Fool of Suprises.
Today's edition is not written by a stupidly bored guy sitting at his desk. No, today's edition is just written by a stupid guy sitting in some internet cafe in a large, strange city at 2am.
It all started after school. Fridays... the day of promise. This weekend, the excursion is to Osaka. Yes, I am keeping true to my "get out of Toyama as much as possible" scheme. Chances are, if you have half a brain (i.e. you know the difference between 'your' and 'you're'), you will know at least these two Japanese cities: Tokyo and Osaka. Osaka is a big city. It's basically joined onto Kyoto and Kobe to form a carpet of population across the middle of Japan. Enough geograpy. (Please, don't quote me on this, its not like I'm a teacher)
The main reason for coming to Osaka is because my brother happens to live there. Another English teacher in my city was coming down too, so I caught a ride. I tell, you, although I am stuck in some seedy internet cafe in a strange metropolis, I do feel very lucky to be alive. I'm not saying my friend is a bad driver. No, exactly the opposite. For 3 1/2 hours, he navigated the highways in his barely road-legal pathetic excuse for a car, amongst the insane kamakaze Japanese drivers who were obviously trying to kill us.
So we arrived. I met my friends' host family. They were very nice. Too nice infact. I blame this whole situation on their niceness. The plan was to go to my brothers' place tonight. They all looked up the train times on the internet and their cellphones, discussed it in detail, and gave me a foolproof itinery to get to my destination. First, they took us out to a bar/restuarant.
So that was all good and well. The time quickly came for me to leave. I apologised/thanked them (in Japan there is little distinction between a thank you and a sorry), and went to the station. The foolproof plan turned out to be proof that I am a fool. The train I was supposed to catch was right there... The sign was not what I expected it to be. I watched it go away and waited for the next one. Normally this is fine, but not when you are planning to catch the last train...
So, naturally, I missed that train, and I found myself in a large district of Osaka, lugging my bags aroundm wondering what the hell I was going to to do until the morning... My first thought was a capsule hotel. As my Tokyo experience told me, they aren't so bad. However, the guys at the convenience stores knew of none. I came across a building with large writing in English "NIGHT INFORMATION". It was night. I needed information... The guys inside told me they were closed. This seems to happen often in Japan. They apparently don't like to lock the doors,instead preferring to make an awkward situation. Still, I asked them if they knew of a capsule hotel. Perhaps it was just a way to get rid of me, but they said there was none...
The saviour came when I saw this 24 hour internet/comic cafe. I paid about 30$ new zealand (US20) for 5 hours in a room with a computer, TV, and most importantly, a big comfy leather couch. It is much cheaper, and more fun than a stupid Capsule hotel. The night hasn't turned out so badly after all. And now, I will finish with a quote. I don't have a source, I'm sorry.
Nothing will ever be foolproof; they will always make a better fool.
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