Hey everyone... Thanks for the good vibes and wishes. It's really appreciated. When you're an ex-pat your circle of friends and family on whom you rely for support is a wee bit limited so it's great when you can have an honest talk with your clansmen. :-)

Well, it's only noon here and I'm ready to call it a day. Got a splitting headache. I just got back from the Board of Ed. office. We spent the morning doing some serious paperwork.

Turns out, I was in a fair bit of trouble. Even though I'm not the one who ran the red light, the police, in the course of their investigation, found out that my liability insurance for my scooter was expired. NOT GOOD! Now, before you say anything, hear me out... The thing about the insurance is that I THOUGHT that it was up-to-date. See, everything is in Japanese around here, and often that includes the dates. Under normal circumstances, standard date format is acceptable, i.e. 2/26/2009, BUT for official purposes (like medical matters, insurance, etc) they don't use the Western dating system, but the old, Japanese one that counts time from when the emperor became emperor. So 2009 = Heisei yr. 21. Last year was Heisei yr. 20. Next year is Heisei yr. 22. So, count this up to something getting lost in translation as it were, I goofed up by not keeping my Japanese years straight in my head. So.... since August last year, I've been driving around without insurance and didn't even know it. Every time I looked at my license plate and saw the sticker that said "8-20" I mistakenly thought that it meant August of THIS year, and not last.

Well, the Japanese law for driving without insurance is pretty brutal (but I guess no more or less so than anywhere else). It amounts to a crime punishable by $5000 and/or a year in jail.

Half the morning was spent with my supervisor negotiating with the cops, who finally concluded that: because it was only about 6 months that the insurance was expired, AND the fact that the offense was unintentional AND I didn't cause any injury or damage, AND I was a dumb foreigner who doesn't know enough Japanese to know any better, they would let me off with a warning this time. WHEW!!!!

As a result also, both parties -- me and the numbnuts in the car who ran the light each go our separate ways and pay for our own expenses. Luckily for me, I was driving home during working hours so the Board of Ed. just put in a workman's comp. claim on my behalf so I don't have to pay for the hospital fees, meds, etc. I'm only liable for the damage on my scooter, which doen't seem to be very much. I'll have my mechanic inspect it, but what damage I DO know about shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks. (Beats a $5000 fine any day).

So, that's the update from my end. After lunch I think I'll go get a massage, as my neck still hurts. Otherwise, just kinda bruised up as I would've expected, but nothing more.

Oh yeah, and I renewed my insurance! :-)