Trip: Day 1 The Arrival
Ouch, I have to say that arriving to Narita Airport is daunting at first. You barely see English, all you hear is Japanese, it's just weird. I had to take the train from Narita to Tokyo Station... The guy selling tickets did not understand much English. I got the ticket no problem, but it was for a train at a specific time and after just coming out of the plane, I had no clue the time it was. I was trying to ask for the time, but he had no idea what I was asking because he was just saying all the numbers on my ticket, first it was the time of the train, then the train wagon itself. At that point I knew it was pointless and that I just had to go to the train.
From Narita, it's quite easy to find the train. Now I got to where I think I was supposed to be, but looking at the ticket, it was quite hard to figure out where exactly, there was a lot of numbers and all the text was in Japanese. finally, a women sat beside me and I noticed she was reading an english book! I ask her if I was at the right train, she said that I was but I had to move down since my wagon was #2.
While waiting for the train, I met this American who was going to Tokyo for a couple of days. By pure luck, his seat was right beside mine, so we talked about Japan and trips in general during the hour trip to the Tokyo Station.
Ok now, I had said that Narita was easy to figure out, well Tokyo Station is the complete opposite. It was hell, pure hell! I've never felt so lost in my life. I somehow managed to take the right train but I had to ask a couple of persons on the way. The ticket this time was worst then my first because it was a "No Reserve" ticket, which means, there is no seat associated with the ticket, which implies that you can take any train going your direction. Think of the worst subway station you've been too, add 10X the number of trains coming and going from that station and add the complexity of the language barrier which is worst then a French - English barrier, trust me!
On the train to Shin-Yokohama, there was this guy, we will call him the train police. He wanders from wagon to wagon, I would guest making sure all is good. Anyways, the thing, when entering a wagon, he bows and also when leaving. These Japanese are so very curteous.
The thing that was most fascinating, was that everything is so clean, I mean I could eat on the ground it's so clean. The trains so clean and shiny, you would feel bad entering with wet shows. I hear the subway is as clean!
From Narita, it's quite easy to find the train. Now I got to where I think I was supposed to be, but looking at the ticket, it was quite hard to figure out where exactly, there was a lot of numbers and all the text was in Japanese. finally, a women sat beside me and I noticed she was reading an english book! I ask her if I was at the right train, she said that I was but I had to move down since my wagon was #2.
While waiting for the train, I met this American who was going to Tokyo for a couple of days. By pure luck, his seat was right beside mine, so we talked about Japan and trips in general during the hour trip to the Tokyo Station.
Ok now, I had said that Narita was easy to figure out, well Tokyo Station is the complete opposite. It was hell, pure hell! I've never felt so lost in my life. I somehow managed to take the right train but I had to ask a couple of persons on the way. The ticket this time was worst then my first because it was a "No Reserve" ticket, which means, there is no seat associated with the ticket, which implies that you can take any train going your direction. Think of the worst subway station you've been too, add 10X the number of trains coming and going from that station and add the complexity of the language barrier which is worst then a French - English barrier, trust me!
On the train to Shin-Yokohama, there was this guy, we will call him the train police. He wanders from wagon to wagon, I would guest making sure all is good. Anyways, the thing, when entering a wagon, he bows and also when leaving. These Japanese are so very curteous.
The thing that was most fascinating, was that everything is so clean, I mean I could eat on the ground it's so clean. The trains so clean and shiny, you would feel bad entering with wet shows. I hear the subway is as clean!
posted by Jason at 1/24/2006 06:46:00 AM
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