More blather..

This morning I woke up broke and decided that the easiest way to get money was to rob a bank.

This plan came a cropper when I realized that I lacked the necessary Japanese to say “put the money in the bag, and no one gets hurt.” In fact, stripped of even my rather miniscule Korean, I am back to pointing and grunting when I meet someone who does not speak English. Annoyingly, I also find myself talking to the Japanese in the limited Korean I do know. It doesn’t achieve anything.

So, with bank robbery out, I took the shuttle bus over to the airport. Thank god I brought my passport with me, since there is a passport check as you drive INTO the airport. This was a new one on me and I wondered what would have happened to me had I not brought the passport. When I got to the airport I couldn’t find an ATM that would accept my card. Last night, in the lobby, I heard some Indian travelers complaining that they thought “Japan was modern and would have ATMs everywhere.” It’s weird, Korea is certainly better in this respect. So I changed my leftover Won and went downstairs to catch my shuttle back. Lo and behold, a Citibank ATM! I pulled out a modest amount and hopped the shuttle back. Out here in Narita the landscape reminds me a lot of Texas, albeit with a bit more bamboo and Chinamen. The hills roll slightly, and the houses are slightly run down but modern.

I also saw my old friend the KLM pilot (I also saw him last night, sitting in the bar and pounding beer. Alas, I could not join him as the bar is cash only and I was fresh out) and he was apparently headed for another drink.

So now, I sit in the hotel room (the weather looks to cruddy to head downtown) I’m watching Australian TV and, gosh, the journalists and politicians are erudite and clever and the least of them would crush the best of ours. And not it’s on to “Inside Business” which ought to be pretty…. (wait for it) …… rich (!).