I got off to a little bit of a late start today but (thankfully?) the trains on my route got delayed significantly due to strong winds. I got a late pass and was 20 minutes late to class. So were three of my classmates and a number of other people associated with my program, so it was okay. I'm just glad the trains were not damaged.
However, because of the long delay, more and more people piled into the station waiting for a train in the direction I had to go. So I got on the first one... possibly a mistake on my part, because it ended up being the worst manindensha (jam-packed train) I've been on so far. I was smashed into this pole on one side and had to support my weight with both of my arms hanging from the handlebars because I was leaning over into the personal space of a seated person. If I hadn't been holding myself up from the bars, I would have fallen into him. Also, there was only enough space on the floor of the train for ONE of my feet!! So my arms got really tired from holding myself up, and I wished that I had my iPod to make me feel more comfortable; I had left it at home. This isn't my photo but it looks a lot like my train this morning.The manindensha wasn't so bad for me even though it was really sweaty and hot in there. But I was getting pretty discouraged because I saw all of these strong yet tired salarymen sleeping on their seats while an elderly woman was getting smushed in the center of the crowd whenever the train took a sharp turn. The poor woman looked really miserable and there was nothing for her to hold onto except the other people pressing into her. But no matter how many people there were in the train, there was still enough space for everyone to smush someone against the opposite door during a turn, and the poor woman couldn't pick up her feet that fast. :/ Fortunately, the ride was soon over.
Class today went well, I think. It was from 9-4:30 instead of 9-12:30. Looong day... but lunch was nice! I ate some leftover curry rice and bamboo rice that my host mom made for me. :D It was so yummy, and I didn't have to buy lunch at school which costs more.
It was nice to see Robert again after our crazy trip. :) I wish I could have seen Ethan too. I feel like we bonded a lot over our alternating grueling and relaxing/fun experiences last week, so I feel a lot closer to them. We actually liiiiiiiiived! I told Robert I felt like we were in the awkwardly hilarious bed-jumping reunion scene from Return of the King. :) OH SAHM. I'm sure at one point on Mt. Fuji I said, "I'm glad you're here with me, Sam... here at the end of all things." It went well with Robert frequently saying in an Elrond accent, "CAST IT INTO THE FIRE! Destroy it! Isilduuuuuuuuur!" :D Besides, we basically looked like this at the end:
My friends learned on the mountain that I am a huge nerd about Lord of the Rings and astronomy. S'okay, though. Anyway, after school, I talked to Ishikawa-sensei and thanked her for helping us get bus tickets to Mt. Fuji. I showed her my blog and told her about our trip. She didn't think we would make it to the top, haha. BUT WE DID OH YES.
Anyway, it's my bedtime. I've got two tests and a lot of school work to do tomorrow. :( It's funny that today's blog has no actual photos of Japan taken by me today. :)
Does Japan not have laws requiring seats to be set aside for seniors and people with disabilities?
ReplyDeleteCool stuff :D
They do, about 8 priority seats on every car. But they were all taken and even to try to navigate towards them would be impossible; there were too many people on the train to even move.
ReplyDeleteAy de mi, poor old lady. :( What a manindensha that sounds like. Lol at Amit's comment about no seating set aside and lol at your response, Caroline, that there is, but it's just not enough. I must say, I don't like the idea of poor old people being squished, but with the way some of the old customers at Harris Teeter act, it's not as unpalatable a thought as it otherwise might be. I wouldn't mind some of them being smished. :D
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