Hello r/giftofgames,

I'm hoping this community can help bring a small bit of joy into my husband's and my difficult life right now.

Today, I’m making the request of a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch.

I want to first tell you a bit about myself and the situation we are in.

I’m 30 years old, and have recently came back from Japan (work program) to the U.K. Me and my husband lived in Shiga Prefecture, Japan for 4 years, teaching English as a second Language to Japanese students aged 11-16. Sometimes we taught older and younger ages too for events. I also would sometimes do cooking classes and artsy classes too.

I moved back to the U.K. while my husband moved back to the US in August 2022. Fast forward 2 months from staying with immediate family in the U.K. (different city to the one I’m in now), I was quickly made homeless and was also told I’d never amount to anything in life.

Thankfully it didn’t last for too long as I requested support from friends in the U.K. - I sofa surfed at a couple friends flats who kindly let me stay at theirs until I recently managed to get a job and secure a flat in a new city early December last year. I was ill from COVID the week I had to do the job interview (the job I now had) and they thankfully allowed me to do it from the friends flat.

My job is in social care and health care - I work with people, generally older with complex needs, and some of the things I witness has been quite intense.

My new employer requires I learn to drive within a year to keep this job. As you can imagine, even with full time work, money is incredibly tight trying to pay rent, bills, driving lessons, etc. on a single income to support 2 people. Pair that with a cost of living crisis and rises on rent, food etc - and well, most of you who post requests on here already know about the stressors that come out of that 😅

So my husband immigrated from the US to finally be with me after a long distance relationship from last August when we had to move from Japan (him to US me to the U.K.) till when he came here this January 2023. We lived in Japan together prior to this for 4 very happy and peaceful years.

Shortly after arriving to the U.K., my husband lost two of his closest relatives, one of them was his dad. He is still deeply grieving this loss - though he tries not to show it - while struggling to find work in a new country.

It has been a long arduous process for us trying to get my husband properly set up in the U.K. - like trying to obtain British Equivalent of the Social Security number (National Insurance) etc. We’re still doing research about Architecture US degrees together and about him practicing the role in the U.K.

Additionally, as my husband is an immigrant, financial requirements to stay in the UK are becoming more out of reach for us. For those in the U.K., you probably have heard that the government are hiking prices for things such as spousal visas and ILR applications.

With rent, bills, and driving lessons, saving for my husband's visa application and a car feels like an impossible task. I am trying to mitigate it by seeking citizens advice and other forms of support possible but as you can imagine, the U.K. government seems to really hate supporting people with spouses that just so happen to be not from the U.K.

With all the pressure both of us are under, it's been difficult maintaining our own wellbeing.

I know it seems ridiculous, but something that might seem small like Mario Kart could give us some much-needed joy right now.

Mario Kart has special meaning in mine and my husband’s relationship. Believe it or not, we played it together on our first date all those years ago (Between me and you GOG, I won the first few games and then he returned the favor by destroying me in the latter games). He often goes for Yoshi and I often go for Luigi. We also played it earlier on in the day before he proposed to me at Tokyo Skytree.

Playing games together remains one of our favorite activities to do side by side. With everything so hard right now, I think being able to play Mario Kart would reconnect us to happier memories.

So I'm asking this community - if you have the means to, please consider gifting us Mario Kart. It would be a bright spot of happiness during an incredibly challenging chapter of our lives and we would be forever grateful.

And even if you don’t consider, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this post, and hope that you will have a lovely day wherever you are 🫂

Wishing you all the very best

The one and only,

Chickenarla

P.S. For anyone wondering - I won’t use Mario Kart as a point of reference for learning how to drive on the road. 😂 Like damn I freak my husband out enough as it is with my chaotic hand/eye coordination. 🤯

Playing games does help me manage it better though! 👍🏼👍🏼

Sadly though there are certain genres I can never get good at (ahem, FPS) 💀🔫

PS. Feel free to add me on: SW-7622-7104-3915 💕👀