I made the decision at the beginning of the summer about my hair. It was dishwater brown and ugly from all the dyes I've put into it over the years, so I made an appointment at the good hair salon to have it died and made pretty before I left for Japan. Finally the time comes around and I'm debating if I want to cut it short or keep it long. In the end, the stylist convinced me that yes, I really did want it long, and then showed me a cool way to make it look good all the time without having to style or blow dry it for hours. Needless to say, this man saved my life with great color and good hair tips. I have a feeling I'll be looking pretty stylish while I'm away.
Before:
After:
After the hair place--a tedious venture that took about three hours, which I'm not used to because it's something girly and foreign to me--my mom and I went to her bank, where we had ordered my yen a few days ago. I was mad the first time we went in and exchanged $3000. I was told over the phone that the amount of yen I would receive would be 250,000 yen, which is 20,000 short of what the real exchange rate is on the internet. The bank insisted that their exchange rate was a little worse than it was online, but not to worry about it too much, so I didn't. However, when I went into the bank and exchanged my $3000, I only received a receipt for 215,000 yen. Needless to say, angry as a wet cat, but they threw the figures at me and they made sense, they were just really, really poor conversion rates.
So I felt like I got gypped, but whatever. I can't fight the system because every other place in the area was going to give me the same rate, and this bank dropped their major fees because my mom was a card holder, so I just didn't fight them. In any case, I got my 215,000 yen and it's all gorgeous money. Like, needlessly beautiful money. So beautiful, I don't want to spend it. But then again, I'll get hungry, so I probably will.
(And it made me review all of my numbers, so that I can count a little better in Japanese now...which is a good thing.)
After I got home from the bank, I went out with a friend of mine to a Japanese restaurant and market. We had a good meal. BBQ eel and soba set was delicious. We also had takoyaki, which was superb. Then we bought mochi and candies to have dessert. A good night? I think so.
Now, time to finish my bloody Mary and hit the sack. Eight days away and I've gotta leave the beautiful city of Columbus to return to Athens tomorrow. I have to start packing those bags soon!
(Definitely excited now.)
L
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