School ended on Thursday the 18th I believe. Which left Friday open! The plan was to drive down to Nagoya City (about 3+hrs by car) and pick them up from the airport, then bring them back home. Apparently they decided to tell me AFTER I made these plans that I'd be missing the farewell party for the teachers that were leaving. Ah well.
So I took my nice little manual yellow-plate car down the highway towards Nagoya. Highway tolls here are crazy expensive, one way to Nagoya was maybe about $45, just for the permission to drive, not including gas! I was doing great with my google map directions, got off the highways, and started towards the home stretch. Then the car started...feeling funny. I thought I could check it out when I got to the airport, so I kept going. Stopped for a red light, and stayed stopped. This was at about 6 or 7 at night, it was dark, strange city, I didn't know the language very well, and I was on a schedule. First thing, I turned on my blinkers and got out of the car. Then pulled out my handy-dandy cellphone and called the Japanese equivalent of 911, 119. No one spoke English, they said I really should call somewhere else, but where I didn't know. And I couldn't tell them where I was to top it off.
In comes my saviors. A car pulls over to the side of the road and a bunch of foreigners come out, asking if I want help. "YES. Ohmygoodnesthankyouthankyouidontknowwhattodo."
Turns out they were missionaries and dancers from the US. The driver, Ron, had been living in Japan with his wife for 20 years and spoke fluent Japanese. The others were visiting through the church, I think, for a few months. Ron used my cell phone to call my friend Katsuno-san at the Board of Education to explain what happened. Since it was a rental car and the Board is technically responsible for my well-being and safety, there was a lot of talking and red tape to get through very quickly. First we thought that I'd have to get a tow truck to bring the car to a lot for $180. No, that wasn't a typo. Then, coincidences and miracles abound, a
Japanese guy stops to ask what was up, and if he could help. Turns out his in-laws own a car rental/repair shop and can tow it for a whole lot less, if not for free. He gives them a call, and they come to the scene (but only after about 6 phone calls to and from Katsuno-san and the place I rent my car out from).
At first, the front wheels were completely locked up so we couldn't move the car anywhere out of the road. Then after quite a bit of pushing and rocking the boat (^^;) they were freed and we pushed it to a parking lot nearby. After we were sure that the car would get to the lot that night, Ron dropped off the others at his house and drove me to the airport. My parents by then were wondering why I wasn't there to greet them at arrivals. They had called earlier, finally got hold of me, only to have me tell them something like: the car broke down, we gotta improvise, see you in a bit.
It was great to see them again. I thought I'd see dad first because of his height, but instead I saw a white floof through the window and knew it was mom (or at least her hair. Or a gigantic dandelion.). After some quick hugs, there were some quick introductions and we were off to look at hotels. We had decided previously that my parents and I would stay the night in Nagoya in a hotel and get picked up the next morning by Katsuno-san. One of the hotels connected to the airport was pretty reasonable, about $135 for one single and two double rooms. Ron drove home for the night and mom, dad and I sat up a few hours talking and trying to unwind.
The next morning, we woke up to a breakfast buffet (complete with "American" corn salad!) and made a half dozen phone calls. (Thank god I charged the cell phone before I left, ne? I'm really lookin forward to last months' bill...) Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san from the Board of Education came and picked us up, but wait, I forgot my bag in Ron's car! So another trip to a nice park near the water was made, all the foreigners from the night before were thanked (which included giving them some of my Easter basket candy), and pictures were taken. We went to the car lot and checked up on the poor thing, said our farewells, and headed off for home!
Mom and Dad didn't say too much during the ride, since there was quite a large language barrier. We stopped at a very nice rest area for a late lunch, which proved very interesting. Dad got omurice I believe, which is ind of like an omelet on top of rice. Mon and I got a tonkatsu set, which is a piece of breaded and deep fried pork with a salad, rice, and soup. Katsuno-san and Sasaki-san got a really tasty looking eel set. Sasaki-san and a gentleman from the table next to us had a lot of fun watching my parents try to eat with chopsticks, especially mom. It certainly took us a while, and I tried to urge them to finish their plates (the Japanese way!), but it was a lot of food. Dad payed for the food, which seriously upset our two hosts (sorry!).
We got dropped off at my apartment, and sat down to finally relax. The apartment I lovingly cleaned and scrubbed on my hands and knees promptly became messy as a pigsty. Clothe exploded across the floor, papers splatted on the tables, computers booting up, and food wrappers drifting their way through the rubble, since the garbage system here is so intense that I wouldn't let them throw anything out. It was great to be home.
The next day, Sunday, Nick dropped us off at the bus stop in Iida where we would get on the wonderful Hana (flower!) bus for Kyoto. Mrs. Mizuno (an English teacher) and her husband (who maybe spoke better English than her) met us there to make sure we got on the right bus. We finally did, but unfortunately, the highway was closed for part of the way due to an accident. Which meant we took windy country roads that no bus should ever drive on and 1.5 hrs to go what should have taken us maybe 30 minutes. All the while, mom was having fun looking out the side of the bus straight down sheer cliffs. Notice the sarcasm? When we finally got near to Kyoto, the traffic was extremely bad due to congestion and everyone driving during the peak travel/vacation season.
We finally arrived in Kyoto, at the main station. There were taxis lined up near the station in 3 groups which I read to be small, medium, and large. I learned later that the sizes referred to the size of car and the price for the larger cars was larger than the other. The main way of transportation there is by city bus, so we found one bound for the general location of our hotel and boarded. Big mistake. There happened to be a parade through the city street, in which one land was blocked off. It made traffic a nightmare. We were smushed in with no breathing room on a crowded bus that didn't go anywhere. It took maybe half an hour for a 5 minute drive.
We (finally) got off the bus and headed for the general direction o the ryokan, a traditional Japanese-style inn. We asked a nice older lady on the street where it was, and she escorted us right up to the doorstep.
Some pictures:
Some pot-heads outside the hotel at Nagoya.
A rhino outside same hotel. Why? I have no idea.
This concludes part 2, next part: Kyoto!
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