My $225 cab ride

Today was my first day actually going to a school. I went to Tonoda Junior High School, which I will go to three days a week. It's about a fifteen minute drive from my house. Around 7:30 I got into my car and turned the key, but nothing happened. I tried again to no result. Apparently the battery was dead. I tried calling my office, a Japanese woman who helped show me around town, and some other ALTs, all to no answer. Here's a picture of my non-working car:



I left a message at my office saying I would be late and walked to the nearest gas station to ask for a taxi. I got to my school a little after 8:15, only a few minutes late. However, in Japan if you're 5 minutes early, you're 10 minutes late, so we'll see how it goes. About $200 of my monthly pay is performance based, meaning if you're late to school you get docked. Probably most of that will not be docked, and possibly none of it (or maybe, since I only worked one day in August, it won't have any effect). So maybe the cab ride I took this morning cost $225.

After school, one of the teachers gave me a ride home and helped jump my car. Hopefully it starts tomorrow.