A LEsson Learned

I wrote in my note book earlier today about my adventure to the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art.But Before I tell you my story, I want to explain something that I didn't know before I left but have found to be very important to pay attention to.

The insanity that is the Tokyo Subway sytem is further reaching than I previously thought. First of all, there is the Tokyo Subyway system in addition to the Greater Tokyo Area subway system. The later of the two consists of privately owned train lines and corporate owned train lines. (imagine if Target had a subway line...haha the train i ride to my house is the Seibu Ikebukuro line...Seibu is an ENORMOUS department store featuring stores like Coach, Prada, and Lois Vitton, so they can afford a few subway lines here and there) Okay....so ontop of that, each line runs different rapid services. let me explain.
Lets take for example my train line

Seibu Ikebukuro Line:

Its not as simple as just hoping on a train headed towards my house because the SI line has several different types of trains.Local, Semi Express, Commuter Semi Express (but on the side of the train it reads semi express so you have to listen up!), Rapid, Express, Commuter Express (same as semi express...keep your ears open, or look at the rapid service map above one of the doors) Rapid Express, and Limited Express.And that's just my subway line. Each subway has different rapid services and some lines turn into different lines without skipping a beat (which in turn changes their rapid services as well).

Today after work I went to the Tokyo Modern Art Museum by myself. Its located on a different subway line that I usual take (or have taken atleast once) I got to the museum just fine, infact it was easier to get to than the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills (I went there on wednesday after work, it's only 2 stops from my work and it:s located in the biggest building in tokyo...hard to miss). But on the way back I had a mild headache and fell asleep on the express train to no where. I woke up above ground in a TOTALLY packed train. I had been trying to listen for the "SHIBUYAAAA" announcement that usuall wakes me up and which would have occured underground.

I don:t know really how it happened or where I wound up but I started on the purple metro line and woke up on some strange privately owned railway that had changed from the purple line into a red line ( but it wasn:t the red line on my little subway map) and the signs on the platform were a different color at each station. I decided to get off as soon as I could squeeze myself out and followed the track signs that pointed towards "Shibuya" (even though the last train that was supposed to be headed to Shibuya led me astray, i had no other option since i had absolutely no idea where i was)

I got on a train that had a funny name that i can:t recall now, that was supposed headed towards shibuya. For about three stops I tried to find where I was on my map but decided that if i kept riding I would end up digging myself an even deeper hole. So, without knowing anything, I jumped off the train and was pleased to see a train arriving on a parallel track that read "Express to Shibuya". Lucky me!!

Tonight is my night to spend as I wish (which means I can stay out as late as I feel fit) since my host mom goes out with her friends on friday nights. I was planning on going back to my house after the museum and then out to a restraunt since I don't have any food to cook at the house. But since it was so late, and my headache was worse after my little endevour and then arriving in Shibuy station at like 8pm on a friday night wasn:t much help. So i decided to eat dinner in 109 (or as trendy japanese girls say "Maru Kyuu" with translates to "O Nine") at an "itallian" food place and treated myself to an ice cold kirin beer for surving my little train accident.

moral of the story
don't fall asleep on express trains on lines you arent familiar with...even if you think "THEY MUST stop at the busiest station on the line" because they might not apparently....

tune in next week for more adventures of a dreaddy in Tokyo

Ja Ne!
Jess
(my new hippo nick name is Kinoko Chan which translates to Little Mushroom girl)

.p.s. I saw a japanese guy with dreads longer than mine the other day and was totally shocked...i can only imagin how other japanese people react to me and my dreads (although i can get a sense from their facial expressions and constant double or tripple takes)