Through the Eyes of a Wombat

Well, I've well and truly made it to Saitama, and moved into the tiniest shoebox of a room I've ever seen. I used to think rooms at Ursula were small, but this room could fit into it at least twice, maybe even three times!
It is nice to finally be able to unpack, and put my clothes in a proper wardrobe and put some photos on the wall. The bed is comfortable enough too, decent enough for a short time. I'll be looking forward to bringing the rest of my luggage down from Sendai to make the place a little less stark white and more comfy.
The place is filled with all sorts of random foreigners- a couple of Americans, one British, one Canadian, and another Australian. They all seem like pretty decent people, so its not going to be impossible to live there.
Saitama was teasing me on Friday, laughing at this poor little wombat (and not having opposable thumbs, what could I do?) in his efforts to get money. My scholarship was supposed to have been paid into my bank account on Friday, so I thought I'd go and see if it had, and get some money out, so I would be able to afford food and other luxuries. Now, though I haven't yet recieved my ATM card, that is not generally a problem in Japan because the bank passbook (remember those?) they give you has a magnetic strip on the back and you can indeed use the book in place of an ATM card.
I must have tried about fifteen banks on Friday to try and get one to accept my bank book. They each told me that their particular ATM or even service counter wouldnt be able to accept my book because it wasnt from their bank, but if I tried a different bank it might work. What sort of place has fifteen different banks within two minutes walk from each other, and NONE of them were the bank I have my account with? (Oh yes, the people at the University insisted I use this particular bank, because 'there are branches all over the place so you won't have to worry')...
I did eventually find the location of the nearest branch- right smack in the centre of Tokyo, just across from the Imperial Palace- so today was an excursion to try and find the thing, and amazingly, it was right where it was supposed to be! So in goes my little bank book to the ATM, and out comes cold hard cash! Ahh... so very very nice!
Going to put some of it to use tomorrow and head up to Sendai and back, collect the vital items of my Alien registration card (meep meep), and my ATM card so I can use any ATM (for a whopping 105 yen service fee for using other banks ATMs .. though that sure beats the 800 yen return train trip to Nihonbashi in Tokyo to use that ATM), and I'll be bringing back my large suitcase too so I can make this place feel a little more comfortable.

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