2007年07月16日 – Money & VISAs

Getting Poorer!
It’s become apparent that I’m getting poorer during this time of limbo before I deport overseas. I have sooo many expenses to take care of before I leave. Which include:

+ My Student Loan
+ My Cell Phone Bill & the $200 Contract Canceling Fee
+ Laptop
+ My Plane Ticket
+ My New York City Trip
+ VISA

Sufficed to say it’s a lot of money! Don’t-get-me-wrong, it’s not like I’m in bad shape, but more shock that I’ve never seen my balance this low in a long. I guess you gotta spend money to make money. I will be making money but I hear that you get paid once a month in Japan! And if that’s true my next paycheck won’t be until the end of August!

I Got My Work VISA
It’s so weird to me that I can work in another country legally. They put the VISA into my passport along with my other Japanese paperwork and now my passport is so thick!

I’m expecting to find out where I’ll be living this week and who my roommate will be and where they’re from. It’s pretty exciting. Though my mom doesn’t think so since she saw in the news that a typhoon and an earthquake and fires threatened the Tokyo area. But like anything sh*t happens and we all have to deal with it as it occurs. Ugh and speaking of which… my plane ticket! I should have been charged for my ticket already, but I haven’t heard anything from the Flight Agent! I’m leaving in 2 weeks I best be getting my ticket or there’s gonna be ruckus! At this point I’m just ranting so I’m just gonna stop! :P OK Bye!

2007年07月09日 – A Whole Lot of Everything

New York City Quick-time!
For those of you who weren’t aware last week I was in New York City! Which is funny in itself cause I had no plan to actually go there. A simple plan to head to Toronto Island for Canada Day led to a few days on Manhattan Island and then some for the 4th of July! No major complaints though it was fun and unexpected. Just wish we had a few more days there only to spread ourselves out more as we packed a lot of site-seeing into one big sensory overloaded few days.

Some things that I noticed (and may have repeated before) about the States from my experience:

+ Burgers are so huge!
+ Fries taste different with all that trans-fat
+ There are a whole lot of Dunkin’ Donut joints!
+ It might be just me, but there’s a lot more police on the streets
+ Gallons confuse me at the gas station
+ Same goes for miles… I’m soo used to kilometers :P
+ Credit cards are swiped by us and not by the cashier
+ And there’s like Toll Booths EVERYWHERE!
+ Signature Capture Pads are like everywhere!

What I notice about New York City/New Yorkers:

+ New York City is a dirty city behind the glamor!
+ Where are all the homeless folk… I swear I seen more in Toronto!
+ They have some extra aggressive drivers
+ Will honk for no good reason
+ There are a lot of Spanish people
+ The subway is gross!
+ Horses make Central Park stink!

Don’t get me wrong the city is pretty cool. Wall-to-wall landmarks, great shopping and some good eating! Next time I’ll have to stay longer definitely! Anyways here are a few random shots from the mini-trip!

…ummm well on second thought I’m not gonna put any pics of me from NYC because as I look at them I totally look like tired-ass! Instead enjoy a picture of me wearing a towel on my head! :P

In all fairness this was taken in the hotel in NYC…well okay across the river in New Jersey! But trust me I am very sleep deprived for most of the days in New York and it really shows! Ewwwwwwa! Not pretty at all! LOL!