I guess there are a few things that you have to do before you can be a real “dumb gaijin” in Japan. You have to offend a few people by using the wrong form of the word “to give”. You have to endure endless and annoying “You are such a cute foreigner! your eyes are so big!” as if you are a new pet someone brought home. And then, there’s one more vital thing that one must do.
Last night, I completed the last of these things and became a real-life-honest-to-god-dumb-gaijin-in-Japan: I got lost in the train system. I’m just shocked that it took me this long. ha ha.
I went out to Shinjuku to meet Pingu and Natsumi, and immediately got lost in the station. Didn’t panic though, because I had my trusty cheap-ass cell phone with me and sent her a bunch of emails about where I was, and could she come find me. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find my exit, and I couldn’t find hers, so we were pretty much screwed until Natsumi randomly ran into me as she was leaving her train. She got on the phone and the three of us finally met up, and we ran off to have a lovely night of eating cake, talking about boys (*gag* but oh well… they are girls), and looking for a place to take pictures of ourselves.
Coming home was when the train system swallowed me whole and I was lost for about an hour. On the way to Shinjuku, I took a single JR Yamanote train from Nishi-Nippori Station, so I expected that the ride back would be the same. But nope. I should have gotten off at Ikebukuro and changed trains. Unfortunately, I was on some old local train with no english anywhere on it, and the announcer actually was the conductor (instead of pre-recorded Japanese messages) and was hella hard for me to understand. (the rumor that the train system is completely bilingual is a complete lie!)
Anyway, so I apparently was supposed to change trains at Ikebukuro, but I didn’t… I expected to be at nishi-nippori at 8:15… 8:15 came and went and the stations were getting smaller and smaller… the buildings got hella short too. Finally I decided to mutter “Toto, it looks like we’re not in Tokyo anymore” and get off the train. Checked my map, and realized I was about 45 minutes outside of Tokyo in Saitama. (Insert inside joke here: Takuya, there really isn’t anything in Saitama!)
After a few frantic emails and one phone call from my host mom, I got on the train going the opposite direction and road the sucker back to Tokyo and got on the right JR line… My host dad was waiting for me at Nishi-nippori, practically pale with worry! it was crazy. I love my host family. I just feel really really stupid. ha ha.
The worst of it was that the two cute Korean guys I met a few weeks ago were at my house waiting for me to come home so we could hang out one last time. I had kept them waiting for an hour and a half! ack! Oh well, they gave me presents and big smiles and we all laughed about it and they said the same thing had happened to them.
Even though I was pretty calm through the whole ordeal, the stress of the evening apparently was just enough to cause me to lose the battle I’ve been having with this cold I’ve felt trying to come on for a few days. Woke up this morning hella sick. But it’s all cool because I got to skip work, drink soup, SLEEP, and eat as much umeboshi as I wanted! Japanese treat colds as if they are life threatening. It’s quite amusing.
So yeah. I’m home safe, waiting to hear from Ethan to see if he still wants to meet today or not (I’m feeling much better). Tomorrow I actually will get to see the guy I came to Japan with 2 years ago. I’m very excited about that, and a little nervous too. The next day is my last day at work, and a farewell party… and then the following day I get on a plane to come home!
republiqua | 18-Sep-04 at 6:27 pm | Permalink
It sounds like quite an adventure you’re having there, Emily. Funny how it’s always those dreadful mix ups and misunderstandings that make the trip. I’m glad to hear that you’re already able to look back on them and laugh. ^__^
I feel like I should know this already, but how long are you going to be there?
starladear6 | 18-Sep-04 at 6:31 pm | Permalink
I leave on wednesday. been here for 5 weeks. :)
kaistar | 18-Sep-04 at 6:48 pm | Permalink
that icon is adorable yet hilarious at the same time.
kaistar | 18-Sep-04 at 6:50 pm | Permalink
i do take it your japanese has improved significantly, eh? :]
aki_jade | 18-Sep-04 at 6:50 pm | Permalink
Wow. That sucks. A lot.
Japan scares me (why do I still plan on going? Oh yeah, I’m a masochist).
republiqua | 18-Sep-04 at 6:56 pm | Permalink
Why thank you, love. :)
starladear6 | 18-Sep-04 at 11:03 pm | Permalink
it’s not scary. It’s actually pretty easy once you make a few mistakes and learn from them. I took off on my own again today and made it there and back fine.
The coolest part about getting lost in the trains is that it doesn’t matter where you go… your ticket price remains the same, as long as you exit the train system at the right station. So you could virtually go anywhere you wanted, as long as you didn’t leave the stations. ha ha. isn’t that cool?
autarchex | 19-Sep-04 at 11:36 am | Permalink
Good thing I checked all the comments before entering my comment asking you how many hundreds of dollars you dropped on train fares, or I’d feel pretty stupid.
kidorhi | 19-Sep-04 at 9:23 pm | Permalink
I laughed all the way through this. I never got the big-eyed cute foreigner thing, though, and I seem to suprise people when I mumble any Japanese, let alone the right words.
LOL Yes, I firmly maintain that exiting a train station incorrectly can mess up your life. At least for the hour or so it takes to figure how to catch up with the street you would’ve come out on.
Since I’ll probably get way involved with my own chaos again, I’ll wish you safe travels now. Hah, wouldn’t it be funny if we ended up on the same plane?