Life
Saved by the bells
People who have read This Autistic Girl Went to Japan, and those who’ve been following this blog for years, know that I moved to Japan in 2022 as a (Startup) Business Manager. But now that the Japanese government has recently decided to overhaul the criteria for this visa, I’ve been getting worried messages from some of you: “Does this apply to you too?!”
Toeps, 41 (yes, really!)
After I told you last week that I was starting to run out of money, you all massively clicked the Kofi button below. It wasn’t my intention to beg for money, but your small contributions are very much appreciated, so thank you for that!
This week I emailed back and forth with my accountant, who turned out to have a good solution for the loan between Toeps-the-person and Toeps-the-company: we can write off the debt against a tax-free severance payment for me as director, which will neatly bring the balance to zero.
I’m out of money
This autistic girl went to Japan, and you won’t believe what happened next: she set up a Japanese corporation, paid a fortune to accountants, lawyers and the tax office, and then watched her bank account hit rock bottom.
The multiverse
Just over a week ago, I returned from the Netherlands. I was there for two weeks, mainly because we had to shoot some videos for the Prikkelplanner*. But since I was there anyway, I also took the opportunity to see my friends and family, photograph four people, record corrections for the audiobook, and interview someone for my new book.
Bad Romance
This morning, François and I went to the immigration office. After days of preparation, including visits to city hall, a visit to my previous city hall (because I was registered there on January 1st and paid taxes there), hours of form-filling, and even cutting and pasting a document full of romantic photos and our first messages, I thought I had the application ready. Our mission: to change my visa from Business Manager to Spouse of Permanent Resident. More freedom, fewer requirements, and a path to PR for myself in three years. Hey ho, let’s go.
Building Name
Anyone who’s read This autistic girl went to Japan knows that this country can be quite bureaucratic. As a newcomer, you first have to break through the magical triangle of address–phone number–bank account, before you can finally pay with something other than the credit card you were actually supposed to have canceled already, or gift cards from the convenience store. By that time, you’ll probably also discover that you should’ve chosen a different way to write your name, because spaces, special characters, or middle names are guaranteed to cause problems: they don’t fit in the box, or your input won’t make it through verification. And have you learned how to write the number 7 the Japanese way yet? I have—after my direct debit form got returned for being “illegible.” (Tip: no wavy line at the top, and definitely no slash through the middle.)
After all these lessons in 官僚主義, I thought I had it figured out. But when I moved in with François a few months ago, I made a rookie mistake.
Netherlands Speedrun
Two weeks ago, I flew to the Netherlands. I had two speaking events, three shoots, a meeting, and a panel scheduled—and it was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and family.
We got married!
I’m a pretty practical person. Romance isn’t really my thing, and when François asked me a few days ago if I knew when his birthday was, I was off by five days. (He’s the same way—last year, he wasn’t even in the country for my birthday—so luckily, no hard feelings.) I was never really into the idea of marriage. I don’t want kids, I don’t want a big party, and I don’t wear rings. And yet, today, we got married.
Back to the RSS
Why are we all on social media when the best platform for writing is your own? I gave my RSS feed a more prominent place and dusted off my RSS reader.
PR
Last April, François celebrated a milestone: ten years of living in Japan! He’d already studied there before that, but that doesn’t count—at least not according to the immigration office. But now the clock officially hit ten years, meaning he was eligible to apply for PR (permanent residency)!
Toeps, cat lady
There are some things that, if you’d told me a few years ago, I never would have believed. Moving to Japan, for example. But even that would’ve seemed less unlikely than this: living with a Frenchman and being responsible for two cats.
Toeps Rewind 2024, part 2
Welcome to part two of my 2024 rewind! It’s recommended to read the first part first, unless you’re some kind of barbarian or something. In this overview, we pick up where we left off, in the Netherlands, in July.
Toeps Rewind 2024, part 1
Welcome to Toeps Rewind, 2024 edition. It’s an annual tradition on this blog—except last year, when I spent most of my time complaining about life in this post. In March, I did write something that resembled a year-in-review, here. But I ended 2023 feeling a bit lost, and I can already tell you, that feeling didn’t entirely disappear in 2024. Anyway, let’s start at the beginning.
Visitors #2: Riemer
In my previous post, I shared how my family came to Japan and how I flew from Osaka to Narita to pick up Riemer — because he was coming too! We had deliberately planned it so Riemer would overlap with my family for a few days, allowing us to go to Disneyland together.
Visitors #1: The fam
But by now, everything seems back to normal. The number of tourists in Tokyo is larger than ever (which is actually pretty advantageous for someone who sells a book about her move to Japan, haha), and so, besides Charlotte, my father, stepmother, brother, sister-in-law, and niece also came to Japan. And Riemer. And Maan again, this time for an Artist-In-Residence.