Somebody turned the humidity up to eleven today, plus it's raining. I've my laundry drying in my shower room (which actually can blow air into it to dry things) - but slowly - and my dehumidifier on in an attempt not to be soggy all day.

You said it, recycling-shop t-shirt.

I had to go out earlier to do a few errands - the paperwork for leaving Japan is seemingly endless, what with pension refunds and tax withheld, but I managed to pay a bill, send off some forms, and then - in my pride - I tackled going to the ward office to ask for a new pension booklet, as I seem to have misplaced mine. The guy helping me didn't seem to understand that I didn't understand Japanese, was extremely unhelpful, and was staring at my chest the entire time. Add to that his incredibly foul breath, and I left the ward office five minutes after I came in, extremely put out. I am still on square one, as the guy did not even TRY to communicate to me, so I have no idea what to do next. I'll be phoning the international centre to see what advice they have to give.

My mood was mollified by the fact that afterward, I went to pick up my dry cleaning from the little old lady who does it, and she gave me a cob of sweet corn to munch on, so... yes. Now to plot my next steps.

I'm leaving Japan on July 15, and so I'm in what seems like an eternal process of wrapping things up and getting through red tape - made more difficult by the fact that my Japanese is still quite infantile. Ah well.