The Bank

I've been having trouble lately when I go to the bank. It seems like every time I go either my pass book or my card won't work properly. This means that I have to go from the lobby where the machines are to the second floor where the people are. It has been frustrating even though I usually get what I want with my limited Japanese. I just couldn't figure why I was having so much trouble.

Today the passbook for one of my accounts kept being spit out of the updating machine without updating. So, up to the second floor I went and they did it there for me. I went back downstairs and tried to withdraw some money and the machine kept spitting the card back out. So back upstairs I went. They said the card must be replaced, so I filled out the paper work for that and then asked if I could withdraw money without the card. So, I was given another batch of paperwork to fill out. Some of this required me to copy the kanji for OMF International's official Japanese name, which is always a trying experience.

As I was talking to the really nice lady on the second floor and she's giving me new covers for my passbooks and cards and packages of tissue for my trouble, she said, "Be very careful of magnets." A light bulb lit up in my head at that point. The pouch I have in my purse to keep important things in, like passbooks, has a big old magnet closure on it.

I've been causing my own problems.

Faceboook

I'm quickly developing a love/hate relationship with Facebook. You can comment on things very quickly, but it somehow reminds me of my friends and acquaintences all getting together in one small room and talking all at once. It may well have its uses for good. We'll see.

Hot and Humid

The expression in Japanese is "mushi-atsui", (mushi = steamy, atsui = hot). Being from Florida, it's not that I don't know what hot humid weather is, but here the air conditioning is much more iffy - not every place has it, not every place has central units. Add to that the fact that I live a 15 minute walk from the Office and don't have or even drive a car in Japan. The result is that I sweat a lot here. Thank the Lord for orchestrating the creation of anti-persperant/deodorants. I still sit in church and sweat after my walk, so I fan myself and use a small towel to wipe the drips.
Fortunately the hot humid weather is only June and July with the "rainy season". In late July it switches to mainly hot through the middle of September.