Saturday 13th April 2002
This is from my diary from when we first relocated to Japan – pre-blog. Other entries can be found here.
Cameron had Thursday off so we could go and register as aliens – I have to find my way back in 2 weeks to collect the card, which will be interesting I expect. Then we opened a bank account while I quietly fumed about being a second-class citizen; bad enough that they asked Cameron whether I wanted a cash card, worse when they handed it to him saying it was for me! Then went and finished the furniture thing (they asked C if it was ok that I had chosen it) – we’ve ended up with a white suite with non-washable covers, which is perhaps not our most sensible decision but they were cheaper and we had little option.
We then wandered around Shibuya a bit – explored Tower Records, bought some CDs; went to Tokyu Hands and bought a kettle as we can’t move in without one!
Yesterday was busy for me – I sat in the lobby for the best part of an hour while they cleaned the room, did a small amount of work then headed to Hiroo to meet Gail and visit the western supermarket. Also visited a fantastic shop full of lovely things from all over SE Asia. Will be going back! Took an hour to get home on the bus and found an email from C asking me along on an evening out so I had to find my way to Odaiba. Big panic at Shimbashi when I couldn’t find the monorail. I asked a guard “Eigo-wa hanashimasu ka” and he looked completely blank, I could have been speaking Mongolian, until I gave up and said “do you speak English” to which he answered “no”! Anyway, he pointed me in the right direction and I got there OK to join the sararymen in their pub in Shimbashi, the same one we went to with Sara last year. Cameron is turtle-theory and I am clever-flower!*
*Translating our names into Japanese, sort of. Ka-me, turtle; ron, theory; Li, clever; sa, flower.