Saifu

On Saturday, I went to Ultimate practice. It was great. I haven't felt that strong and ready to play in a long time. It was hot, but it felt good. From there, I cleaned up in a restroom and then went on to Nara City, about another hour north. Saturday night was a pub quiz at the Wembley Crown pub, and I arrived a couple hours early. I had sushi at the kaitenzushiya -- the conveyor belt thing (but I ordered all my fish straight from the chef). They have one of my favorites, kobiko (flying fish roe), which is rare around here, as it comes from Hokkaido. After the fish, I shopped awhile and bought a shirt that says "SHIKA" in a parody of the Puma logo, and got some manga/anime presents for the exchange student at the school where I work. I went to a bookstore near the station that has English books and bought myself a copy of Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan stories and a present for a friend.

I left the bookstore and walked toward the station again. We're talking maybe 40 yards or so. I was headed to the ATM since I had spent most of my cash and needed some for the pub. And I noticed... my wallet was missing.

I emptied the bags I was carrying. I searched the ground around the bookstore and all along my (very short) path. I went into the bookstore and asked the counter clerks. I asked people in the shops around the area, even at the convenience store. Nothing.

So within 15 minutes of noticing the loss, I went to the very close Koban, or police box, and filed a report. That was an exercise in cross-cultural communication, for sure. Then I went back out and looked some more. Paddy and Cecilia showed up and helped me look, and then we went on to the pub, where they bought me a drink.

90% of wallets lost in Japan are returned, and usually with contents intact. It's insane. I was hoping against hope that this would happen for me. I'd left my number with the police and with the bookstore.

I didn't go home Saturday night, as Sunday I was teaching people to juggle at the International Arts Festival that we put on here in the prefecture. It was a great day, though pouring down rain most of the time. I also met with Mr. F. and we practiced English at the "Laugh Laugh" izakaya (and drank a lot of beer -- his treat).

On Monday, I still hadn't heard anything, so I knew I had to take action, since some important things were missing. First and foremost, I needed to replace my alien registration card. I went and got some passport pictures taken and then went to get the new card ordered. I will supposedly get this in about a month (!). Then I went to the bank to cancel my cash card and order a new one. Later that night, I emailed my bank in the States and reported my ATM/VisaCheck card stolen. They cancelled it quickly and issued a new card, to be sent to my mother. I think called my credit card and notified them about the loss (and at this point, I was thinking possible theft) of the card. Again, they'll send it to my mom.

I went to work on Tuesday, and around 10:15 AM, someone called the school -- my wallet had been found! So we called the guy who found it, who owns a tonkatsu (breaded, fried pork cutlet) shop in Nara City. After my last class of the day, I got on the train and headed back to Nara (2 hours one way, about 1500 yen round trip). I found the shop, got my wallet, and went to the police box to report that the problem was solved.

In my wallet -- all my cards. My gaijin card (alien registration). 1000 yen. It's amazing. Unfortunately... all the cards are useless now. I have to take the gaijin card to the town office and give it to them, as it's no longer any good. So probably 4000 yen in phone calls, trains, and passport pictures later...

I'm grateful to have the peace of mind of knowing that no one robbed me or destroyed my property. But what an annoying thing to happen during an otherwise excellent weekend.