Independence

During the last 3 days of my adventure here in Japan, I have been on my own during the daytime while Joel is at work. Although I've done really well and have guided myself through the foreign wonderland that is Kyoto, I can't help but feel somewhat alienated. I can't speak the language, although I can say "Where's the bathroom" and "Can you speak English." It doesn't mean I'll know what they say in response! I have no idea where I'm going aside from the streets that surround my apartment building. And at this time, I have no way of contacting Joel or anyone else for that matter if I get in a bind. Something I've been pondering about as well is how reliant myself and millions of other people have come to depend on smart phones to get them through their day. My navigational skills are somewhat extinct due to this modern commodity.  Thanks to Garmin, Siri on the IPhone, or mapquest guiding yourself to your final destination seems pretty mindless. Smartphone-less, all I have is my wit and that natural instinct that traveling soul's tend to have. This has left me feeling somewhat handicapped. 

On my first day I ventured to the conveyer belt sushi place that Joel and I have grown very fond of. No problems there, I know exactly where that is. But wouldn't you know that as soon as I got into the restaurant there's a line of people. I observed that everyone was checking into this kiosk and getting a number so they could be seated, of course the kiosk is all in Japanese! I panicked a bit while staring at the foreign kanji symbols. I then saw the familiar face of the woman who has been working there every time Joel and I are in. I said "Can you help me?" and pointed to the kiosk. I knew she couldn't understand me, but it was the only thing I could manage to get out since I left my Japanese phrase book at home. She giggled and helped me, making my sushi excursion a success! I then charted my way to the supermarket to grab some necessities for dinner. My confidence rose a little after my first successful day. 

The second day on my own I didn't have much planned other than going to the grocery store again to grab some fresh fish and vegetables for that night's dinner. While standing in line for the elevator on my floor of the apartment building, a middle-aged Japanese woman approached me obviously waiting for the elevator as well. She started speaking to me in Japanese. Feeling very foolish for not knowing how to say "I can't speak Japanese" in Japanese, I said it in clear English so maybe she'd get the idea. She then asked me if I spoke Spanish, in Spanish! This was absolutely hysterical to me because it was the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth, however, having took a couple years in college and four years in high school I could make out what she was saying. Believe me when I say my Spanish is very rusty, nonetheless it proved to be a great medium for us to communicate by! We talked about how hot it was outside and then parted ways with me saying "Konichiwa!" Confidence is growing even higher now. 

Here we are on my third day by myself and I was faced with the hardest task yet! Joel wanted me to meet him for lunch which meant me navigating the public transportation system by myself. To everyone else it might seem pretty straight forward, however I've never lived in a city where public transportation is the norm so it's a little foreign to me. Joel drew a little map for me and gave me instructions on how to get there. Also being that this is payday for Joel we were super low on money at the beginning of the day, so I had the exact amount of change for one bus fair, and nothing more. Afraid I would mess up and get stranded, I studied what I was supposed to do. I was to get on at Horikawa Imadegawa and get off at the Shijo Kawaramatchi bus stop. Sounds easy enough right? After I got on, I followed the bus on my map stop by stop to ensure that I stayed on the right path. I successfully got off at the right stop. Proud of myself and standing there waiting for Joel, I pulled out my hand drawn map, and then a sinking feeling. The land marks that Joel had drawn didn't match where I was! Joel later explained to me that he was drawing what I would see when I got back onto a bus to come home, however I didn't realize this at the time. I was a little panicked but thought "Ok Nat, let's wait here for a bit and if he doesn't come you'll just have to follow the map and walk back home." After about 10 minutes and still no sign of Joel, I felt a little helpless. But then the crowds parted and my extremely tall husband appeared in the sea of small people. Thank God! 

We enjoyed a nice lunch, took some silly pictures in a picture booth (will post soon), and then he walked me to the large shopping center Takashimaya for me to browse. On my own again! This time I felt accomplished for navigating myself. It might seem like a small task to some, but it was a self affirming moment for me. As I was leaving Takashimaya and stepping onto the first step of the bus home, I heard "Nijo Castle?" I knew it was an American voice, so I turned and said "Yes take this bus to Nijo Castle." Wow, I'm actually giving someone else directions, I'll be a local soon enough! The young man sat in a seat beside me and I navigated him to Nijo Castle and even alerted him when his stop was coming up. I felt very accomplished, I even showed him where to pay for his fare. My confidence is strong now knowing that I've got the wit, knowledge, and pure gut instinct to get me through this adventure! 

Thanks for reading, will post more soon! :)