Count the Zeros

Today, I meant to withdraw 9,000 yen ($90ish) from my American bank account. I then went grocery shopping, and my groceries ended up being about 1500 yen. I pulled out a 10,000 yen note from my wallet. …10,000 yen. All my bills were 10,000 yen. I withdrew $900 instead of $90.

I checked my bank account online when I got home, and yuppers, I withdrew $500 more than I had in my account. I transferred in some money from another account and was out of the negative, but I didn’t know if everything was set right.

So I thought, “Ok, call the number that the bank gave you. Hopefully, it’s a 24-hour hotline for study abroaders.” But I couldn’t figure out how to 1) do an international call from my cell phone and 2) do a 1-800 number. I tried a couple things, and then I tried

1-1-800- …

I first noticed something was up when “Emergency call” came up in the caller ID.

I second noticed something was up when a calm, collected, and direct Japanese male answered.

I third noticed something was up when I finally recognized a word the man said: “accident.” I apologized and told him I had dialed the wrong number, and after he confirmed with me that everything was all well, we hung up.

The phone had recognized and called118, which I've just looked up and discovered is the number of "emergency at sea." 110 is for police, and 119 is for fire and ambulance (aka kyuukyuusha, the cutest word ever).

I did eventually figure out how to make international calls, and I did reach my daddy, and everything was all settled, but I had to pay a $22 overdraft fee… which would be 2200 yen…?

On another note, when I reread this entry, I noticed that I was missing some indefinite articles. Slowly, my mind is thinking in Japanese.