I survived!

Two quick pieces of information!

1- Sunday, I experienced my first earthquake here in Japan. It wasn't a big one, in fact, I thought that maybe a huge truck was going down the road, until I realized that it was wayyyyy too long of a time for that to happen and too much shaking (beside the fact that that never happens). The house was a vibratin' and the lamp overhead was swinging just a bit. I kinda just stood there in awe and looked up and thought, wow, it's an earthquake.

And then it stopped.

2- Not only that, but I also survived my first rush-hour train ride this morning. I went to school to sign up and have a trial class, and I was thinking as I got on the platform this morning- wow, there's a lot of people on this track. Not too many, but enough.

Then the train came up and the windows were... black. That's right, it was packed like sardines in there. There were about 6 people before me waiting to get in line. And I watched in amazement as the doors open. The business man who was standing in the middle where the doors meet stepped out for a second to let people off.

No one budged. Not that they could if they wanted to. So, he shrugged his shoulders and stepped backward, back into the train. And that, my friends, was when my eyebrows went up and my jaw went down. All I could think was, oh my gosh, how am I going to get on this train? There is literally no room.

And then I watched the people in front of me just step onto the train, pushing and they magically fit. The guy who was getting on at the same time as me, just went in shoulders first... and so in I kinda pushed myself too.

We were standing there, waiting for the doors to close and the train to go to the next stop when a guy came running down the stairs to the jump on the train, and what do you know- he jumped in right beside me. I was like... really?

Anyway, the doors closed, and thankfully not on me, but on the bag of that guy standing next to me. So, with an available hand, I tried to help pull it in and the officer on the platform helped push it in from outside as well.

On we went for a minute until the next stop, and as we pulled up, I saw even longer lines of people waiting to get on this train. And yes, comparatively fewer people got off the train than got on and farther into the train I got pushed.

If you had a personal bubble, it no longer would exist at this point, and boy, was it uncomfortable. I will leave it at that.

Anyway, thus I continued for most of the way to my destination: the last stop on my line. And the last 3 minutes or so, it was full-- certainly stuffed by any American standard, but it wasn't bad, and I felt free to breathe.

So, then was the hard part of navigating myself through the station to the exit that I needed to take and then actually make it to school, having only been there once before (mind you, once you're out of the station, it's pretty easy-- if you get the right exit.

And I didn't. In fact, I really went the wrong way, and when I got out, I had no idea which way to go. So, I prayed and asked God to guide me. More recently, I've particularly noticed that when I'm lost, I just kinda pray lightly and just go with the flow- trying to be observant, but not stressing out. So, I walked around the station (and I chose the right way!) and I just kept going until I recognized the street that I was supposed to continue on.

I made it to school on time and enjoyed my trial class, though it was really really easy. I registered, gave them money and all the things I had to take along, got my books and headed out, where I needed to go to a bookstore Mark had pointed me in the direction of. With the general directions, I just kinda made decisions as I went along and I made it perfectly there without having to backtrack or anything...

Anyway, I needed to buy the English version of my book (since it's all in Japanese) that also has grammatical notes. I did and headed back and was on a way better train- meaning that the seats were almost all taken and people randomly standing here and there.... It felt so beautiful.

In fact, I'm considering leaving earlier so I don't have to deal with the craziness.

But that's that, and I thought I'd share my adventurous day with you... Will write about the thank you party later. It was lovely.