Katie Bishop

March 13, 2008

Katie Bishop in fantasticsmag
photo: Matthew Lyn As I walk along the ramp in the airport, carry-ons in hand, and my suitcase of a purse slung over my shoulder, I stop. My carry-ons are ripped apart, my stuff strewn over the airport floor. I couldn't find it! “Damn!”. I must have left it at the security gate! So I run, all the way back, to the security gate where I then have approximately 15 staff members looking for my cell phone. “I swear, I put it in my pocket”, I said while my face turned all shades of red from laughing so hard. I felt like a fool. They were all laughing with me, rummaging through my belongings, playing with my stuffed elephant. Finally, we found it. Turns out my jacket had a big hole in the pocket, and my cell phone had managed to find its way to the back of my coat through the lining. Nice way to start my trip, eh? Haha

Once arriving in Tokyo, after settling in with my flatmates and commencing the tediousness of unpacking, I thought back to Osaka. Tokyo is much different, everyone! I have a nice apartment, my own room, a room for the shower and sink, and a different area altogether for the toilet. And my toilet seat is all in tact! YES! In fact, it's heated, and don't worry, I will NOT play with the buttons on the side of the toilet. Haha There are no creepy crawlies going through my apartment, and the fridge doesn't smell like rotten puke. Just from this alone, I liked Tokyo much, much, better.

I'd forgotten about some of the small things about Japan in general though, such as people wearing the face masks when they are sick or are trying to prevent being the recipient of sicknesses around them, or how there are practically no garbage cans around because they're afraid people will put bombs in them. I forgot how nice it was to walk the clean streets, and how amazing the convenient stores are! Open 24 hours, literally a 30 second walk from your house, and all the rice triangles that you could stuff your face with in this world. Oh, how I missed you, rice triangle. But, unfortunately, I also forgot how damn expensive fruit and vegetables are in Japan. And if you can believe it, they're about twice as expensive here than they are in Osaka. EEK!

Last night I worked/did a screen test for the Shop Channel Tokyo. Haha, that's right folks! I was live on the air showcasing that jewellery! If you don't know what I'm talking about, when you get bored at 3 o'clock in the morning and there's nothing else on, and the infomercials start to suck…then turn on the Shopping Channel. It's just like at home, but in Japanese! Good times. I also did my first test shoot last weekend which was a lot of fun. Yet another thing I forgot about...how nice the shooting teams are to you! They took me out to lunch, and wrapped me up in blankets when the cold wind hit me on the highway (the location of the shoot).

A little over a week in, and I am loving Tokyo. The scenery here is so nice, springtime is quickly turning the corner, and sightseeing is an everyday occurrence. Hope all is well with everyone back home! I miss and love ya! And to the girls in fashion week, rock it out!

xx Katie

Katie Bishop is a Ford model, currently with Team in Tokyo.