How do you know when you're home?

A new teacher at my branch recently asked me if I felt at home here. I do and I don't. It's hard to feel completely at home in a place where I can't buy hair products for curly hair, pantyhose for brown skin or shoes for larger feet. On the other hand, I'm waaaay excited about the most recent development in Tokyo's transportation system - the Passmo card!

There are something like over 60 companies in the Tokyo area that operate different buses and trains. While some companies operate on the same ticket system, there are a few different systems. Going to work I use two different companies: JR and Keio. So, I have my commuter pass (tekky) for the JR lines (on a Suica card), my tekky for the Keio Inokashira line, AND I have a Passnet card that covers the Keio line (for when I can't use the commuter pass), Tokyu Tokoyo line, the Tokyo Metro lines, Keihin Tohoku line, and a few other lines. So at any given time I have 3 cards, but it's actually more complicated to transfer using 2 different cards than it is using tickets. The Suica card is re-loadable, but the Passnet card is not; neither is my Keio tekky.

So why is the Passmo so great? You can use it for EVERY single line in Tokyo - and it can be your commuter pass - and you can store money on it. So all you need is one card to ride any train or bus in Tokyo. It's incredible! It gets better. Previously, you could only use the Suica card on the JR lines, but now that too can be used for any line. And I already have a Suica card!

Without knowing anything about the Tokyo transportation system I'm sure this is all ridiculously confusing; but trust me - it's also very exciting! And that might be something that only a person who feels at home in Tokyo could say.