i was soooo nervous at the japanese consulate but all went well. i just looked like some illiterate half-japanese/american fool..because i am. i brought dictionaries with me as my mom suggested. i had to look up all the kanji i didn't know. even if i kinda knew what the form was asking, i made sure to look it up because i didn't want to fill out the paperwork incorrectly. after about 1 hour of this, one of the workers came out and asked if i had any questions. i was almost done with the form. i was answering the last few questions that all had to do pretty much with being evacuated from a country, breaking laws, etc. none of which applied to me but i wanted to be sure. the worker was really nice. i told him that there was a few kanji i didn't know and i was looking them because my mom told me that i musn't forget to bring a dictionary with me. we were all kind of laughing and he read me the questions i didn't understand and translated them for me. then he said if there's any questions to please go up to the window and ask. i said thank you. i swear that form would take a regular japanese about 10-15 minutes to fill out, tops. if there weren't sample forms already filled out, i would've taken much longer i'm sure. in a way, it was embarrassing but i've never had to fill out such adult forms by myself. i only have about 5 months of public japanese school education. i pretty much learned what i know on my own through my mom's unwelcomed force, alterna-schooling, and the tv. at best, i learned up to what a third grader knows, which explains why i'm illiterate in japan. the last time i was in japan, my friend's boyfriend said there was a word for someone like me but i can't remember what it was. it's for someone who can't read kanji. hell, maybe it just means "illiterate".

anyway, i was really nervous and took everything way too seriously but in the end everything worked out great. the lady at the window who handled my paperwork asked me questions for places i mis-answered or skipped. again i felt a bit silly i suppose but was really glad everyone was so nice and helpful. i'm really shocked that my passport will be ready for pickup on friday. when i was a kid, things didn't move so quickly! i remember once my mom had to really do some magic moves to get her passport in 1 week.

the japanese consulate in san francisco is tiny. or it felt so because they've broken it up into several offices and the office i was in was quite small. for most of the time, twiddle thumbs and i were the only ones in there besides the security guard. a few people walked in and took care of their business very quickly.

i am extremely conscious of how poor my japanese skills have become but i was noticing just how casual i speak and how proper the workers were. or perhaps how incorrect my speaking was in such a formal situation. that's always been my problem though, okinawans are so laid back and casual. i remember in junior high when i went to tokyo with a friend who was actually from tokyo. at one store, the workers were laughing and my friend explained that they thought my japanese was funny. it's because i'm sure i was fucking up some things but also because they've probably never heard okinawan dialect and there's just some words that i don't know if it's japanese or dialect and i use them freely. i was just speaking how everyone i knew spoke and they thought it was hilarious. i'm not a good representative for okinawa because i can't even fake formal japanese.

after finishing up that business, we had some food next door at baja fresh. if i've learned anything, it's not to eat while wearing body piercing retainers! i was only wearing the lip one but this time i was having problems with it. i bit on it once. then it came out completely and i rushed to the bathroom to put it back in. i didn't bring my jewelry with me so i held onto the retainer from the outside of my face as i chewed so that it wouldn't slip out again. i'm sure that i looked silly but no one knew what i was doing. the moral of the story: don't eat while wearing a body piercing retainer!

on the drive back down, we stopped at a couple places for some shopping. i still need a few more clothes that fit so i don't look so sloppy. also something nice, not so casual. santa cruz casualness has gotten the better of me and i always look like a slob; especially after losing so much weight, nothing looks right anymore.

when i got home, i put back in my lip piercing jewelry. putting the ring part in was no problem, but putting the bead back in was a huge problem. skill wise, that was one of the hardest things i have ever done. i just used my hands, no tools, and i couldn't see in the mirror what i was doing because the bead is so small compared to my big hands. just when i was going to give up, i was able to get the bead in. in fact, i was shocked that it finally went in. i'd seriously have to consider ever wearing a retainer again. it's just so much trouble to put back in the jewelry myself.

we got a really late start today and i was upset that we left so late and weren't able to take care of all the things we had planned to in san francisco, but since i have to go back on friday, we can finish up then.

parking cost me $20! and i didn't even reach the parking maximum cost.