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Yesterday, I asked my Japanese friend to help me with my national healthcare application form.  I asked in Japanese, using what I thought was a kiddish/babyish voice.  After I did this for a minute, he said to himself in English, "So slutty."  "Slutty?!?"  Apparently, what would be considered a kiddish voice in America is considered slutty in Japan.  Ugh!!

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.

FML and probably TMI [Warning: Graphic Details]

I was in line to use a restroom in a busy bookstore. When my turn finally came, I shut the sliding door behind me and tried to lock it, but when I turned the dealie clockwise, instead of locking, it looked as if a dead bolt popped out and slid open the door a little. If I turned it left, nothing happened. There were the kanji for “open” and “close” written on the lock, but in that “high tension” situation in which I knew people were waiting in line and probably seeing that I had no idea what I was doing, I opted to stop trying to lock the door and just go. The next lady in line knew I was in there, so no one would come up and open the door, right?

To my horror, as I peed quickly and repeated over and over in my head, “Someone is gonna open the door. Someone is gonna open the door,” someone opened the door.

“Sumimasen! Sumimasen!” (“Excuse me! I’m freaking in here!?!?”), as the door opened a couple inches and in peered a sweet Japanese girl toddler’s face. She, innocent, and I, bewildered, stared at each other for a few seconds before she slowly slid the door shut. I quickly finished up, washed my hands, and coolly walked out of the bathroom, and to my even greater surprise, no one let on that anything had happened. No look of embarrassment or sympathy or faked oblivion or any other sort of acknowledgement at all. The next woman in line brushed past me without so much as a look, and when I passed by the apparent mother of the Peeping Tomantha, she looked as if she had no idea what her cute little demon daughter had done to me.

Memorize the kanji for “open” and “close” by heart, and always lock the bathroom door at all costs.