Update on yesterday

Emoxynha/deviantArt

Yesterday, I have written my report on how I was to get my passport on the 14th.  Well tada!  I went to the mailbox yesterday and there it was!  Woo hoo!  I got it!  Just had to amend my report.

Do a little dance/make a little love/get down tonight/get down tonight

Woo hoo!  I be a happy panda!

I have been checking on the passport website every day, ever since I tried to re-up my passport.  I go to the +Coffee Bean shop, gaze at all the lovelies working there, get a coffee and check my mail.  This is in:

Thank you for submitting your application for a U.S. passport book!
Your passport application is in the final processing stages.
Your passport application locator number is 6xxxxxxxxx5.
When you applied, you requested Routine Service.
This means you should receive your passport on or about 04/15/2014.

This means I shall get my passport in a few days!  Oh happy days!  Here I was thinking that it would be an uphill battle getting my new passport, but I will be getting it just four weeks from giving them my information.  It is such a nice day out too.

Whew.  All of this is getting real.  I am starting to keep a book of all the stuff I am to do and I have been writing in it every day, going over what I need to do and the people I need to check on.

1. Global Entry Program.  It is not totally needed but something I am interested in.  I will be getting that.
2. My Japan Rail Pass.  Too many programs!  I am still doing research on it.
3. Gotta start looking for flights to Japan.
4. I have gotta lock down a place that I am staying.  The apartment section of Gaijin Pot or Sakura House will do for now, most likely in the Shinjuku area for a month or two until I can get a job...
5. ... a job.  That is my goal.  Get a job teaching English or something.  I have been searching though Gaijin Pot's jobs section for some help.
6. I want to email +Jim Mullins for some advice and help.  I am composing it now.
7. I am looking at Earth Mail to take care of my mail needs here in the States.  I have been looking at it and it is a bit on the expensive side.
8. Visa for Japan.  Hmm, that is a tricky one.  I have got 90 days to begin with to look for a job.  It goes back to #5.  It will be easier to find the job in Japan as most of the jobs I have found on Gaijin Pot state that must reside in Japan caveat.
9. Medication.  Hmm, that is going to be a tricky.  Better take my medical notes with me when I go.  That reminds me I have to get a checkup before I go.
10. International Driving Permit.  My brother says I dont need it, but I think I will get it anyway.

Woo.  That is about all I can think of at the moment.  Some of it has been on this list for a while I know, but it was all up in the air until now.  Now is the time to really buckle down and really plan my trip!  +Rynyn I want you to come...

Trip to Japan: Insomnia and Passports

I woke up after 4am today to use the bathroom and when I was trying to get to sleep, this whole trip hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was thinking about everything: my trip to Japan and getting there, my passport for Taiwan, my passport for America, getting my stuff to Japan, what stuff to take, what will happen to my stuff that I have to leave being, my worries on finding a job and what happens if I don't, where am I going to live for the two months before my trip as my brother and his family is leaving the country... argh, everything.  Everything kept me up.  I was up until 7am when I finally fell back asleep do to exhaustion.

After I sent an email to the consulate in Washington DC, I was told to call this morning.  A very rude man told me to call the consulate in Los Angeles where I ended up talking to a very nice woman.  Well, as it turns out because I was born before 1980 and my father was not a Taiwanese citizen at the time, I cannot gain dual citizenship.  Bollocks.  I find that strange because I had my Taiwanese birth certificate on me.  I am thinking about going to the consulate in LA to talk to them directly just to make sure.

To Whom It May Concern
Hello
My name is James Forest and I have a question about dual citizenship that I hope you will be able to answer. I was born in Taiwan in 1969, in Koahsiung. My mother and her family was Taiwanese and my father was an American serviceman who was doing several terms in Vietnam. Being born there, am I eligible to gain citizenship in Taiwan? Below is a copy of my birth certificate. I am looking forward to hearing from you.


Mr. Forest,
Thank you for your email.
Please call us tomorrow east time from 9:00am to 5:00pm for your case.
Best,
Consular Division
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative
Office in the United States
4201 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington DC 20016
[A bunch of phone numbers]

A copy of the email I sent and what I got back. Just thought I would put it up here for all to see.  Here is hoping that there is no problem with getting my US passport!

Pack for a Purpose

Ever since I have moved in with my brother up here in the Pismo Beach area, I have been listening to National Public Radio a lot.  Today on NPR they did a piece on Pack for a Purpose, and I thought that this was a great idea.  Now this site doesnt have much for me about going to Japan but that is to start.  I plan on travelling to many more and other countries and Pack for a Purpose is a great idea.  Read it and you will see.

The Next Step

Okie.  Passport is out of my hands and in the governments.  The next step in my going to Japan is checking on my visas for entry.  Now checking the websites for the Embassy of Japan we find out that I don't need an entry visa if my stay is for 90-days or less with the purposes of business or tourism.  One of the plans was just going to Japan for the 90-days, playing tourist and finding a job during that time.  The problem is if I do not find a job.  Then I will probably go to Taiwan for the time using their visa exempt as listed in their Embassy of Taiwan.  That is if I don't get dual citizenship for Taiwan and The States, for if I do, then I won't have too.

The thing is I will want to stay for at least a year or two.  If for a year or two I will need to get a work visa, probably in the teaching.  I will need to get my passport and once I have it I will need to get an instructor work visa.  Now their are a variety of jobs that will help a potential worker get a visa.  The more and more that I look at it and think about it, it seems that playing it by ear is the way to go.

So, does anyone have any advice?  Do let me know.  I would be interested in hearing from you.


 

Passport to Travel

Well, I have done it.  I have sent in my passport application, old passport, birth certificate and picture.  Now it is now up to the government to get it done.  It was kind of weird, because I went to the post office in SLO, where I am at and they werent really interested in my Taiwanese birth certificate.  Hmm, but the only thing that they said I might need is my Birth Aboard paperwork.  I dont remember any Birth Abroad paperwork when I did my passport last time.  But they did say that my old passport might be enough.  I hope so but with the heightened security my hopes go along the way of getting the paperwork.

I am planning on going to Taiwan too sometime next year.  That is something I will have to do with my brother since he has kept up with the family out there better than I.

What am I doing!?

My oh my, it has been a while since I have listed anything.  Well, here is a list if what I am doing.

1. Well, I have re-read the thing for dual-citizenship and I may still be able to do it.  Fingers crossed.
2. I have been searching Gaijin Pot and Jobs in Japan for possible employment.  Most of the jobs I found that I could take require that I would have to be in country to apply for.  Another thing that will make it tougher is the fact that I don't have a 4-year degree and all of the teaching jobs that I have found that don't require it, require that I live in country.  That is going to make things a bit harder to gain my visa though.  It is a headache!  I am a citizen of the world!  hehe
3. I should be starting my churn soon.
4. I am looking at possible business applications for this website at the behest of my brother.
5. I am slowly giving away all my extra stuff that I am not taking as my life of a vagabond.  Must do it faster!
6. Still looking at Sakura House for possible places to live.  They have got a lot of rooms but they are getting filled up by people!  I have also looked at AirBnB and I have been checking the Gaijin Pot for places to live.
7. Look at Japanese Apps for travel in Japan.  Check out The Japan Guy for more info.
8. I have got to study my Japanese!  I am not where I should be on that!
9. I have to get my TESOLS certification completed!
10. I will have to get my Facebook and Twitter redone, seeing as how I am totally locked out of my old accounts.  :-(
11. I have got to send in my application for a new passport!

That is all that I can think of for now.  Wish me luck!  If you know somethings that I am missing on my checklist or know of some shortcut, do let me know!