2002-03-22 - 11:12 a.m.
On Wednesday I finished up at school #4, also known as the really far train school in the middle of nowhere. I gave my usual English/Japanese farewell speech, was presented with a basket of flowers, followed by a flurry of letters from students who didn't realize until that moment that they had so desperately wanted to communicate with me all along. One girl wrote me a letter in Japanese that was filled with cultural questions: Is it true that American people wear shoes inside the house? At what age can girls start wearing make-up? In America, are the bathtub and the toilet in the same room?
After school I headed to Tokyo to get in one last day in the big city before heading off on vacation. Thursday was a national holiday, so the whole city was partying as if it was a Saturday night. In Tokyo, the trains stop running between 12 and 1, so at 12:30 AM the city looks like NYC does at 4 AM -- lots of drunk people stumbling about, slumped outside subway stops, being propped up by friends, and making foolish dashes across busy streets. The trains become sardine cans, as everyone tries to get home before public transportation stops for the night. Saori and I got on the Yamanote line in Shibuya and had to go 5 stops before changing trains. The Yamanote line runs in a circle around the entire city and thus is a popular train, especially between 12 and 1 AM. We pushed ourselves into a packed train with no room to move and little room to breath. At the next stop, no one got off, but about 20 more people pushed on. I began to question out loud if we would survive the next 4 stops or be crushed to death. Saori told me not to worry, that this was just the "Japanese style." I pointed out that in 2 more stops we would be at Shinjuku, aka the world's busiest train station. I seriously questioned whether or not I would make it. Finally Saori heeded to my wimpy-ness and we got off at the next stop to change to a more obscure subway line. But that train was packed as well. We got off at Shinjuku and were resigned to walk the 1 hour to Saori's place, when we decided to check one more train line. Running across Shinjuku for about 10 minutes, we caught the last train out, and miraculously it wasn't crowded at all. Thanks to Saori, who was a remarkably cheerful good sport while I proved to be a little inflexible in this foreign situation.
On Thursday, having fully recovered from our near-death experience on the train, we checked out the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park and now I feel I have participated in a major ritual of Japanese life. It will be good for making conversation at the office.
But for now, the office is the last thing on my mind... next entry from Thailand.
