06.05.08

You can’t get out of life alive

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:25 am by Max

The title to today’s post owes a nod to the Guns N’ Roses’ rendition of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

Lots to blog about, as usual, but not much time (really, these days) to write. I’ve been paying through the nose for a lot of things lately. Like:

• about $2,500 to secure the contract for our new apartment (price includes damage deposit, first month’s rent, insurance and other fees)
• about $900 to pay for additional repairs required for our old apartment (kids tore up the place good)

And on it goes.

I’ve been thinking, lately, about how expats get dinged. We get fleeced by fees of all different colors. Here’s a sampling:

• exchange rate fee (currently 2.5%?) incurred whenever I use my Canadian-dollar credit card abroad
• wire transfer fees whenever I send money from my Japanese bank account to my Canadian account (they get you both ways, sending and receiving—but, like a friend of mine recently quipped, “Why does the receiving bank charge you to receive a deposit?”), along with the profit the sending bank makes on the money exchange itself

Anyway, too many darn fees these days. As for the kids, they are doing well, and when they’re with me they are able to say and understand quite a few things in English. Lots to say about the kids, but it will have to wait for later. OK, just one thing, then. When I take a bath with the family, Mickey likes to get out first with Shiho and Milo likes to stay with me to the end (I also need to warm up in the water for a while as I can’t fit in the tub with the wife and the kids and the wife gets cold really easily). When I started to towel Milo off the other day, he said, “Baby cold,” which I thought was really funny. Before, he might have just said, “Cold” or “Milo cold,” but he knows I like to think of him as a baby, so he made this interesting connection. After the bath, I often pick him up and cradle him, naked, in my arms as we go to the bedroom to get dressed. At those times, he often says, “Baby” too.

I have to write about my adoptive father, Robbie. Robbie passed away on Friday, May 23, 2008, at a hospital in Vancouver, Canada. He was holding my mom’s hand when he passed away, which was nice. At least he didn’t have to go alone, my mom said. Robbie had been sick for several months prior, and his condition began to worsen as the year 2008 progressed. The cancer in his esophagus was eliminated, but his various treatments, unbeknown to doctors until too late, had created a hole in his esophagus. Some of the food and drink that he consumed passed through this hole into his body cavity, creating an infection. Shortly before his death, doctors also found a blood clot in his heart. Robbie also suffered from a degenerative spinal disease (he was not able to walk very far) and a type of slow-acting leukemia. So in short, he had many health problems. Robbie’s life, like everybody’s life, had its ups and downs. He suffered from a lot of pain towards his end, which was sad. But all in all I think he lived a fairly complete and fulfulling life, and a fairly long one, too (he was 81). I am happy, too, that before he passed he was able to see the publication of his book, even if it did not sell well. Rest in peace, Robbie. My thoughts will often be with you. Love, Max.

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