Well, not ALL of it was great. I had a few mishaps...
First, the train I had to take to get to my night bus was delayed by snow for almost an hour and I nearly missed my bus. Thankfully, I made it just before the bus pulled away. Then, I must have dropped my iPod on the bus at some point because when I stepped into the Osaka station the next morning, I realized that my iPod was no where to be seen. However, I was able to call a friend from Sendai and reported my iPod missing to the bus company. They found it and held it for me at their station! My friend picked it up and held onto it for me until I got back home. I cannot describe how relieved I was to hear this awesome news! The next week and a half went along without any additional major hang-ups and I visited some of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve seen yet in Japan. Then, I headed to Tokyo to meet up with a different set of friends for the New Year.
On my way to Tokyo, I had to take the local train from Nara (a trip that should have taken about eight hours but ended up taking twelve) and was again delayed by the snow—this time for almost two hours. Because I was taking local trains, I also had to switch trains about ten times and usually had between three or four minutes to switch platforms and board a different train. Because of the delay, I had to take all new trains (not the ones I had written down in advance), so I had to ask for my next stop as I went and pray that it all came together (which it did!). In the confusion, I must have dropped my phone because I realized with horror on one train that my cell phone was no longer with me. The trains were packed though, so I huddled against all the other passengers and tried to think of a plan. I didn’t know where my hotel was located in Tokyo and didn’t have any of the cell phone numbers memorized of my friends. I keep these details in my iPod as a back-up but, of course, my iPod was the first item to go missing on my trip. I soothed myself with the assurance that there would be a public computer somewhere that I could use to e-mail them, as is the case in most large train stations here.
I finally got to the Tokyo station and went straight to the Information Center. It was closed! I went to the ticket counter to ask for help and glanced up at a sign that said, “Baggage.” My stomach dropped—my bag! I had to buy another bag in Kyoto because of all the souvenirs I was finding for family and friends back home. I had an entire bag I had filled with gifts I found along the way and threw in some other personal items like my towel, jewelry, and what-not... I realized once I saw this sign that I did not have my bag with me. I recalled that on one of the trains, a railway employee had lifted my bag onto the overhead storage area and on the way off the train, I grabbed my backpack, suitcase, and purse—completely spacing the bag I had added to my load along the way.
I almost started to cry. I was directed back up to the train tracks, where I was told there would be a conductor station with a lost and found. If my bag was on the train and a conductor saw it, he would have put it in this station. I lugged all my luggage back to the platform and found the station, but no one inside spoke much English. In fact, they were annoyed by my questions and ordered me out of the station, crossing their arms and telling me, “No!” At this point I was frustrated and quite overwhelmed. I helplessly stood back in line at the ticket office downstairs, not sure where else I could go, but again, the people were far from helpful and simply told me that the help desk was closed and that there was no where I could go to use public Internet or contact anyone. I asked if anyone was at least familiar with my hotel so that I could find my friends and re-work a plan from there. They didn’t even feign interest in helping me—they shooed me off and I stood in the middle of the Tokyo Station with my luggage and no idea where to go or how to get ahold of anyone. At this point, I had been wondering the station for well over an hour and was no closer to knowing what to do than when I entered it.
By then, I could barely fight back the tears pushing their way to the surface. I didn’t know what else to do other than try again and again for help until I could find someone willing to help me. Finally, a subway employee at a check-out gate said she thought she knew the hotel I mentioned. She didn’t know how to get there, but she knew the subway station I needed to find and what subway exit I needed to take. She said she thought the hotel would be close from there. I was so inexplicably thankful for her help that I set off immediately toward where she hoped I needed to go. Her guess was better than mine! I got to the station and searched for the exit, only to find that the exit number didn’t exist! My heart sank again and tears rushed to my eyes but I didn’t have time to cry—I had to find my hotel and hope that my friends were still there. It was New Year’s Eve and I didn’t want to spend it sobbing in a subway station, so I got out of the exit closest to what I was looking for and walked until I somehow found the hotel. I checked in, opened the door, heard my friends’ voices on the other side of the room, and dropped my bags right there. I literally fell to the floor at the sight of them and couldn’t hold back my tears any longer—I don’t know if they were from frustration or gratitude at that point, but I think it was a combination of both. I explained to them what had happened and why I was so late.
Of course, they were understanding and patient and wonderful, but I didn’t want to waste more of their time by crying or stressing over what couldn’t be changed that night—I would have to wait until morning to contact the train company and my cell phone company. In the meantime, 2010 was going to be over in about four hours and I really, really didn’t want to let the year close in tears. I rented a towel from the hotel and we all rushed to get ready for the big night. In fact, we headed out the door so quickly that we didn’t even take pictures before we left!
I’ve been told that Tokyo is the hottest spot in the world for New Year’s, but I don’t think the rating system applies for Mormons... :-). We had a fun night but most of the fun was because I was with loved ones and feeling very, very grateful to the Lord that I had been directed to them. Still, New Year’s is New Year’s. No matter where you are in the world, it is a night of people getting so drunk they don’t remember the holiday anyway and is bombarded with loud, dirty, and overpriced clubs, slimy men, and way too much hype for a night that boils down to nothing beyond a 10-second countdown. My favorite part of the New Year’s celebration was when we deviated from the Western celebrations and went to a Buddhist temple in Tokyo to celebrate with the locals. Beginning at midnight, the temples ring bells 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen. I really, really loved this part of the night. We wandered through the temple grounds and I was amazed by how many people were there. It was packed! Eventually, we made our way back to the heart of the city in the early morning and set out looking for a club that is supposed to be one of the hottest clubs in the entire world. We got terribly lost and wandered the streets for hours, but FINALLY found it. Dancing with friends to great music? Fun! Sticky, stinky rooms with way too many drunk people also trying to see the hottest club in the world? Not fun. We made it home after 6:00 the next morning and I don’t think my feet have ever hurt so bad in my entire life. Ha ha. That’s what I get for wearing heels in Tokyo, I know, but I couldn’t go out for New Year’s and not wear heels...so it was worth the pain...almost... :-D It was definitely a New Year’s I’ll never forget; that’s for sure!
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| Cultures collide--at the Buddhist Temple with the Tokyo Tower in the background. |
I made it through the rest of my time in Tokyo without losing anything else and finally made it home the morning of the 10th of January. I felt a huge surge of relief to know that my bad luck was finally behind me and was excited to see the Christmas/birthday presents sent from my family while I was gone. However, instead of seeing my packages when I got home, I found delivery notices from the post office, stating that they were holding my boxes and to contact them for redelivery. Thankfully, my landlord was around to call for me, as I obviously had no phone. Much to my dismay, I learned that the post office had held my packages until the 9th of January but that they were no longer there...they had just been reposted BACK to America... !
It is expensive to ship anything from the States to Japan and I don’t know how much money my family spent to send me what they did, but I’m sure it was an outrageous price and a substantially sized package. I feel terrible for all their wasted money and at this point told them not to resend any of it—I love and appreciate their efforts, but the cost it would take to send everything AGAIN (plus whatever they get charged from Japan for having everything sent back to them) would be absolutely ridiculous. What a mess!!
Thankfully though, I had previously asked my sister to send me some American treats and items for my English Camp and her package arrived without any problems. I wanted the students to have a “taste” of America, so I gave each of them a Blow Pop sucker, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and a mixed CD I compiled of American music. Burning the CD was a total headache because of DMR restrictions from iTunes (of which I was previously unaware), and took hours to sort out. Sure enough though, the Lord stepped in and everything came together just in time for my camp!
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| Last day of English Camp with some students/co-teachers. SO much fun! |
I wish I could talk in greater depth about each of the places I visited on my vacation and talk ALL about English Camp! Maybe I’ll go into more detail another time because there is a lot that happened that I would like to share. All in all, there were definite mishaps...but so life goes! Still, there were also blessings—huge blessings—and the Lord was definitely with me every step of the way. I saw incredible places, met amazing people, and had precious experiences that will stay with me forever. I’ll openly admit to getting discouraged and frustrated by the hassles that seemed to be overwhelming me at times, but I can thankfully say that those moments were temporary and that they soon turned into blessings and opportunities. Phones can be replaced, souvenirs can be repurchased, and packages can be reshipped, if necessary. None of these things are worth losing faith or happiness. In all reality, if I had to choose an electronic device to lose on my travels, it absolutely would have been my phone anyway. I’m SO grateful it was not my camera. I don’t have the souvenirs, but I have thousands of pictures that are much more precious to me. I’m sorry to all of you that won’t get the same souvenirs I originally planned, but I’ll still try to find you something you’ll like from where I can. In the meantime, I hope you will be satisfied as I share with you my pictures, my stories, and intimate reflections of my journey abroad.
I guess that my experiences on this trip could be seen as a foreshadowing of what I should expect in the coming year. There will be laughter but there will surely be tears as well. I know that sometimes everything will come together perfectly and other times I’ll feel as if everything is slipping through my fingers. I will experience joy, fear, sadness, frustration, relief, and gratitude. I will lose things that are precious to me but I will also discover new blessings that I hadn’t even anticipated. I know there will be times that I am surrounded by loved ones as well as times that I feel helplessly alone and unsure of where to go. All of this and so much more is sure to be manifested as the year unfolds. Ultimately, I don’t know what 2011 has in store for me but I do know this: it’s going to be remarkable. As I face every single day, I hope to remind myself of this simple and profound prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
Welcome to 2011!
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