Golden Week: Kobe

Hello, suckers !

It's been a while, I know. You missed me? Me too! Kidding. I was too busy having a good time!

I should write something about daily life, university stuff, seeing a geisha show, my lousy Japanese knowledge, the karate class I'm taking, life without a cell phone... But instead I'll write about my trip to Shikoku last week, during the Golden Week. During this week where 3 days are national holidays, there is no school (well... that was my own interpretation I guess) and no work. Say no more, I thought! I'm off to discover this crazy country! 

BTW don't ask me silly questions like 'why is it called the Golden Week?' because seriously, who gives a damn?

A friend and I were supposed to go to South Korea, but then no. So I looked at a map, noticed the closeness to the island of Shikoku and did what I always do in case of doubt: I logged to Couchsurfing, where I checked the people around this island. Found nice and crazy people, sent a load of requests, checked the prices and timetables of ferries, trains, and night bus back to Kyoto. And then everything was settled.

Check this map out, if your lack of general knowledge prevents you from already knowing the area.  

Made with love

Stolen from GoogleMaps, hence the low quality, AH!

So this weird trip would first lead me to Kobe, then by ferry to Shikoku, messing around in the Northern part of the island, then ferry to Hiroshima for 1 1/2 days, leaving on Sunday evening by night bus. By the way I had a scheduled Japanese test on Monday morning. Me, crazy? Come on. No risk no fun! (You know I wouldn't be mentioning it if something big wasn't coming...)

History has shown us that if I am anyhow involved in a trip, chances are high it will end in a desastrous way. This time not as badly as the Chilean expedition, though. But don't worry, tears of despair have been shed. 

I guess I should start with the beginning. Before leaving I had double-checked the time tables of the ferry from Kobe, asking my CS in Shikoku to translate the internet site. Since I was going to take a ferry on the Sunday preceding the GW, I was somehow anticipating that something wrong was going to happen. But he said that everything was fine and that the schedules were normal. 

So I visited Kobe on this sunny Sunday morning and spent 2 hours there. Cute city, has an interesting old-victorian-houses neighbourhood, called Kitano, that feels like San Francisco. The city is also very hilly. 

Ooops! This is not what I meant by victorian style.

I absolutely loved the Moegi house, built in 1903 for some US consul or something.

Ah, that's more like it.

May I get you some tea?

The house had been damaged by the 1995 earthquake, but has been restaured since and still looks authentic. The rooms are furnished like in the good old times. 

From there, I went to the port to buy my ferry ticket that was supposed to leave a few hours later, at 15h30. In case you are wondering, I hadn't called the company to booked a ticket, as ferry usually aren't crowded. And... well. I arrived at the port, happy to be early, eager to give the cashier my precious savings in exchange for promissing overseas adventures. And then he said something that did sound like the next ferry was leaving at 20h15. 

Ouch. Wait, didn't I ask the CS to make sure my ferry was going to be on time? Damn. Apparently the schedules were different on a Golden Week Sunday. Since I stopped relying on myself in March 2012, I was sincerely hoping I could count on other people, but apparently I can't. 

Anyway. So I gathered my thoughts and tried to ignore that little voice in my head that was mocking me: the ferry lasts about 4 hours. I would be arriving in Takamatsu after 12am - and my CSers were a couple with young children. Would they still be sleeping? Should I stay one night in a hostel? Should I delay my trip? I found a payphone to call them and ask directly. Ahah. An automatic voice said something like 'your call cannot be completed as dialed'. Wait, am I so stupid to the extent of being physically unable to note down a number that was given to me, or had my CS set a curse on me? Is my karma that bad? 

So, what could I do? I considered going home and staying there. By home, I meant Europe. But then I thought that I could simply check online to see if my IQ was in deed below 30, or if my CS hated me and had given me a wrong number. But I wasn't keen on spending money for an internet connection: yes, I'm a disgusting cheapo. But you like that way, otherwise you wouldn't be reading those lines. For the record, 30 minutes costs about 1€, but hey, it's 1€ I could spend on other things like FOOD. I made a deal with myself:

- find free internet. 

- check if the number I had written down is correct. If yes --> I would be treating myself with sweet things I could buy with the money saved; if no --> I would be depressed for being so stupid so I would definitely need something sweet to eat. 

- send a message to the CS asking for new number, or calling him with the real number.

So, in a world where you have to pay for things as simple as water, where can you get free internet access? I'm not talking about wifi, as I hadn't brought my computer with me. Luckily, my experience of being cheapo taught me a few tricks over the years. First: never underestimate the kindness of human nature. Second: learn how to inspire compassion. And third: high class hotels sometimes offer complimentary internet access to their guests.

Keeping those rules in mind, I set my course to the next 4 stars hotel. 

And there I almost had it: I started in Japanese but quickly after 2 words, switched to English. Mistake. Japanese people hear English, but can't distinguish accents - how can I inspire compassion to somebody immune to the French accent? She said something like they do have a computer room, but they are only for guests. And with this simple sentence God banished me away from the Eden Garden because I had bitten in the Apple of Globalization. 

I learned from this mistake and headed to the next hotel located 50 meters away. I tried my best, and by chance the clerk spoke a few words of French, and was very happy to help a ridiculous French girl needing assistance. Unfortunately the hotel didn't have an internet access, but the man indicated me some other hotel that disposes of such a computer. And off I went. The 3rd attempt was the luckiest: on the way I had prepared some sentences (which would sound like 'I'm sorry, I can't meet my friend, because telephone wrong number, I use internet, it's ok?) and it worked. Nice person. So I checked the number.

Raise your hands, dear readers. Please tell me. How many of you think I wrote it down correctly? How many people still have hope in me? How much faith do I still inspire you? 

And the correct answer is... I was right. I had the good number. From that point I stopped caring about the sake of humanity. Because Couchsurfing had been corrupted. For me there is nothing more sacred than making sure my CSers know how to get to my place, and can contact me by email and cell phone. But anyway. So what could I do? What kind of email should I send? Insults? Kind, polite and diplomatic way of indicating how deep in a cowpat I had landed because of the ferry checking + cell phone number bug? 

I opted for n°2. I kindly asked him to double check the cell phone, and asking if it was ok if I would arrive around 12 am, saying that I could stay in a hotel if it was too late. For the record, I still don't have a Japanese cell phone. This will be the reason for another post another day. So he couldn't contact me with the real number... I had to log in at some other moment later in the afternoon, before taking the ferry. But hey, I had spared about 200 yen (2€) so I was about to feast.

Then I wanted to check the time and noticed I had lost my watch. My dearest, cute little English watch and I took separate paths, to my great sadness. So I had a better reason to stuff myself with transfats - after that I walked around again. Went to the local Chinatown, which is supposed to 'feel like any Chinatown around the world', quoting my lousy guide book. I don't want to brag about the fact that I've seen many, but in deed, I've seen many Chinatowns around the USA, and I'm not talking about the Manhattan tourist crap - and believe me when I say a typical Chinatown stinks, is dirty, the people are impolite, and you can buy weird but not overpriced stuff. Nothing like the clean, neat, organized Chinatown in Kobe. Well, you're in Japan, what can you expect? Anyway. Who cares? They all look the same anyway. Japanese, Chinese, what ever. As you see I was still pissed about my watch and the cell phone wrong number. 

Hope you'll all choke eating your shark fin soup

 

A few hours later, I found another free internet access and had received a message from the CS apologizing, saying I could stay without any problem. So I lived again. Went to the port, and got ready to embark to the ferry to Takamatsu in Shikoku.

That was a big ferry.

Next episode: Shikoku. I think Hiroshima will be the topic of another message... The trip has just started!