Buying Stuff

Days until Departure: 8

It seems that all I do now is shop and spend ridiculous amounts of money. For someone as frugal as me, this is a traumatizing experience.

Tuesday my mother and I went to the bank to get some money exchanged for yen. I'll be payed in yen once I get to Japan, but possibly not until the end of my first month, so I'm to bring enough money to cover all of the expenses of setting myself up and living in Japan with me, in cash. Although I agonized over the six-digit numbers, I eventually walked out of the bank with 300,000 yen. That very, very expensive little envelope is now sitting in my JET Binder of EVERYTHING (henceforth "JET Binder") proper precariously on my laundry basket. Note: must organize room this week.

Mother and I then headed to AAA to get me an International Drivers' License. While I don't plan to get a car in Japan, it will make it easier later if something comes up and I do need to drive. Altogether, it cost about $25, so it wasn't bad compared to the cost of taking drivers' exams (and Japan's is notoriously difficult!) How much a little booklet with my picture on it will help me when it comes to driving on the left side of the road, I don't know, but I'm now legal. We also planned to pick up some maps or guide books of Japan, but, in a very Euro-centric move, AAA doesn't have ANYTHING for Asia-Pacific. They handed me a World map. In retrospect, which I may still do, I should have asked for a US Map, and a Wisconsin Map to use as teaching devices. When I leave, my kids will have expanded their knowledge of the US to include: New York, California, Texas, and Wisconsin.

I then spent the day shopping for clothes. While Every Situation is Different (ESID) it seems that business casual will work at my school for teaching. As my predecessor wrote when asked for more specifics, "My predecessor set the bar really low (old t-shirt and shorts) and I raised it ever so slightly (usually 3/4 length pants aka man capris and a button down short sleeve shirt)." I'm planning to again raise it ever so slightly with dress pants and a nice blouse. But, having been a career student, I don't have this type of clothing in the mass that I soon will need it.

I went to two stores. One, a local department store, where I picked up a blouse. The second, a chain second-hand store, where I picked up two skirts, two pairs of pants, a blouse, and the hardcover book "Memoirs of a Geisha" for $40. I also went jeans shopping and got two pairs that I think will work. While I'm horrified by how much money I'm spending, I do have to also remind myself that I need to essentially plan to buy all of my clothes for the next YEAR this week. As people have put delicately and bluntly but on a united front, I will not fit into Japanese clothes. Plus, I must rationalize it that if I hate jean shopping so much here, I'll hate it more surrounded by stick-like giggling Japanese school girls.

Yesterday I picked up a few omiyage (O-me-YA-gay), or small gifts. These are traditionally given to someone who helps you out when you first arrive in Japan or to your coworkers after you return from a trip. It's something I've been struggling to figure out. I will be working at three high schools so I have a LOT of coworkers. The gifts are traditionally small, beautifully wrapped (presentation means almost as much as the gift) and often consumable, so as to not clutter up a Japanese home. My problem, of course, has been that Wisconsin's most famous consumables are: cheese, milk, ice cream, brats, and beer -- none of which will make customs terribly happy with me.

So, I've been scrambling for small things that might be mixed and matched to go together. Thus far, I've picked up some pencils with the Motion W, and Bucky Badger to represent Wisconsin, a few postcards of the city, and some hard candy sticks. While technically not exclusive to Wisconsin, those hard candies are sold at Old World Wisconsin and were eaten traditionally in the US. Or, even better, probably don't exist in Japan. I'm sure I'll pick up more somethings before I leave.