Told the teachers in the big school and the english teacher in the small school about the new guy coming in about a month's time. i'd wanted to tell all the teachers in the small school at once, but there wasn't a good time today. thursday, then. i don't know how to explain it, and it's probably not true, but i feel more valued in the smaller school. perhaps it's because of the closer-knit environment there. i will be sorry that i can't follow every class in the school to graduation, but i know that staying past my current term will kill me. i'll ask to attend their graduation ceremonies; that's a topic for the not-so-near future, though.

my singapore plan seems to be coming together nicely. the current thought is that i'll spend about a week to 10 days in singapore in december. in the process, i will submit my UK visa application just before i take the bus to osaka to fly out. on the return trip (also osaka), i'll go submit my biometrics and passport. i also applied to a japanese IP firm based in osaka, just to hedge my bets. if they want to give me a trial or in-person interview, the best case is if i could arrange it in that period. but that's lower priority for now. my current biggest conundrum is when to submit the application itself, because that affects my visa start date and by extension, when i have to be in the UK. ideally, it would be the later the better, especially since i don't have a solid job offer and most jobs start in september anyway. from what i understand, i have just under 90 days to enter the UK from the date of visa approval, and by specifying a later planned date of entry, i may be able to stretch it up to 180 days, or about half a year. i don't know how true this is, but i plan to try. while i'd prefer to enter and start work earlier, a late-june entry for a september start sounds about right, or maybe even a touch too early.

the toughest part about setting up a trip like this is all the bookings! i'll need bookings for parking lot, bus, plane, plane, hotel, bus, in that order. i'm just worried that i'll miscalculate, or mis-book something. even more annoying, i can't book the bus until a month-ish before the trip, so mid-november. as long as i don't forget and get stranded somewhere, i guess. i'm looking at spending just over 120 000 yen, excluding costs in singapore and souvenirs.

there are a few errands that i want to run in singapore, hence the trip back. first, of course, is to bring back some clothes in advance, to make the final trip easier. next is to collect and activate my HSBC debit card (more on that later). and finally, i have to pick the bicycle up. yes, i didn't forget that i bought it in july. but that was before plan UK came into existence. i figure i can keep it in storage, or maybe sell it first. not worth the trouble to take it to the UK, i don't think.

as part of plan UK, i've opened an account with HSBC in singapore. i was surprised to learn that despite its name, HSBC is a major bank in the UK! i figured that having an existing HSBC account will help with opening a new one, plus funds transfer between accounts is free! so i can transfer my salary (in GBP) over to singapore when it's time for me to leave. again, it's carts before horses, because i need a job offer to even start earning a salary! but no harm being prepared, right?

kind of disjointed, this post. i'd envisioned it to be more cohesive, somehow. anyway, upcoming events include the town festival on thursday. no raid or gaming obligations, so i'll stay as late as i can. have friday off, so if my new residence card with the extended term comes tomorrow, i'll go renew my driving license on friday and get the two biggest headaches out of the way. seems i can do it at the next city, instead of going to the main centre a few towns over. side note: i'm grateful that singapore doesn't do the whole renewal thing, at least not until you hit...65? that's practically a lifetime away, so no need to worry about that for now. need to withdraw money at the ATM tomorrow, because the festival stalls only accept cash. apart from those things, i think i'm in the clear.

-random thought of the day: My clock is slowing down again...-