Registering in Shimonoseki

When we first arrived in Shimonoseki, we had to register as residents in the city. A group of 3 ladies from the church took us down to the City Hall and helped us fill out the forms, sign up for healthcare, and register our pregnancy. When we pulled into the City Hall parking lot there was a line of cars. We were told and soon figured out that there is limited parking at City Hall and the parking guard will only let in so many cars at a time. This seemed liked a great idea because when we walked inside there were no lines and someone helped us right away.

We registered as residents for 1 year because our Visas are for one year and then we will renew. We had to re-fill out a form or two because our names on passports and residency cards are in Capital letters and we wrote in lower case. It had to be exactly what was on our cards :) At the very end we thought that we were finished until they asked for proof that we were actually married :) So glad that I had brought copies of everything from home and showed them our marriage license. They could not read it and one of the ladies had to translate it into Japanese. They got confused with the date of application to marry and the actual marriage date. But after some explaining we got it all figured out. That was a close one :) They seemed welcoming and gave us a packet and guide book to Shimonoseki, but it's all in Japanese and we can't read it yet!!

Then we went to register for healthcare. There is a national healthcare program in Japan where citizens pay based upon their income. We do not know yet how much this will be each month, we have to wait for our first bill in September and for our cards to be mailed to us. 

Our last stop at the City Hall was to register our pregnancy. They gave us a little pink and white bag with various items inside. We were given a 'Guide to Pregnancy for Foreign Mothers' which I know means I am a foreigner having a baby in Japan but it sounds like I am foreign to mothering :) But this book was in English and is very informative. Also there were various advertisements for baby needs (once again all in Japanese) and a mother baby sticker which we think is for our car. If you can see in the photo below I was given a keychain for my bag that gives me priority to sit down on the bus or train. Which is nice because even at 17 weeks, I am still barely showing.

The last item shown below is the Maternal and Child Health Handbook. Mothers have one for each child and it has to be taken to all doctor visits to keep track of everything. They usually call the ambulance to take pregnant women to the hospital when they go into labor the handbook tells the EMT's how far along they are.

We will have our first doctor visit on August 31st. We were told that our doctor speaks some English, so we will see!!!