Yesterday was my first repeat trip with Katie–I had now been tagging along on the trains to work for a full week and it was Tuesday again. Kawanishi is north of Osaka, but like any metropolitan area, there is no separation of cities–it is just one massive area of humanity.
This was the train I remarked about last week, I realized. Scarlet and beautiful, like the Hogwarts Express. I thought once we were riding that things would begin looking familiar, but they did not. Once again I marveled at the city with it’s mountains in the background.
I wish the pictures were better, but I am already the only person on the train taking pictures or even looking out the window, so to rush to the window to get a better photo would be too obnoxious–this ain’t Disney World haha! On the train there was a tiny old lady sitting next to me. In profile, she resembled my grandma so much, with her wispy white hair and black hair band. The skin on her hands was paper thin, with pointy rounded nails. I thought certainly she is someone’s grandma. Off she got from the train, moving slowly, but roaming that big city on her own!
When we finally got to her work, about 40 minutes later, I remembered the building. Ah yes, this was my first day, when I kept walking in a straight line and back, scared I would get lost. Now I had a little more confidence. Uh oh.
Kawanishi is more of a residential and small business area with fewer tall buildings. Everywhere here the porches are used for equipment, not for furniture really. I wondered why they don’t just enclose the porches. Katie says no one has a dryer–who needs it, clothes dry on the rack. In fact when she mentioned it to a couple of students they were confused about the very concept of a dryer.
The mountains are always in the background–maybe if you are wealthy and live on the top floor you have a great view. I’m not sure who this warrior is, but he looked pretty cool against the blue sky at the center of the bus station, just a block from the train station.
It was really chilly yesterday, in the lower 50’s and windy. I wandered around, pushing myself to go a little farther. I noticed that I was a little less worried about moving around. Last week it was like my head was on a swivel, with my eyes constantly darting over my shoulders like a nervous tic. But minutes later a bike whooshed by me so fast it made me jump, so I warned myself not to let my guard down!
In the grocery store I saw some pasta salad and a doughnut. Maybe I would get something for Katie so we could skip McDonald’s. I found myself back in that first mall, where I had coffee with the ladies a week ago. Today the mall was having an exhibit in the middle, with special stands set up to sell candy, clothing, and show off some children’s paintings. The mall seemed like Fashion Square Mall; smaller and a little less fashionable, with far fewer people.
I had about 45 minutes left to get back to Katie, and there ahead of me in the mall was another grocery. Maybe I could pick up something at this store instead. I came around the corner and realized this was no regular grocery, there were barrels of stuff that looked and smelled different and crazy and sometimes a little horrible and oh my gosssssssssssssh what is THAT!?!?!
Honestly I felt a cold sweat break out and quickly walked away and……….I was turned around. Up around down I went and how can a person get confused in a mall!?
I found an outside door and escaped–phew! Never mind, I went back to that first store and picked up like…….macaroni salad maybe, and what looked like a donut for Katie. I was really hoping that when I checked out they would give me chopsticks, but they didn’t. I said to the clerk, “Chopsticks?” She rattled off something and mimed something and I shrugged. Finally, something clicked and she dug through her drawer and pulled out a spork! I smiled and gave her the thumbs up–spork it is! Then the man behind me laughed and smiled and said, “Chopsticks!” I laughed and said yes, but as I walked away I thought they will both think a spork is called chopsticks forever, but I guess it couldn’t be helped!
No kidding, when I left the store I apparently turned the wrong direction again. With 15 minutes to meet Katie I walked straight back to the door I knew and retraced my steps. I guess like any large city, when space is premium you use every inch of it, even if the shape is not square or straight. With minutes to spare, I found my girl. We chatted away at McDonald’s and she was in a much better mood. She has Mondays and Wednesdays off, so she never gets a real weekend. She likes her students on Tuesday though. In fact one of her students is my age and wants to be my friend, so maybe I will get to meet her!
I boarded my train but decided to get off at the first stop to look around Ikowa. After all, how was I going to learn if I didn’t keep pushing myself? I googled “Closest Starbucks” and it said “95 feet”. What? I turned around and it was in the train station right behind me, haha!
I walked outside and burrrrrrrrrrrrr it was getting colder! A little sweetie in his school uniform had like a small plastic toy-looking phone and seemed to be trying to find someone in Ikowa.
Thinking that it was getting close to rush hour and remembering I had to change trains in scary Umeda, I got back on the train pretty soon. Turned out that was a good idea, since by the next stop it was standing room only. I noticed that as the train conductor moved through the cars when we were waiting to leave, he stopped at the entrance to each car and bowed, looking exceptionally professional in his navy blue uniform, hat, and white gloves. Here we are below, getting off the train. As you look in either direction, there are many more of these lovely purple shiny trains. And as you can see, many many people wear the face masks. Katie explained the primary purpose is so they don’t spread germs when they are sick, but she said they also wear them so they don’t pick up germs, as well as protection from the pollen.
I got my next train without even asking for directions this time. Despite the falling temperatures, I got off at Namba, one stop before Daikokoucho. I would walk home using the similar route from the movie theatre. It was really cold now–this time that thermometer said 9 degrees Celsius, and when I got home the “feels like” temp said 38. But I kept hearing my brother’s words in my head, “Stop being such a baby!” And from where he was in Michigan where the feels-like temp was 21, I’m sure he was right! So I kept going and tried to think about my niece’s husband who said cold is a state of mind…..finally, finally I was at my Life grocery store near the apartment.
I can’t read the street signs, so on top of the fact the cars are on the other side of the road, I don’t even know which streets are one-way. So I have really committed to crossing only when the crossing light is on and I’ve noticed that most of the people who live here do that also. It was reaffirmed last night when two bicycles nearly collided right next to me! They just kept going though, not even looking back to scowl.
I keep walking through these grocery stores trying to make them feel more familiar, but every single aisle is filled with stuff I’ve never seen before. And while I may not be ready to try octopus balls, I try to buy something new each time.
This time I went with a lovely spaghetti with broccoli and cheese sauce, and a new pasta salad. I paid $5 for like a dozen strawberries, thinking maybe they are those delicious strawberries we used to get. A small container of cherry tomatoes cost a dollar. Then a new bag of chips with like sour cream on them maybe. Thin sliced rice crackers and nuts, and KitKats, which are in many flavors here, including green tea flavor. Plus maybe lemon flavored candy which I will open on my next video chat with my nephew. These groceries cost 2494 yen, or about $24, which includes 8% tax and my one can of beer; no bottles here but I don’t know why.
Except…………….they don’t have cheese really. So the broccoli was actually in a semi-cooked egg, which looked orange because as we now know the egg yolks are orange! It was really pretty good even if the texture was a little odd. The pasta salad turned out to be covered in maybe crab meat, but was delish! My snack of chips turned out to be pizza flavored with funny orange “chunks” of fake cheese on the chips. And…….the strawberries and tomatoes were sweet and flavorful!
For the first day I felt like maybe I was getting a little routine 🙂
Photo: Scarlet train from Umeda to Kawanishinosegushi Station, on the Hankyu-Takarazuka Line
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