I have a cell phone, but it’s not used very often. Calls are normally just to pass on information like change in plans or when I need help ordering at Macdonald’s. So I am always a little surprised when the phone rings, especially when I don’t recognize the number.
This was very true the evening of January 2nd. It was 8:50, Jen and I were waiting for Hideki and Kayoko to pick us up. They were taking us to the bus station to catch our over-night bus to Tokyo, which left at 10:00pm. The man on the other line was speaking very fast Japanese. I said "Hello", there was a pause and the Japanese continued. I tried again "Hello", there was another pause and then more Japanese. So I tried something new, "Ego desu ka?" (English?) There was a really long pause and then the Japanese continued. This time I managed "Watashi wa Canada-jin desu, ego desu ka?" (I am Canadain, English?). I look helplessly over at Jen who is laughing so hard I thought she was going to wet her self. The poor guy on the other side said something in Japanese then there was a very long pause…so long I thought the line had died, so I hung up.
A few minutes later the phone rings again. This time it’s a new voice who asks in very broken English if I was "Elle-is-abeto Stew-ee-art-u San". It was the travel company calling to tell us that we were ten minutes late for our bus (the one that left at 10 pm and it was just 9 pm). There was some great episodes of miscommunication. The hardest thing about using the phone is the other person can’t see my gestures. Thankfully Hideki and Kayoko arrived and I passed the phone to them to work out what was wrong.
We were indeed late, and had to rush to make the bus (or the bus’ next stop, that detail was never clarified). The station was about 30-minute drive away. Only when we got close Hideki got lost. We got directions from a taxi driver, who couldn’t take us because he was waiting for a customer. We continued to drive around searching, when Hideki suddenly stopped at an intersection and told us to get out –quickly! Then we noticed next to us was an empty taxi. Kayoko was helping get our luggage into the car while Hideki explained where to take us to the driver. They gave us money for the cab fare shut the door and our driver took off. Minutes later we arrived at the bus station. We were led to our bus. (The trip was my first time on a double-decker bus which I thought was pretty cool.) Found our seats and were on our way to Tokyo.
Word Up: Moshi-moshi –The greeting used when answering the phone, may or may not be spelt that way (I can hardly spell English right getting Japanese would be asking too much)
January 4th was our day in the city. Jen and I took a bus tour called Cityrama. Our guide was fun, said the oddest things at time and enjoyed giving commentaries on everything from woman in leadership to the similarities between Buddhism and the Catholic Church. We visited Meiji Shinto Shrine and the Imperial Palace East Garden (the only part of the palace open to visitors), Asakuza Kannon Temple, and the Nakamise market before being dropped off in the shopping district.
