Genie in Japan

Did I Forget to Mention…

…that I screwed up BIG time on my visa?

After lots of forms, lots of waiting, and lots of work on behalf of JCCC & KCCC staff, I received a missionary’s visa before entering Japan.  But…stupid drool-faced me didn’t know that I’m supposed to get a re-entry permit from INS before leaving the country.  This is how I found out:

At the immigration desk at Kansai International Airport, a grumpy old man barks at me “final destination!” I say, “No, no returning, coming back, kaeru to Japan.”  Then he starts speaking really fast and scary Japanese, asks to see my gaijin card then takes it and tells me to get a move on through the gate.  

I’m confused and worried because now I officially left Japan without knowing what hit me. I call one of the JCCC staff to ask what just happened and he says, “Oh. No.  I guess we forgot to tell you! Hehe…” We assume my missionary’s visa is gone, that when I come back I’ll have to come in as a tourist and then reapply for a new missionary’s visa. 

So I return to Japan as a tourist.  But then we discover my old missionary’s visa may not be dead.  This is a problem because now I have two active visas but I need to leave the country in two weeks to go to Thailand and then INS thinks that’s fishy, why does this girl keep going in and out of the country, maybe she’s a terrorist yadayadayadayadayayayayyaa please pray that I won’t get deported.