I call it "the bus to hell," and it is perpetually filled with nervous foreigners who are trying not to get kicked out of Japan, for one reason or another.
From the inside, the bus's windows are littered with advertisements for attorneys who specialize in immigration procedure, and who charge hefty consultation fees.
It is the only mode of public transportation that stops at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau.
Be it in the middle of the city, the bureau is in a rather inconvenient location. Since it's not located near any of the city's numerous train station, one must take a special bus from Shinagawa station in order to reach the immigration bureau.
This is to make everything more difficult. Making life difficult is what Japanese Immigration authorities like best.
So I rode the bus to hell this morning, in order to hand in my application for a visa extension. Never has the serenity prayer been said so many times by me on a single bus ride, and never have my simple repetitions (punctuated by the occasional "thy will be done" or "please let that nice Filipina woman who speaks 5 languages be at the reception counter instead of that stiff, constantly suspicious Japanese man") been of more use to me.
Seriously, I got off the bus feeling as if the serenity prayer was created for the explicit purpose of dealing with Japanese Immigration procedures. What did I ever do without it? Oh yeah, I drank. A lot.
Today my application for the extension of my period of stay in Japan was submitted to the proper authorities without any of the glitches I was worried about. So now there is only waiting. It is out of my hands entirely whether my application will be accepted or not. I will continue to pray for the serenity to accept this much.
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