned right towards my station. In Roppongi, especially late at night there are a lot of guys, mainly black men, trying to get you to come into their bars and clubs and if your a foreign woman by your self they tend to come up to you and ask all these questions, try to get you to come into their bar and i try my best to ignore them. Cos it is really the only time i feel kind of unsafe walking around in Japan is at night, alone in Roppongi. But i was trying to walk fast, to catch my last train, while taking this guys card so he’d leave me alone and i walked onto a side street.
And BANG a TAXI HIT ME It was my own fault for not paying attention and rushing, but i was so shocked. He clipped the left side of my body, so my left knee and left hand are a bit banged up, but thankfully nothing broken (well i don’t think so……can’t go to the stupid doctor without health insurance cos it would be too expensive). I was in shock, the black guy wanted me to still come in his club so he could “help me” and i just wanted to get out of there. So i walked away and said i was fine. 20 metres down the road i was ringing shumpei in a panic, and i couldn’t tell him what was wrong cos i was in shock and didn’t know how to say i was hit by a car.
I got home safely, (just made my train) today my leg is quite sore, and my muscles ache but i am actually ok. It could of been a lot worse….so im lucky really.
So so far this week hasn’t gotten off to a great start…thankfully tomorrow is Friday and then it is the weekend…
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
oh NO!! are you okay? sorry to hear about the health insurance.. but the accident, you should have reported it to the police! i just learned it in driving lesson classes, but you HAVE to file reports to the police on the accidents, and the driver must pay for all the medical costs, even if the pain or disorder shows up a year later.
take good care of yourself, I’m worried!
omg lulu. hope you’re ok! keep posting so we know nothing’s wrong. roppongi can be well dodgy at night – perhaps you should walk to the station with someone from now on?
hm, the health insurance thing sux, too. i haven’t got any either and have to pay over $100- just to walk in the door to see a doctor.
take care of yourself.
hmmm, some racial overtones there. Why could they have not just some guys, bugging you. They had to be singled out as BLACK guys, as if that made a difference once saying ok, but twice…makes you think.
NOt saying you are a racist, just think about it…
I didn`t mean any offence. Are you female, foreign and living in Japan?? Most of the black guys that i know in Japan are lovely, but it is quite well known that if you are alone in Roppongi then the men that own clubs/bars will come up to you and try to get you to come inside. I am sure they are harmless but when you are by yourself it can be intimdating…I always never want to be rude too, but others have said just walk past really fast and completly ignore them.
Again, i did not mean to offend you!
Yuki-
Thankyou, I was in a bit of shock on the night, and just wanted to get straight home and out of Roppongi, so i didn`t report it or anything. Although it technically is my own fault.
GG-
Yeah i try never to walk through Roppongi by myself at night, but couldn`t get out of it this time. I am ok, just a little bruised. It really was the shock more than anything that got to me… Thanks for concern!