ATM Hassle
So, ATMs in Japan are wonderful and all. It’s true. They automatically balance your account book, printing everything carefully and even turning the pages for itself. They accept cash deposits. They can make bank transfers. They’re really convenient. Except that they have ridiculous open / close times on occasion. Some banks even consider ATMs to be employees of the bank, having them operational only during actual banking hours. Luckily, my bank isn’t one of these. My bank, Iyo Ginko, does have weird hours though. ATMs generally open at 9 am and close at 5 or 7 pm, depending on their location. In any event, it’s a far cry from my instant banking 24 hours a day ATM availability all over the city back home in America. So once in a while I forget about a necessary run to the ATM, and it bites me in the butt. Today I had to borrow ¥2000 from a fellow English teacher because of this situation. I had a special day yesterday, which I hadn’t accounted for in my normal withdrawals. I bought a sack of mikan oranges for a student who forgot his for show and tell (without being reimbursed) first. Then we had a surprise lunch at the most expensive restaurant on the island for some visitors. I knew about the lunch - the surprise came when they asked me for money…because I had been told it was on the school. Anyway, I then accompanied the visitors on to Yuge High School, which is one of my schools. I hadn’t planned on that either, so the ferry cost me ¥1280 for a return trip. And since it wasn’t on a scheduled visitation day, that’s on my tab too. Ha ha. All in all, I spent about ¥5000 yesterday that I hadn’t planned on spending. That’s life here, really. But I neglected to hit an ATM before retiring for the evening. This resulted in my arriving at Yuge Port this morning with a total of ¥43 left in my pocket. After consulting with some teachers, I learned that there is an Ehime Ginko ATM (not within walking distance, though), and a post office (also not within walking distance), but no Iyo Ginko ATM. I was out of luck. I sighed, accepted my fate, and borrowed the money from my JTE. Thank goodness I work with cool people who have my back, huh? Anyway, the moral of the story is: DO NOT forget that Japan is still a hugely cash-based country, and make sure you have plenty of cash on you at all times. 