Transfer!

 

Today I wired money from my Japanese bank account to my Canadian one. Not so much as last time, but with the exchange rate as it is, I'm looking at gaining an extra $200 or thereabouts, so I'm pretty pleased. To do an international wire transfer, you go into a little booth that's set up behind the seats where people sit and wait for their numbers to be called so they can talk to a teller about whatever they need that's more complicated than working an ATM. Once in the booth, it's a small cramped room with that computerized contraption up front.

Basically, what you have to do is select what you want from the computer touch screen, on which only the glaringly obvious choices, the ones that really would need no words at all, are in English. The first time I did this, I had a bank staff lady help me out. This time I did it on my own, which is to say I did a lot of guesswork. It all worked out because soon I was waiting in a queue of 18 people to talk to the live support; once the number goes down to zero, you can pick up the telephone and talk to a lady on the other end who will have some English (your mileage may vary), and you can get all your data in and things, and actually make the transfer. 

Waiting in the queue is the worst part, though. You're stuck in a tiny box, waiting for a machine to tell you what to do. Luckily, I had brought my MP3 player, so I wasn't completely bored, but scrutinizing the screen is only interesting for so long before it turns terrifying.

"Look into my eyes and despair, worthless meatsack. Hah hah hah."