Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Lucky!
So coming home after an incredibly awesome day in the Mount Rokko area of Kobe I felt that my bus ride was taking a little too long. My friend and I had figured out that this bus would travel to Tsuda Eki, the station right by my homestay house. Busses i had taken before had always turned into the station, so I could visually see when we had arrived. This time though, it was getting past the 25 minute average that it usually took there, and nearing 30 minutes I turned off my Ipod (so much for paying close attention to where I was going) and made my way to the front of the bus to ask the driver.
Me : "Tsuda Eki ikimasuka?" do you go to tsuda eki?
Bus Driver: "Ikimasen" Doesn't go there.
i thought about what to do. perhaps i could take another bus or at least a taxi from a bigger station?
Me: "Ooki eki ikimasuka?" do you go to a big station?
Bus Driver: "Iie" No
at this point i had no idea what to do. the bus went on further, as far as i knew it was the opposite direction of where i needed to go.
A japanese man tapped me on the shoulder. he asked me where i needed to go and I told him Tsuda Eki. He told me something about a car, another station, and i wasn't really sure what he was talking about but it was my only choice at that point.
i got off the bus and began to walk with the man. we passed a 7-11 and i thought about calling a cab from there. he told me that he could drop me off at another station and i could go to Tsuda from there by train. it sounded okay. actually, it sounded incredibly nice and I exclaimed.
"Doomo Arigatou!"
his wife would come in a car and pick us up. I eased up a lot when i heard that. but as i started talking to this guy, he seemed like a really good guy. he spoke with a little english which i found out he had picked up 9 years ago working in a hotel with lots of international meetings. now he worked in a supermarket. I talked to him about a bunch of different things as he smoked a cigarette.
he asked if i was from where the olympics were. Its great to live near vancouver because almost everyone can recognize it from the olympics. Yeah, i live close to there. as we stood at the street corner a woman came up and asked if she could help. at 11pm, on a generally desolated street, this woman came walking by herself. "it's safe counry" the man told me. we found out she was also a Kansai Gaidai Student, but actually from China! her japanese was super good though, and when she found out I was already taken care of, she said "oyasuminasai" (good night) and took off.
soon the man's wife came, and they had a daughter in the front seat. i sat with the man in the back, and he told the wife my situation. she said that she could drive me all the way to Tsuda eki, it wasnt a problem. here i was overwhelmed by relief, and above all... surprised. here was a family that i had never met, giving me a ride home out of their way. i talked with the man and his wife in mixed japanese and english on the 15 or so minute ride home. they told me how they were going to go home and watch Formula one racing after. The sleepy looking daughter glanced back at me curiously. she must have been around six. the father asked her to say good evening in english, and she said "hello". it was so great.
i arrived at Tsuda at last, and i thanked the family very much for their help. I should have taken their name and address, but in the moment i forgot. the man told me that he usually drives the car home, but today after work he had been drinking Sake so his wife would pick him up. that was the first time he too had taken that bus. ラッキーね！Lucky Eh?
Me : "Tsuda Eki ikimasuka?" do you go to tsuda eki?
Bus Driver: "Ikimasen" Doesn't go there.
i thought about what to do. perhaps i could take another bus or at least a taxi from a bigger station?
Me: "Ooki eki ikimasuka?" do you go to a big station?
Bus Driver: "Iie" No
at this point i had no idea what to do. the bus went on further, as far as i knew it was the opposite direction of where i needed to go.
A japanese man tapped me on the shoulder. he asked me where i needed to go and I told him Tsuda Eki. He told me something about a car, another station, and i wasn't really sure what he was talking about but it was my only choice at that point.
i got off the bus and began to walk with the man. we passed a 7-11 and i thought about calling a cab from there. he told me that he could drop me off at another station and i could go to Tsuda from there by train. it sounded okay. actually, it sounded incredibly nice and I exclaimed.
"Doomo Arigatou!"
his wife would come in a car and pick us up. I eased up a lot when i heard that. but as i started talking to this guy, he seemed like a really good guy. he spoke with a little english which i found out he had picked up 9 years ago working in a hotel with lots of international meetings. now he worked in a supermarket. I talked to him about a bunch of different things as he smoked a cigarette.
he asked if i was from where the olympics were. Its great to live near vancouver because almost everyone can recognize it from the olympics. Yeah, i live close to there. as we stood at the street corner a woman came up and asked if she could help. at 11pm, on a generally desolated street, this woman came walking by herself. "it's safe counry" the man told me. we found out she was also a Kansai Gaidai Student, but actually from China! her japanese was super good though, and when she found out I was already taken care of, she said "oyasuminasai" (good night) and took off.
soon the man's wife came, and they had a daughter in the front seat. i sat with the man in the back, and he told the wife my situation. she said that she could drive me all the way to Tsuda eki, it wasnt a problem. here i was overwhelmed by relief, and above all... surprised. here was a family that i had never met, giving me a ride home out of their way. i talked with the man and his wife in mixed japanese and english on the 15 or so minute ride home. they told me how they were going to go home and watch Formula one racing after. The sleepy looking daughter glanced back at me curiously. she must have been around six. the father asked her to say good evening in english, and she said "hello". it was so great.
i arrived at Tsuda at last, and i thanked the family very much for their help. I should have taken their name and address, but in the moment i forgot. the man told me that he usually drives the car home, but today after work he had been drinking Sake so his wife would pick him up. that was the first time he too had taken that bus. ラッキーね！Lucky Eh?
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Here Goes Nothing
Well, first off, let me apologize for the name. i spent some time trying to think up a cool blog name(for example spelling something like ボクノメカラミタオサカ！(Osaka, from my eyes) all in Katakana, but i fell back on the typical Matt in Osaka. But it's true, here I am, in Osaka. You may think its very different over here from where you are, and I must say, it is. So whats different? You get on buses from the rear doors instead of the front (hmm thats boring... think of something interesting) steering wheels are on the right side instead of the left (still not that shocking) Theres Vending Machines Everywhere!? Well i guess just the overall feel is different. Walking through the bustling Umeda area, biking through one of the quiet neighborhood streets, Noticing the Japanese people's incredible politeness and helpfulness, The food in itself. It's hard to pin down exactly what is differrent, but its certainly in the air. I have still not seen a real robot, which I will be looking for in the coming months.
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