Blessed New Week!
Last Friday was an interesting day as I was off work but did an interview to try and get work and also registered for unemployment. I also did some recording for a song I didn’t have the time to record. But in the the middle of the day, my wife and I spontaneously went for some Italian food. Come along as I dashOut some life happenings and some foodporn.
I woke up on Friday morning to an unexpected snow storm. The weatherman was way off and gave us no heads up. My twins were supposed to go to the mountains for a school trip to play in the snow but that was canceled as the mountains got some heavy snowfall. Luckily, they will go this Thursday.
As it was snowing heavily ( well, for this part of Japan) I made a quick round to the near by convenience store to grab some coffee and check the roads out to see if it was safe to drive without snow tires as my wife nor I had any on our cars. The roads were good 👍 to drive as many were heading to work and paved the way that helped melt the snow ❄️.
While my wife and the kids made their way to the nursery school, I got ready for the only in person interview I have done since being informed that I was getting laid off. The only other interview I have done was for Kraken ( the crypto exchange ) and that was an interesting one as I had to learn how to sign a bitcoin transaction for the pre-screening. That job was way above my experience but I gave it a shot as it was remote and involved crypto.
The job was for a trading professional customer service rep and I am no pro trader 😂. But doing that interview gave me a glimpse into some of the jobs in the crypto field and what they are looking for. While doing the interview I learnt about some of the perks of the job such as: free MacBook Pro and home office aesthetics bonus after three months. There are plenty of jobs in the crypto space, take a look at the job listings for Kraken here.
The Interview
The interview I did on Friday was for basically the same kind of job I am doing now, teaching English as a second language in public schools. The only difference, less pay but a little closer to home. The truth is I don’t even have a proper suit as I actually hate them with a passion. What I do have are some cool sports jackets, sleek dress shirts and sweaters. That would have to do the trick.
I arrived at the interview location at the city office 45 minutes early as I wasn’t taking any chances with the snow. I walked around a bit in the familiar surroundings and then went into the city office 15 minutes early. As soon as I entered I was rushed in and jumped straight into the interview.
The interview went well but the truth is you never know with Japanese. It also felt like déjà-vu as I know this job too is nothing secure ( but then what job is these days) and the people interviewing me had the vibe of my former “bosses”.. But the job was brought to my attention by a co-worker and I decided to give it a crack.
Hello Work
Hello work is a nice name for the unemployment agency in Japan. In all my 14 years living here, I have never had to visit this place until now. Right after the interview I headed towards the location in my town. To my surprise it wasn't very busy. When I asked the staff why, they said it was probably because of the snow storm in the morning and usually it was a full house. I always seem to have luck like that. I have heard that the staff at Hello Work aren't very friendly but they mostly were to me. But of course their is always that guy...that most insignificant link in the chain of things, he was the guy that greeted you at a certain section to line up, to be directed to the next available staff...but there was no line and this dude was still being a dick: "Hey hey, take your temperature and sanitize your hands...what do you want here today?". In that Japanese voice of annoyance.
What I really came for was to register that I would be out of a job soon so I could get a document to give to the city office so my kids could stay in school. They check quite often to see if both parents/ parent are working and if they aren't, the kids in nursery school or after school daycare should stay home with that parent...unless they are looking for work. What a way to encourage the low birthrate right?
The Spontaneous Lunch
After a little confusion at Hello Work, I got a piece of the puzzle that would "allow" my kids to stay in school but there was one more step to the process that needed to be done at the City Hall they claimed. But the truth is, the staff there aren't exactly sure what they are doing as it could have been done right at the Hello work branch then, by them signing a document. Typical city office workers, I don't blame them, but the system and its loops.
Then, I called up my wife to go out for lunch, after all, it is not often we get a chance to have a "date" as the kids are mostly around. We went to a near by Italian restaurant on the hill. We have been here a couple times and it is always a splendid experience. I had the usual because I'm boring like that, the cream seafood pasta ( shrimp and squid). My wife had the tomato base version but no pics of that as she dug in quick 😄.
It was a good spontaneous lunch date as we talked about life and the kids, not worrying about what is to come but being grateful for what is and just laughing at the simple things. One message my wife always imprints in my mind is: "The kids are only kids once, lets enjoy it, they soon won't want to hangout with us". She makes a good point but men don't get it until they get it. After that it was straight to the city office to get the other piece of the puzzle.
A glimpse of the menu.
It was a jam packed day and it wasn't over yet, and I got something every man wishes for on a Friday.......no not that 😄..SOME FREE TIME! My wife had to take care of some tax documents with her mom and that left me alone in the house. But like a true Jamaican, the weekend cannot find your house dirty. So after cleaning, it was straight into my studio/office/store room to record a verse for my upcoming EP. In the words of Ice cube, Today was a good day.
Give me a listen on the interwebs, I make music too.
Posted via ReggaeJahm | Reggae Culture Rewarded