1rst Day of Work - Getting in the Harness

I have thusly survived my first day of work in Japan! Huzzah. I have to admit, while it's hard to work in Japanese all day long (I got there at 9A and left at 7P with no break for lunch...and only left because an hour before the Boss told me that we keep no timecards, so don't burn out). Admittedly the office is really chill. I still have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm getting to like my co-workers. I was a little worried at first since the morning contingent is anything but warm, but at 9am, I think I was expecting too much. There are definitely more foreigners in this office than I thought, and that is for the good (though they can talk circles around me. One more thing to work on!). One of my co-workers even used to live in Torrance, so I've had "It's a Small World" going on in my head all day... I really need to charge the iPod. They have me helping the Producer that I sit next to...let's call him YG, who is extremely personable and was in America for a while. He's scattered and really smart at the same time. They have me going in at 6:30/6:45A tomorrow to help with some filming being done at the office... considering that we are supposed to end at like 10:00P... I'm thinking it is going to be a really, really long day. Still, it's better than being unemployed!

So, the pain in the ass factor of it all is that the account I managed to make is NG. So apparently I have to go way the hell out to Nihonbashi (about 30 min train ride from Ebisu) and open an account sometime this week...*grumble*. Means it could delay my cellphone procurement too. I'm half tempted to just keep the first account, open the second with a small deposit, and then get the phone and change the payment card later (when I close the MSB account). But goddammit I wish they had told me that in the first place!

So my Dad was a saint and sent over the 30 lbs of books my work had sent me, plus a bottle of mustard *love*, and about 14 weeks worth checks from Unemployment *FINALLY*... which unfortunately are absolutely worthless here. Japan doesn't use or honor checks. Ah, adventures.

Japan Observation: I know you read about it in books or see it on TV, but it is absolutely mind boggling to experience rush hour (or rasshuji) in Japan. I mean, Men In Black got filmed in the wrong country entirely! It's like a veritable tidal wave of black, meets yet another wall of black... and it's heading straight for you! If nothing else, it makes drinking coffee in the morning rather superfluous. At least 8:30 on the yamanote line going towards Ebisu wasn't crowded at all, so I didn't have to get intimate with someone's sweaty back.