Christina and I booked our tickets at the same exact time, and Kris booked separately. It took us about 20 minutes to figure out what was going on. Thank gosh for Christina's great Japanese.
So....sigh.... They stuck Christina and Kris on one bus. And they stuck me on a bus by myself. The story gets crazier, trust me. hahaha. (It was really crazy as it was happening! I'm sure there are no mouths dropping open while reading this.)
Of course everyone was looking at me, but no one said anything. So I sat down. Thats what you do in a bus right? I was so happy because for an hour and a half I had a window seat, and and EMPTY aisle seat next to me, and I didn't know that my bus had another pickup. So when the next pickup happened, the Japanese girl was looking at me like "Get out of my seat, bi***". Its so funny that the people that worked for the bus line couldn't just use nice body language to ask me to change seats. Its like 10 min of them talking on their radios, trying to figure out what to do with the foreigner.
So I finally found my assigned seat. In the far far back of the bus, window. This is the worst seat there is. Can't recline. Can't rest head on window because we are over some kind of weird vent. I must have been right over a wheel. I don't know, but it was HOT, and even without resting my head, it was hot. It was seriously the most uncomfortable thing ever.
Okay...so...MY PHONE RUNS OUT OF BATTERIES! It didn't give me any kind of warning beeping or anything. It just turns off. I didn't have time to warn Christina or Kris on the other bus...which was btw an hour and half ahead of me because of our stupid second pickup.
haha. I'm laughing right now, but its not yet fun laughing, like maybe it will be in a few years...its crying laughing, like that SUCKED.
So I was able to get my phone on long enough to grab Christina's phone number. So every payphone I saw at every rest stop, I tried to call her, but we were never at rest stops at the same time, and we can't have our phones on in the bus.
I get into Tokyo, at this point not knowing that Christina is an hour an a half ahead of me. The stupid bus man just wanted me gone. I tried saying "Watashi no tomodachi wa doko desu ka?" Which should mean: where are my friends...and he knew darn well who my friends were...we were the only foreigners, and he knew. We all talked to him before we left. He just pointed at some bus, like to get me away. That bus was DEFINITELY not the right bus. Sigh.
I honestly had this cross through my mind: "I am going to have to sleep here on the street for 3 or 4 days until the bus comes back". I was just so lost. I had gotten no sleep. No one speaks English. I got a hold of Christina, and they were under the impression that I got there first, so they thought I went to the hostel.
It was really hard to find my way around the subway system and meet them at that hostel.
What was funny is that the couple times I tried to ask for directions, I spoke VERY slowly and pointed at the address...and the person would speak perfect English back. I wish everyone wore nametags with what languages they speak, so I wouldn't sound dumb going "Dooooo yooooou knoooooow wheeeeeere thiiiiiiis plaaaaaaace iiiiis?" But no one knew where this crazy hostel was.
I found an AU, which is my cell-phone company, so I tried to go in and buy a new battery. He wasn't getting me. He plugged in my phone, and after being on the radio/phone (like the bus guy) for 10 min..he stuttered out "It just ran out of batteries" like I was an idiot. haha. He thought that I thought my phone was broken.
Sigh.
Almost my entire time in Tokyo, I had the worst back pain, and right-foot pain of my life. Back pain probably from that Night-bus...foot pain...because G-d hates me. I did have a good time...but why why why did I have to have that good time with so much pain??? I feel bad for my friends that had to walk near the really really old lady that had some kind of condition that made her look 25 and white.
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