Oohayoo
gozaimasu
Hello everyone! I’ll
be making an effort of updating my travel blog, again, so you can follow my
adventures and mishaps.
First of all, here’s shout out to my dad, who drove me to
the airport, and showed me a convenient way of stacking my luggage for
transport.
This post is extremely wordy. I didn’t
take many photos one the first day, because I was largely focused on getting to
the right place at the right time.
Future posts will be more engaging.
The flight itself was fairly uneventful. You probably don’t care that I watched Primer
for the first time. I debated whether I
should watch it for a second, and possibly third time to figure out what
happened, but decided to save that for another time. I also watched the Maze Runner, and was
impressed by the multi-cultural casting.
Finally, I went to watch Frozen, but thought, “Elise, you’ve seen Frozen
so many times, you should do something different.” So I watched Frozen en français.
After debarking, the walk to customs is where it sank in
that I’m in Japan! I’m filled with a sudden joy and giddily
stroll down the long hallways. The “Welcome
to Japan” signs were really pretty. Here
are a couple:
At customs, I didn’t need to say anything at all. I just handed the gentleman my passport and
customs form, and he gestured for me to put my index fingers into the
scanner. Now two countries have my
fingerprints on file. Thanks, Obama. /s
Upon picking up my luggage, I came across a customs, “no
poultry” sign. I’m sure this is the
first of many funny cartoons I’ll see here, but the little happy faces around
the chicken poop just killed me. I
attempted to take a picture, but unfortunately it was too blurry to share. I promise to post many other silly signs in
the future.
Finding the correct train was a struggle. I was to meet my cousin, Keith, who I will be staying with, at Shinagawa station. I elected not to take the much simpler “Narita
Express”, and instead the cheaper “Keisei Narita Sky Access”, (which is not to
be confused with the “Keisei Skyliner”) which I may have actually ended up confusing
with the “Keisei Skyliner”. I dodged the
first Skyliner desk on the upper floor, after standing in line for about five
minutes before realizing my mistake.
After looking around confused, a lady gestured to me that the other
trains were down the stairs.
Down the stairs, I found the Keisei Sky Access booth. I asked the lady for a Sky Access ticket to
Shinagawa, where my cousin Keith was to meet me at the top of the Keisei line
exist. She told me that the last train
for Shinagawa left two minutes prior, and that I would need to transfer to a
regular rail line at Nippori station. I
board the train, place my luggage on the rack, and take a seat, only to have a
gentleman approach me a few minutes latter and inform me that I was in his
seat. Oh no! There was assigned seating and I had no
idea! England should have prepared me
for this, but I was oblivious! I check
the seat on my ticket. Aha! D3!
But alas! There was a gentleman
in my seat! Oh well, I’ll just sit next
to him. So, I accidentally sit on his
hat, as he is very surprised to see me sitting next to him on a mostly vacant train. He asks if I’m new to Japan, and I reply
that, yes, it is my first time visiting.
“Do you know any Japanese?”
“Nihongo chotto” [A little Japanese]
“Oooh! Good.”
He asks where I’m getting off, and I respond Nippori, to transfer
to a train to Shinagawa he confirms that it is the next stop.
The train worker comes by to check our tickets. He speaks with the gentleman next to me, and
they inform me that I’m in the wrong seat.
Embarrassed, I scuttle out and sit a few rows back.
“Do you want us to read it for you?”
Across the aisle sat a Caucasian lady and her Japanese partner. I graciously accept, and show them my
tickets. So, I was right that my seat
was D3, but I was in the wrong train car.
Whoops. We all agree that I can continue
sitting there since I’m off at the next stop.
At the stop, I have no idea where to go. There is a station attendant present, and so
in my head I begin to cleverly think of how to ask, “Which way is it to the
platform with the train running to Shinagawa station?”
Instead, when he gets to me, I stare blankly, holding out
and pointing at my tickets and ask,
“Shinagawa ka” [Shinagawa?]
He smiles at points me through the gates.
I still don’t know which platform to go to, but fortunately
the signs have romanji (Japanese words or names written in the roman alphabet). Two of them include Shinagawa, and I’ve
already forgotton which one the lady at the Keisei booth told me to take. I pick one that who’s name looked vaguely
familiar, at head to the platform. There,
I don’t know which side to take, at it is at this point I develop my strategy
for navigating Tokyo:
1.
Accept
that you will be confused and lost
2.
Get confused and lost
3.
Wait for a nice Japanese man to give you
directions
As this gentleman was offering
assistance, in my head I’m attempting to translate the phrase, “Which direction
runs to Shinagawa?
What I ended up saying is:
“ Shinagawa ka” [Shinagawa?] while staring blankly, holding out and pointing at
my ticket.
He directs me to the proper side,
and I take the train to Shinagawa station.
“Arigatou gozaimasu” [Thank you
very much]
“OOOOOOHHHHH!” He was super enthusiastic
by my limited phrasing.
At this station, I am faced with
two flights of stairs with my luggage and two bags. I realize at this point that while I learned
the Japanese words for, “crow”, and “boring” and “to have a bad temper” I do
not know the word for “elevator”. So I
hoist up my luggage, one stair at a time.
About half way through, another nice man stops and gestures at my
baggage.
“Daijobou” [It’s fine]
“OOOOOOHHHHHH!” I impressed another gentleman with
my short phrase work.
At the top of the stairs, the
real situation dawns on me.
Here’s the problem:
- I’m supposed to meet Keith at the top of the exit of the Keisei Sky Access
Line.
- I didn’t take the Keisei Sky Access Line, so I emerge out of the wrong
exit.
- Shinagawa is a $(%#*^ing large station.
- I have no wifi, and thus no way to contact Keith
I loiter for a while, weighing
options and hoping that maybe this was magically the right platform even though
that I know fully it isn’t. I begin to
wander around, hoping to find a sign that points to the Keisei Sky Access. I don’t.
After walking through, looking confused and lost, my Tokyo travel
strategy kicks into effect as yet another man approaches me, offering benevolent
assistance in limited English.
I wish I was more eloquent, but I’m
not. I point to my phone which says, “Keisei
Narita Sky Access”. He begins to take me
to the Narita Express. I stop us. Honestly, the conversation that
followed is a horrible, horrible slaughter of both English and Japanese on my
end, that I’ll spare myself the embarrassment, and you the headache. I manage to convey that I am meeting someone
at the exit of the Keisei Sky Access Line that comes from Narita. He finds someone who works at the station,
who then looks up the line.
Through the man, the attendant explains that the Keisei Sky Access Line goes to
Nippori.
What.
That was the station I transferred at.
Am I actually supposed to meet Keith there?
Did I get this totally wrong?
I try to further explain that I’m
supposed to meet him here, at Shinagawa, and that no, I don’t need directions
to Nippori. They ask if I can contact my
friend, and I reply that I need wifi to do so.
They are not able to direct me to wifi.
I pull out the paper with Keith’s information and instructions on how to
meet him at Shinagawa, and try to point at the section, which does not help
anyone. By this point we’ve attracted
another station attendant, so there are four of us trying to figure out this
situation.
It’s then I realize that the
paper has Keith’s phone number on it.
“Oh. Is there a telephone I can
use? Denwa ka” [Telephone?]
“Densha ka” [Train?]
“Denwa” [Telephone]
The kind man sees Keith’s phone
number on the paper, and offers to call Keith for me. This guy is awesome! He starts talking to someone, and asks for
Keithu-san, and I hear reference to me, “Alice-san”. He hands me the phone. HURRAY!!! I take the phone and begin to apologize and
explain the situation before I realize that there isn’t anyone on the other
line. I look confused and explain as
much to the gentleman. He looks confused
and takes the phone back. He calls
again. Apparently it isn’t Keith who is
answering, and the number is wrong. (I
checked with Keith latter, who insists that the number I had written down was
correct, so who knows what happened?) We
try to call my cousin-in-law, Hitomi, with no answer. Well shit.
At this point the kind gentleman who has tried so, so hard to help me find me way, to whom I am so appreciative
towards, needed to leave. He told the
station attendants that we should page Keith on the PA to see if he is in the
station. The second of the attendants,
who I don't think spoke any English, assists me with my bags.
“Arigatou goziamasu” at this point he wasn’t surprised, probably due to my
failed broken attempts at communicating with the others, previously.
The first attendant is up ahead,
so I think about how to small talk with the one helping me with my bags, best thinking
of how I can say, “I know a little bit of Japanese. I’m trying to study more.”
“…” […]
Upon arriving at the security
desk, the attendant explains the situation a lady, who asks me my name, Keith’s
name, and what country Keith is from. She
disappears, and I hear a booming, yet muffled voice on the system. All I can make out is “Keithu-san” and “Alice-san”.
The following minute was painful, desperate hope that not only is Keith still
here, but also that I’m not at the wrong station entirely.
I jumped with joy when my very
confused cousin entered the security room.
