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9/12 (2)
I snuck out of the office a few minutes early to go change into jeans and I waited quietly in the locker room for 4:25 to roll around. At that point I sprinted from the building, got on my bike, and raced to the station with my bag. I made it in time, though I had some embarrassment at the station when I tried to scan my ticket in the turnstiles and it kept rejecting me. I looked to the little old man behind me for instruction and he just smiled blankly. I made some comments in Japanese, making it clear that he could tell me what to do in Japanese, but it was a no-go. After several failed attempts and a line forming behind me, I finally caught the eye of the window manager and he scanned my tickets himself. What the heck. Going through a transfer later, I saw a sign that said, “grey backed tickets at the window, please” in English. So maybe it’s the same at all stations, just my station doesn’t have a sign.
I took the suzuran to Sapporo, so it was a lavish limited express train, and I had a reserved seat so it was even better. Unfortunately it was about 65 bucks for the two trains and bus it took to visit The Canadian in one direction. Mostly I slept and looked out the window and saw some cool stuff, like a half pipe built in someone’s driveway in a small town and some construction cones in the shape of monkeys lol
I then had 20 minutes to transfer to a different train in Sapporo, which I thought was more than enough time. I looked up the words I’d need in advance so I'd be ready if I needed to ask for help, and I knew the kanji for the cities I was heading for...but when I got off the train I couldn’t find anything about what route line was which. I knew I needed a specific one, but there was no signage and Sapporo station is GIGANTIC. Finally, after walking around for 10 minutes, I asked a man in a window for fare adjustment and he told me platform 4, which happened to be right next to where I started. How was I supposed to know it was the right one?? It’s very stressful, because the train pulls in for 20 seconds and then it leaves. You have to make decisions fast and if you miss it, it’s gone! I don’t like Sapporo station at all for traveling. In the future, I will avoid it if I can.
It was especially stresful because there were people EVERYWHERE and the train was so crowded. Waiting in line for the train, I realized there was no seat number on my 2nd ticket even though I’d asked for reserved seating. I thought maybe I had the same seat number as before so they'd omitted it, and I headed for the reserved car when the train pulled in.
There was a guy in my seat. It was pretty empty in the car though, compared to the others, so I just sucked it up and sat somewhere else, waiting for the ticket taker. When he arrived, he came over, looked at my ticket and said, “...uhh...oh...reserved...this...reserved.” I answered him in Japanese, “They didn’t give me a reserved ticket? I asked for a reserved seat.” He was relieved to hear Japanese and reiterated that they didn’t. When I asked him how much the extra fee was, it was only 3 dollars so I paid it and wouldn’t have to go into the crowded cars. Not quite worthwhile, especially because it was a short time, but it was better than moving and causing a ruckus. When he left, he told me I had good Japanese, which made me feel conflicted because I knew I used the wrong version of the “to give” verb. Again with the, “in Japan everyone tells you your Japanese is good even if you only know one word” business.
The whole thing just kind of sucked, because I really didn’t need the reserved seat on the way to Sapporo on the empty train I was familiar with, so if he was going to make a mistake giving me the ticket, I’d rather it have been the other way around. Plus the reserved seat to Sapporo was 1800 yen and the reserved seat from Sapporo was 300 yen :/
Pulling into the moderately bigger city, I realized this might be a place I’d like to go back to. I got off, went to the bus station, bought some bread and waited for the bus. Unfortuantely I screwed up, I thought I was buying beef filled bread but really I was buying milk bread (kanji, y'know?). So...I just ate a loaf of bread for dinner.
After riding for an hour, I panicked a little because I heard a similarly named bus stop to the one I was looking for, then I stopped panicking when the one after it wasn’t the one after mine, but then I panicked again as another 10 minutes passed and already the fare was up to the amount mine was supposed to be. It all worked out though, and I stepped off the bus, turned to the first woman, and asked her where the shrine was. Not a block later, I saw very strange looking Japanese people walking my way. When one of them crouched to the ground in a ready pose and stuck out his arms, I knew they weren't Japanese, they were my Canadian friends.
We picked up some goodies to snack on and eat for breakfast at the conbini and I got a “Chestnut and Milk flavored Love Love Sand,” (lol, they like to shorten sandwich to sand, which is pretty Engrishy). Together, we drank $4 wine, which is nowhere near the quality of Two Buck Chuck, and with that wine we set the mood for a drunken showing of "Labyrinth" – now that’s what I call a party! As a friend in Madison put it upon hearing this story, “Drunk and watching David Bowie…that just sounds redundant!”
I snuck out of the office a few minutes early to go change into jeans and I waited quietly in the locker room for 4:25 to roll around. At that point I sprinted from the building, got on my bike, and raced to the station with my bag. I made it in time, though I had some embarrassment at the station when I tried to scan my ticket in the turnstiles and it kept rejecting me. I looked to the little old man behind me for instruction and he just smiled blankly. I made some comments in Japanese, making it clear that he could tell me what to do in Japanese, but it was a no-go. After several failed attempts and a line forming behind me, I finally caught the eye of the window manager and he scanned my tickets himself. What the heck. Going through a transfer later, I saw a sign that said, “grey backed tickets at the window, please” in English. So maybe it’s the same at all stations, just my station doesn’t have a sign.
I took the suzuran to Sapporo, so it was a lavish limited express train, and I had a reserved seat so it was even better. Unfortunately it was about 65 bucks for the two trains and bus it took to visit The Canadian in one direction. Mostly I slept and looked out the window and saw some cool stuff, like a half pipe built in someone’s driveway in a small town and some construction cones in the shape of monkeys lol
I then had 20 minutes to transfer to a different train in Sapporo, which I thought was more than enough time. I looked up the words I’d need in advance so I'd be ready if I needed to ask for help, and I knew the kanji for the cities I was heading for...but when I got off the train I couldn’t find anything about what route line was which. I knew I needed a specific one, but there was no signage and Sapporo station is GIGANTIC. Finally, after walking around for 10 minutes, I asked a man in a window for fare adjustment and he told me platform 4, which happened to be right next to where I started. How was I supposed to know it was the right one?? It’s very stressful, because the train pulls in for 20 seconds and then it leaves. You have to make decisions fast and if you miss it, it’s gone! I don’t like Sapporo station at all for traveling. In the future, I will avoid it if I can.
It was especially stresful because there were people EVERYWHERE and the train was so crowded. Waiting in line for the train, I realized there was no seat number on my 2nd ticket even though I’d asked for reserved seating. I thought maybe I had the same seat number as before so they'd omitted it, and I headed for the reserved car when the train pulled in.
There was a guy in my seat. It was pretty empty in the car though, compared to the others, so I just sucked it up and sat somewhere else, waiting for the ticket taker. When he arrived, he came over, looked at my ticket and said, “...uhh...oh...reserved...this...reserved.” I answered him in Japanese, “They didn’t give me a reserved ticket? I asked for a reserved seat.” He was relieved to hear Japanese and reiterated that they didn’t. When I asked him how much the extra fee was, it was only 3 dollars so I paid it and wouldn’t have to go into the crowded cars. Not quite worthwhile, especially because it was a short time, but it was better than moving and causing a ruckus. When he left, he told me I had good Japanese, which made me feel conflicted because I knew I used the wrong version of the “to give” verb. Again with the, “in Japan everyone tells you your Japanese is good even if you only know one word” business.
The whole thing just kind of sucked, because I really didn’t need the reserved seat on the way to Sapporo on the empty train I was familiar with, so if he was going to make a mistake giving me the ticket, I’d rather it have been the other way around. Plus the reserved seat to Sapporo was 1800 yen and the reserved seat from Sapporo was 300 yen :/
Pulling into the moderately bigger city, I realized this might be a place I’d like to go back to. I got off, went to the bus station, bought some bread and waited for the bus. Unfortuantely I screwed up, I thought I was buying beef filled bread but really I was buying milk bread (kanji, y'know?). So...I just ate a loaf of bread for dinner.
After riding for an hour, I panicked a little because I heard a similarly named bus stop to the one I was looking for, then I stopped panicking when the one after it wasn’t the one after mine, but then I panicked again as another 10 minutes passed and already the fare was up to the amount mine was supposed to be. It all worked out though, and I stepped off the bus, turned to the first woman, and asked her where the shrine was. Not a block later, I saw very strange looking Japanese people walking my way. When one of them crouched to the ground in a ready pose and stuck out his arms, I knew they weren't Japanese, they were my Canadian friends.
We picked up some goodies to snack on and eat for breakfast at the conbini and I got a “Chestnut and Milk flavored Love Love Sand,” (lol, they like to shorten sandwich to sand, which is pretty Engrishy). Together, we drank $4 wine, which is nowhere near the quality of Two Buck Chuck, and with that wine we set the mood for a drunken showing of "Labyrinth" – now that’s what I call a party! As a friend in Madison put it upon hearing this story, “Drunk and watching David Bowie…that just sounds redundant!”