Stranded in Tokyo (almost)

It’s hard to believe I have already been back at home for 3 weeks and a few days.  I really  enjoyed my time in Misawa and even the cold, snowy weather kind of grew on me.  Trying to learn to speak a little if not read a little Japanese was a lot of fun and after having spent 5 months of the past year in Japan, I thot I was getting a handle on it.  Bowing, grunting agreement and learning the 4 idiomatic ways of saying thank you were starting to feel natural.  



Dennis and Fran

Short story time: I know it is expensive to get around in Tokyo, in fact the cost of living there is very high, but I decided to go off on a little adventure on my last day in Japan.  My flight arrived at Haneda Airport on time at 1115 on Sunday morning having taken in a spectacular view of Mt Fuji.  That was impressive in itself since Misawa had a lot of snow on the ground and the night before I left the sky had dumped about 6 inches of fresh powder on the area.  That morning the wind was kicking at about 15-20 miles per hour and it was still snowing, making visibility poor. Still, Japan Airlines arrived at Misawa on time and left on time with an extensive ground team plowing, 

Lawson's: The greatese Convenience Store EVER

washing and de-icing everything.  I digress.  So with 8 hours to kill before my next flight I went to visit Fran and Dennis in Shibuya, about a 30 minute ride.  I stored my luggage at the airport and bought a round trip bus ticket to Shibya and reserved my seat on the shuttle to Narita Airport, about a 70 minute ride from Haneda.  I figured I had a couple of hours to hang out with them and then I could easily make it back and get on the long flight home, all for about $25. Without going into all the small details, it turn out the bus from Shibuya (for 

Ramen House on an Icy Night

which, remember? I had a roundtrip ticket) stopped running after the last drop off which I was on.  I waited and waited a little more before I asked a cop when the bus would arrive, feeling a bit nervous because in Japan the buses and trains are perfectly timed.  Now would miss my shuttle to Narita Airport.  He told me to go wait at the bus stop and the bus would come.  I waited and waited and even rechecked the bus times on the schedule which indicated the bus was now 20 minutes late but another one would be along in a few minutes.  More waiting…until a concerned citizen wanting to practice his English asked me what I was waiting for.  When I told him he translated the bus schedule to me which clearly stated in bold and highlighted words that bus service stops on Sundays and holidays after 12 noon. So much for my Survival Japanese lessons. So I quickly located a taxi attendant who I asked in bad Japanese if any taxis would take a credit card, since I only had a small amount of cash.  He smiled and said yes and I got in the cab to the airport letting the driver know that I was running late because of the bus thing.  I watched in despair as the meter clicked and clicked and the driver engaged me in light conversation mostly in Japanese about Japanese food, where did I stay, did I see Fujisan etc, none of which lightened my mood. When the meter finally stopped clicking it settled at $128.00 for the one way 30 minute ride. Fortunately tipping is not done in Japan or dude would have just been SOL.  So I changed my reserved seat on the shuttle which left in 10 minutes, picked up my luggage and made it to Narita with an hour and a half to spare.  I felt deflated and mentally worn out but then, being a brilliant therapist, reframed my thinking to embrace the idea that I have the opportunity to do things like this.  Even if it means stranded in Tokyo or London, a car accident in Turkey, lost in Seoul or Paris, earthquakes or volcanoes, I’ve still had the most amazing past few years. 

Now I get to brush up on my German language skills a little, start relearning customs and basic phrases like when to say “Auf Wiedersehen” and when to say “Chus.” Since I expect to only be able to go shopping on the economy, I will have to learn how to read “decaffeinated” and “non-fat” in German. My life is soooo challenging.

Oirase Gorge



Snow sculture at Towada