The Transition Begins

I'm home.

And I have blonde(r) hair now. Cut like Sawyer's. I love it.

It's amazing what those 10 extra Volts do to my hairdryer. Power and a perfect amount of heat manage the curly puff so much better!

And it seems (not to jinx it or anything) that I might be *almost* over my jetlag, since I slept from 12 to 7:15 this morning and only woke up once, and simply rolled over and went back to sleep. Though waking up 3:30 tomorrow morning to work the Bronx Zoo event probably isn't going to help...

My body has definitely not adjusted to American tastes, portion sizes, or food quality yet. I had Papa John's for dinner last night, and I foolishly ate 4 pieces. I forgot how much bigger they were than Japanese L size, and my stomach instantly cramped up. Note to self.

I've had Dunkin' twice now, and a small iced coffee seems just obnoxiously huge, and one donut was too much. Now we know why Americans are fat.

Which, seeing them walking the streets of Astoria, by the way, has devastated me. I told everyone in Japan that obesity was much more of a problem in middle America since most people in NYC walk and take public transport, but it's a lie. Wake up, people... we're fat and our food supply is completely bastardized.

9 months ago, I would have defended it to the T, saying "look at me, I eat whatever I want". Now I'm thinking those 26 years are gonna show up with health problems and weird chemical reactions down the road. I'm not saying there aren't good choices, but we surely need to eat smaller and fresher portions. I mean, I was in the grocery store overwhelmed at how HUGE everything was.

But don't worry. I'll still eat pizza when I want to, maybe just a few fewer slices.

And I'm so glad to have cereal again, though seeing 100 square feet of cereal space was literally overwhelming. I never thought I'd say this, but there might actually be TOO many cereal choices.

Japan. You changed me.

It's been gorgeous and sunny here and I've started the moving-in process (it sucks), but I'm also avoiding it well. I think I'm taking my vacation from vacation these two days and just moving at a slower speed than the rest of the city. Thankfully too, since yesterday the NFL draft and Obama ground Manhattan to a halt and they were shooting a new film at the Ditmars stop. No thank you.

I'm heading into the city to take care of all my union dues and address changes, and then meeting up with Erin and Meg for dinner or a drink. Dropped off my comforter to dry clean and did laundry this morning since it seems the girl using my stuff didn't bother to wash or clean anything. Missing pillows, pillowcases, and found a pair of underwear in my fitted sheet. Just gross.

Welcome back to NY, Tophs. The grit of Times Square awaits.

I think I miss Japan.

A whole helluva lot.

WTF, Japan Part 7

Well, I'm packed, my room is barren once again like a hospital suite, and I am ready (?) to head out of Japan tomorrow for the first time in 8 months.

It doesn't really help that I got a gorgeous new flatscreen and new firm mattress two days ago. Seriously, E-Village, couldn't you have just waited till we were all gone and not teased us.

And furthermore, wouldn't that have been easier for you guys to do it when E-Village is at half-capacity instead of full? And people moving out? WTF?

Yeah... I think it might be another one of those posts. I mean, we needed one more before I left Japan, right?

I went to the Japanese bank today to close out my account, and you'd be amazed at how smoothly it went. I walked into a bank in a foreign country, they spoke English, they printed out traveller's checks in US Dollars, gave me my Japanese yen balance, set up a wire transfer to a US Bank, and then closed all my accounts.

In 45 minutes.

With a smile and a bow.

Yet, when I attempt to do a routine online transfer with my US Bank, I'm forced to wait 24 hours while the system never resets itself, call the 1-800 number 4 times, navigate those damn automated menus, speak to 3 different people, discover I'm being charged ridiculous inactive fees although I've explained my current situation REPEATEDLY, get the 3 dollar fee to do the transfer on the phone waived only to find out my account is dormant and frozen, and that I must go into a branch in person to sort this all out.

While I'm in Japan and all I wanna do is transfer MY money that I'm apparently paying them 15 dollars a month to hold hostage.

WTF, Compass Bank, WTF?

And furthermore, when I asked for the address to which I should send my ATM receipts after I return home in a few weeks, I was told that my "Free Checking Account" no longer held that privilege, and in the 3 months the nice hick lady had been with the company, "nobody ever had that privilege with a free checking account".

Exactly, Arkansas-backwoods-no-brain-barbie. I've been with this bank for 5 years, which apparently means I know more about its operations than its employees! The whole reason I signed up for the account in the first place was its ATM rebate fees. And I certainly never got a notification that that service was ending.

Or that I was being charged to let them keep my money and invest it poorly.

Or that they can hold my money hostage and make me appear in person when I've been LIVING OUT OF THE COUNTRY for 8 months.

Seriously, What the fudge?

But I'll survive, even if I'm flying to Taiwan tomorrow with no real idea of what I'll find.

I just gotta keep on trucking and let the wind tell me where I'm going.

Moving

I don't have much to say... except this:

Moving sucks. Packing sucks. And I'm deep in a two-day stretch of it.

But all will be well when it is finished tomorrow.

And I won another game of darts tonight... That's 4 games of 501 I have yet to lose.

I'm a rockstar.

Off to bed, travels await!

Typhoon Torment

So I'm in the middle of writing the DisneySea adventure update, but unfortunately, most of today was spent sleeping and/or dealing with life, so you'll have to wait another day...

Instead, a typhoon is coming!

And this one apparently is really big and really scary and Japan hasn't had one of its strength in several years. We'll see if it's really that bad or they're just freaking out, but don't worry. Disney don't close. We's DEFINITELY working tomorrow come winds or high water.

And, much to my chagrin, today has been a day with a major pay cut. For multiple reasons.

First, due to day off switches and the impending typhoon of doom, the 12 hours of overtime I was scheduled to receive this week has been reduced to 1. And a solid 8 hours of this is because I had to switch today off because another singer needed to go to the doctor. And when someone's really sick, you can't really justify being mad at them for stealing the "rehearsal on your day off" pay and "new Mickey" rehearsal overtime you were scheduled for. 'Cause that would be rude and inconsiderate.

But I'm still annoyed. I mean, that's 450 bucks I just lost.

Which is exceptionally inconvenient when the last week of your life has found you in this situation:

• Unexpectedly giving up your apartment and having to move out while 7000 miles away.
• Moving your furniture and stuff into your best friend's apartment upon her suggestion.
• Finding out you apparently have way more stuff than was expected and it just adds up to too much stuff in too small of a space.
• Now having to RE-move your belongings on your own dime into storage, whilst still 7000 miles away.

It's kind of like totaling your car and losing your part-time job when you get to work because you were late.

It's inconvenient.

But it's life.

And it's a good reminder to make the best of each situation, and that life (and New York) will throw you a good, solid curveball every once in a while. I'll never forget the time my senior year of college when I made a bus driver pull over in the middle of Hell's Kitchen and let me off the bus so I could sprint the 15 blocks to Penn Station to catch a train back to DC because it was 4 o'clock, there was an accident in the Lincoln Tunnel, and I had to play a show on campus at 8 PM.

So, as a grownup, I'm taking responsibility for my life and my belongings and moving everything into a storage unit that will house my stuff safely until I return.

Besides, who knows what will happen by April? Look what already happened this week!

Any way the cookie crumbles, it's still gonna rain and whistle and howl tonight and the typhoon, like my life, will torment me as it wishes.