Please Don’t Make a Spectacle…

But when you do, make a big one. Seriously. Let me set the stage. Dave needed to go into work for a couple hours this morning. We decided we would meet when he was finished at the Kanazawa-Hakkei station and continue to Yokohama together. We have talked about going to Antenna American for a few months now (haha, we’ve been here for a few months!) Anyways, that was our plan. Also part of the plan was for Dave to pick up onigiri and I would bring roadies (fizzy water with a shot of vodka). 

Before I go further, I must provide a little background to the story about riding the trains. It is frowned upon to talk loudly, to eat, or to drink on the train. (Definitely don’t share a bottle of wine with your friends while eating Garrett’s Popcorn.) However, water is acceptable. Dave and I anticipated we would have time at the station to eat our onigiri and we would enjoy our fizzy water with vodka along the 30 minute train ride to Yokohama. Like all plans, they were subject to change. 

There was an accident. Apparently, between Kanazawa-Hakkei and Shiori Station (where Dave was) a person jumped in front of the train. (Horrible) This created a huge delay in train operations. About 2 hours total. 

Another side note, suicide in the Japanese culture brings huge shame to the family. Simultaneously, the family is responsible for paying for the damages to include: train delays or train damage. It is horrible and tragic. 

Ok. Let me regroup. Back to me waiting for Dave in Kanazawa- Hakkei and him not being able to leave Shiori. We realize he could switch train lines and we could meet in Zushi. From there we could continue our trek together to Yokohama. So, I backtrack. Dave walks to the other side of Yokosuka. He catches his train, I catch mine, he meets me at the shin-Zushi station, with onigiri and I have roadies. We are both starving, but no food on the train. And please don’t make a spectacle by eating. Instead, I encouraged Dave to have a sip of his roadie. I mean after an hour of essentially going backwards, we both needed a drink. And so he opens his fizzy water and it explodes!!  All over the train. Seriously. Gaijin!! (Foreigners!) Dave runs off the train (still at station) and I’m using wet wipes to attempt to clean it up. OMG. Awful. The Japanese guy next to me moves away because he’s embarrassed for us. As we are wiping the floor, a sweet Japanese lady across the aisle offers us a pack of tissues. Arigatōgozaimas. We continue to clean (the train is moving) there are no trash cans (I use a recycle bag from my purse). OMG. So, embarrassing. My face was bright red. When we finish, the same sweet Japanese lady then offers us a hand cleaning towel. OMG. Again. Seriously. I feel like a moron. Arigatōgozaimas. I’m sitting across from her bowing with my bright red face. Go big or go home, right. Oh, yeah. We made a big spectacle and stayed on the train. We owned that spectacle. Like a boss! 

I was ready to jump off when we passed our housing stop. Remember, we had to backtrack. Dave said “just relax.”  When the sweet Japanese lady exited the train I bowed at least three times and Dave did too. She smiled and return our bows. 

The rest of the afternoon, thankfully, was a delight. Blue skies and sunshine on a patio with American beer. It was delightful. 

I realized we were in the same area as the Cat Cafe and attempted to find the same Ramen place Laila and I ate that day. No luck. Instead, we found a conveyor belt Sushi. Sushi you order is delivered to you via a train. Kawaii!! 

So many lessons learned today. Like life is an adventure, have fun. And of course, use the flavored water for roadies… they don’t fizz so much!