Today was the first time I've paid bills in Japan. The trouble with getting a bill here is that I can usually tell that it's a bill, but I can't read anything on it other than the amount in yen. I'm not always sure which bill I'm looking at. However, today I managed to pay two bills, phone and electricity. How you pay bills here is pretty interesting; for most of them, you can pay at the convenience store. I also didn't feel like making dinner, so I went down to the combini, picked out some food, and put my bills down on the counter along with it. The guy scanned the food and the bills (which have bar codes), I paid the amount, and he stamped my receipts. It was that simple. I had been a little stressed out thinking that I would need to explain what I wanted, and that can get complicated. I do know the verb for "to pay", though.
The next daunting task will be paying my rent. To do that, I have to use an ATM to make a transfer from my account to the landlady's. I have a kanji survival guide, so hopefully I'll be able to translate the options on the screen. I imagine that one of the other ALTs might be willing to help me the first time, but it is something I'll have to learn to do for myself.
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