bank account quest begins

01/28/10 room, morning- I want to write a really fast entry before I run out the door in the direction of the bus stop. It’s Thursday so I have a little more time this morning. Not as much as I would usually have because of final registration period but some extra time at least. I rode the subway to Sakae, which is not only a subway station but a huge underground shopping center. I needed to find exit 16 to be pointed in the right direction for the bank. To get to that exit I had to walk the gauntlet of amazing looking food shops displaying their delectables in their windows. It took every shred of will power I had not to buy anything. If I hadn’t just eaten lunch I wouldn’t have made it out of there without at least one cake or one plate of food from one of the restaurants. As I kept passing these shops I thought wryly, “If this is how I get to the bank I am going to NEED money by the time I get there.” I gritted my teeth and made it to exit 16. I found the bank fairly quickly but in the end it was a fail. Citibank requires you have and maintain a certain balance for an account otherwise you have to pay a sizable fee each month to keep open the account. I did not have the amount to deposit that they were asking for. I thought an International bank would be easier to use but I guess that wasn’t the case. The clerk suggested I try a Japanese bank, which won’t require a certain balance. She drew me a map of how to get to one that was very close by. She also warned that the banks close at 3. I found the bank she indicated right at 3 o’clock. So I made sure to note its location and the location of another Japanese bank right near it and then went back to exit/entrance 16 of Sakae station. I will have to think about this some more. I need a bank account. That’s all I have time for right now. (7:40)