Downtown Osaka at Midnight
My tale begins at 8:30am Saturday in my apartment- realizing that I had nothing to make breakfast and the grocery didn't open until 9:00, I decided to lay back down for a bit longer. I had not yet packed, but my train didn't leave until 10:50 so I had plenty of time. Moments later the phone rang. I scrambled up to it,
"Hello?",
"Ohayogozaimasu, yamamoto desu. Sensei no takamori koko desu."
[good morning, this is yamamoto, the teacher from takamori high school].
"Hai?" [Yes?]. From here the conversation was beyond my Japanese abilities,
"ummmmm, sumimasen wakarimasen" [ummmm, sorry I dont understand].
The person on the other repeated the long bout of Japanese.
"Gomennasi wakarimesen" [Im really sorry, I dont understand].
*Click*
I had received phone calls in Japanese that I did not understand before, I assumed they were telemarketers, but why would someone from my work who didn't speak English call me? It didn't make any sense. I glance at the clock, 10:15, jeez... I thought I had only laid my head down, but I had been asleep for almost 2 hours. The mystery phone call saved me. I still have no idea what the caller wanted, and no one approached me about it later, so who knows. But whoever you are mystery caller... thanks.
I made a cup of coffee, threw some cloths and my GRE study guide in my pack, and caught the 10:50 train to Hiroshima.
At Hiroshima Station I bumped into several JETs who had all convened there for the annual Sake-Fest. It stood as a taunting reminder that I would be amidst a day of testing whilst they would be enjoying a day of unlimited sake. Poor planning on my part. I found my bus without too much trouble and embarked on the 6 hour bus ride to Osaka. Studied vocabulary most of the way and made occasional broken Japanese/English conversation with the fellow sitting next to me. In Osaka I claimed a bed at a hostel before grabbing some okonomiyaki (local specialty) for dinner.
Back at the hostel I met a guy who had flown in from Korea for the GRE, apparently its not offered in Korea. He said he wants to attend A&M. I asked if he wants to moved to America or if he would return to Korea after A&M, he warily told me he planned on returning to Korea. No worries, I'm not applying to A&M. The Korean dude, I didn't catch his name, let me take a practice verbal test on his laptop; the results were less than encouraging, but I had completed the test in half the allotted time. The moral: slow down. Went to bed.
I woke up early after a panicked dream about not resetting my watch for daylight savings and being late for the GRE. In my dream, no one was willing to help me. It was a pretty funny dream:
Nate: Mom! Im late, could you give me a ride?
Mom: Can't you just take it again?
Nate: Dad. I really late, don't have time to find parking, could you give me a ride?
Dad: I would help, but I thought I would get Mike in the Christmas drawing and I got Ginny instead.
Now I have to decide what to get her.
Nate: Yeah, thats a real doozy.
*Disclaimer: I have no idea who anyone actually got in the Christmas drawing.
Anyways, decided I shouldn't sleep anymore... clearly my mind was in no state to handle the responsibilities of dreaming. I checked out and caught the subway to Nakatsu, the district where the test was being held (I think this was my first time on a subway). Once at street level, I pulled out the map I had printed from the GRE site and realize that it is worthless; there are no street names in Japan. All I know is that the building is called Nakatsu Center Building and is somewhere within a few blocks of the subway station. Well, glad I came 3 hours early I thought to myself as I started wandering and thinking: how the hell am I going to figure this out? Slowly strategies started developing, the test was on the 7th floor so I needn't look at building with fewer than 7 stories. Then, a stroked of genius. An American hotel chain with have a concierge that speaks English, I found a Ramada. When I asked where the Nakatsu Center Building was the women pointed across the street. Of course, the building was literally right across the street with "Nakatsu Center Building" written on it.
That's Japanese-English. It reads "Nakatsu senta- birudeingu". I felt like an idiot, especially after how many times I had walked past this building by now, but at least I had found it. And with 2 more hours to spare, I found a Starbucks and settled in for a Pike Place Roast and a vocab cram-sesh.
Taking the GRE is similar to getting hit by a Mack truck, except after the GRE people are happy for you and you celebrate. I walked to streets of Osaka until my eyes could no longer take the over-stimulation. Then stumbled upon a back alley Indian restaurant, likely only found by people not looking for it, and ordered some masala, nan, and a Kingfisher. The server was a nice guy, brought me free tea and gave me a hefty discount on my bill. It later occurred to me that I had been writing while I was there, he probably thought I was a restaurant critic or guidebook writer (my new strategy to get special treatment and discounted food).
By the way, I did about as I expected on the test: destroyed the math section and the verbal section was well...painful.
Nate Verbal Section thought Simulator:
Question: What is the antonym of qmeuoism. [jeez, what is qmeuosim?]
A) lksjdflim [hell if I know what this word means.]
B) owijeifj9i [or this one]
C) wofjisnmfvrkln [yikes, what if I don't know any of them]
D) jfwoimvsdlkjhn [dear god, what do I teach English]
After dinner I wandered the streets of Osaka admiring the buildings and killing time until my midnight bus ride back to Hiroshima.
Finally, I settled into a quaint bar in what I assume is the "Belltown" of Osaka called Monsieur & Madam. This place was about the size of Probably the Smallest Bar in the Universe, Dunedin, but had a ladder leading to a second floor of the same size. A salary man in an oxford shirt sat at one end of the bar and I sat at the other. The bartender wore a black vest and bow-tie and exercised a level of artistry for the trade you only see in a personally owned establishment of this size. I ordered a port and started to feel good (Kerouac). I had also never had a port, but always wanted to after reading his books. A couple came in and sat next to me, after they had been served we exchanged pleasantries in broken English and Japanese. The women owned a small french tavern nearby and invited me to come by next time I was in Osaka. I spoke with the couple for some time. The salary man stayed quiet, but he and I exchanged laughing glances as the couple tried to come up with the English to speak to me. Before long the couple left. Then the salary man, who shook my hand and said "sayonara," on his way out. Then I took off to catch the night bus home.
Arrived in Hiroshima at 6am and in my tired state walked onto the wrong train. In my defense, it was the right track... my train just hadn't arrived yet. I figured it out before the first stop, caught another train back to Hiroshima, then had to wait for the second train. Anyways, made it home. Exhausting weekend.
