I’m with a couple country boys from Gifu (dorm mates), and we’re heading to one of the largest cities in the world. Typhoon Etau (“storm cloud” – not Japanese) is creeping across Japan. We left Anpachi just before it hit. It will probably catch up with us in Tokyo.
I barely got any sleep last night. Packing. Writing important emails. No really, they were important! Skipped going to the cafeteria for breakfast; as usual, no time. John, Alex, and I (Ben had other “bigger” plans, and Shirley decided to wait a day for possibly better weather) headed out at 7:45, running for the bus to Ogaki. We were rushed, and by the time we got on the bus, we were very wet. About 15 minutes later, we arrived in Ogaki; we had a bit of time to kill before taking the train, so we grabbed something to eat at Mr.Donut.
Train from Ogaki to Hasamatsu: ~2 hours
At Hasamatsu, we had to transfer to the train heading to Atami. This is the train I am currently on. When we transferred, I was not at all prepared for the rush of people to fill the train. We had to get off, but as soon as the doors opened, a flood of people rushed in. I’d like to describe it as opening a container under water. John expected this, and escaped before being crushed by the flow of people. Alex and I, however, were still scrambling to get our bags, and were pushed right back into our seats by the masses. Eventually, we squeezed out, holding our bags above our heads and repeating “sumimasen” over and over. I thought we were gonna get stuck on that train and end up backtracking! Luckily, we escaped. I’ve NEVER in my ENTIRE LIFE seen a huge group of people panic so much to get a seat! It’s like musical chairs: when the doors open, the music stopped, and whoever doesn’t get seat is SOTO!