School Trip to Tokyo - Day 3&4
Day 3: Wednesday, April 16, 2009
Day 3 was Disney Day-the obligatory day included on any school trip to Tokyo. Again, we woke up early, this time to eat breakfast at the hotel. Upon finishing my breakfast, while the kids did their morning mini-ceremonies and then headed to Disney, I took off for the Chinese Embassy.
Since the Embassy had already proven to be less of a hassle than I’d expected, my goal now was to make it out of there in time to meet up with everyone before they headed into the park.
Long story short: I didn’t make it.
Though I was the 3rd person in line at the visa payment/passport receipt counter and I didn’t have any trouble on the connecting trains to Disney, Roppongi just proved to be too far. I got there about 15 minutes after everyone else…which is still pretty impressive, all things considered. And no one actually expected me to be there on time, so it wasn’t really a problem. The hardest part was trying to meet up with the 2 female teachers again so that I’d have someone to spend the day with. I went ahead and rode Star Tours (which I haven’t ridden in years), met up with one of my OTHER teachers from Tairadate (who was doing rounds through Tomorrow Land in search of troublemaker students), and tracked down the principal (who surprised me with a Stitch phone strap for my birthday) before my search came to an end.
Most of the day was pretty much what you’d expect at Disney: rides and lines, Fast Passes and kiosk food, wondering what to do for lunch (we ate at this restaurant with incredibly low lighting that was situated at the front of the Pirates of the Caribbean…REALLY good food there), and then, ultimately splitting up when the group members no longer agreed on which leftover rides/shopping/goodies they wanted to do. I will say, though, that what I didn’t expect (or maybe just didn’t think about enough to realize) was Japanese Disneyland’s improvements on some of the traditional Disney rides. Case in point: Space Mountain.
American version: Yea, it’s in the dark, but anyone with decent night vision can make out the fact that the “stars” are in fact strings of white Xmas lights and the track is a rickety, twisty old thing that could use a little elbow grease. A classic, but it could honestly do with a new layer of black paint on the outer wall and a little extra speed, if nothing else.
Japanese version: DARK. Totally DARK. And SMOOTH. And CRAZY FAST. AWESOME. :D
And, of course, there was the new Monster’s Inc. ride, which was stuck at a wait of 120+minutes ALL. DAY. LONG. Having opened only 2 days previous, it was easily the most popular thing to do in the park. By the time I got there at 10:15, in fact, there were no Fast Passes left. That means there weren’t even any RESERVATIONS available for the next 11 hours. My teachers went straight there upon getting into the park and got 2 Fast Passes for 6:30, then showed remorse when I finally caught up with them, because I wasn’t going to get to ride with them.
Ah, Japanese innocence. Or maybe it’s just me being a Floridian that’s given me the right to claim I know the ins and outs of Disney.
At about 6, we started heading in the general Monster’s Inc. direction, with me walking behind them, wondering how I should propose my plan. It went something like this:
Me: So…um…I don’t have a Fast Pass.
Them: Yea! I know! This is terrible!
Me: But…you know…if this were AMERICA, I could…probably make it onto the ride.
Them: Because you’d have a Fast Pass?
Me: Well, no. Not exactly.
Them: Then you’ll wait in that super long line?
Me: Um, no.
Them: Then however would you get onto the ride?
Me: …With a little lie.
Them: *nervous laughter*
Me: You know…if you’re willing, we could TRY it…
Them: *look at each other*
Me: Do you mind if we try?
Them: Well, you can try. But we only have 2 Fast Passes. And if they say no-
Me: Just let me do the talking.
So we get to the ride, and I go up to the lady collecting the Fast Passes, and I tell her I’ve lost mine. She smiles and cocks her head and looks at the 2 Japanese women with me. I put on my I-know-this-is-impossible-but-if-there’s-any-way face, and ask if I can still go through. She nods and asks how many are in our party. I say 3. She asks for the 2 Fast Passes that are “left.” With shaking fingers, the teachers hand her their passes. The line lady writes a note on one ticket, gives it back, and then waves us through the line with a smile. The teachers dart through, caught somewhere between hyperventilating and a massive round of giggles.
I found it hilarious that the simplest of capers (outsmarting the Fast Pass system at Disney) managed to make such a major impact.
(And for those who are wondering, the ride was alright. Nothing amazing. Buzz Lightyear is better. :)
In the evening, when the Electric Parade rolled around, the teachers went to find a seat and watch the floats, while I went back to Fantasy Land to see if the hour-long wait on Peter Pan went down with the distraction of an event in the park. As it turned out, the Japanese bee hive mentality drew almost EVERY visitor to the streets and left all the Fantasy Land rides without so much as a 5-minute wait. In the span of…what I think was actually less than a half an hour, I got to ride Peter Pan, Snow White, Pinocchio, AND the Haunted Mansion. (Those of you who aren’t familiar with Disney may not appreciate the magnitude of this feat, but trust me, it’s impressive. lol)
Oh, but this, too, was weird: the rides didn’t have happy endings. Snow White ended with the witch pushing the boulder onto the 7 dwarves, and Pinocchio ended with Gepetto crying over Pinocchio, who was spawled out on his bed, unconscious, and definitely not a real boy. Kinda odd. :-/
Anyway, I was thinking about trying to make one more round on Thunder Mountain as the parade ended, but with only 30 minutes left to make it to the rendez-vous point on the other side of the park, I elected to hit the honey lemon churro stand instead.
OMG, those churros were amazing. Omg. Just have to say that. Wow. P: I’d gotten one on my way to Peter Pan, and it haunted me with its wonderful aftertaste until I went back to get another.
Unfortunately, the stand was closed when I got there. Disappointing, but I knew there was a cinnamon churro stand near Main Street, and with 20 minutes left, I was sure I could make it.
And for the record, I DID make it. By American standards, I absolutely made it. My mistake was forgetting, just for that brief moment, that I was running on a Japanese watch.
I was about to hand my money to the woman at the churro stand when my phone rang and Mr. S was on the other end asking where I was.
Me: I’m coming! *pays the woman* I’m on my way right now!
Mr. S: Ok. We’re waiting for you.
Me: *glances at clock and sees she still has 7 minutes* Ok, I’m running!
Mr. S: OK. We’re outside the gate now.
Me: …You LEFT?
Mr. S: Everybody was here.
Me: *bites back the surging retort that everybody was obviously NOT there* Ok, I’m coming.
So I ran to the gate and found everyone waiting for me halfway to the parking lot. Seriously. I was STILL EARLY when I made it to them. *eyeroll* Urges to point that out aside, the hardest part of meeting up with everyone was hiding my churro. I wolfed down about half of it before making it to the group so that I wouldn’t be seen with what might be construed as incriminating evidence of my lateness, but it was just too good to finish off in such a hurry. So while we were waiting to go up the escalator (we seriously stopped and sat down next to the escalator outside the train station because the schedule told us to) I hid behind a pillar and gave away bits of churro-y goodness to the students who found my predicament funny. With the end of my contract fast approaching, I’ve become all about being the cool teacher that does crazy shit like that. It’s just a good thing Mr. S didn’t see me, ‘cause I think I would’ve gotten in trouble for letting the kids eat when it wasn't designated eating time…
*ahem*
So that night we stayed at the Okura Hotel-one of the fancy shmancy hotels in the Disney resort area that’s normally $400 a night. And I have to say, I really think the teachers who planned this trip did a good job. The kids really got an awesome experience outside of the norm-experiencing an expensive hotel that, frankly, many of them will probably never visit again, getting the infamously jam-packed rush hour train experience, a ride on the monja-yaki boat, etc. Good stuff. Most school trips are just a baseball game, a few hours of free time, maybe a museum or two, and a day at Disney. With everything we got to do, $900 isn't all that bad.
I could also add that my room at the Okura was awesome. The bathroom was the size of my living room, and the bed was half the size of my bedroom. I just wish we could’ve stayed for more than one night. But then, even if we had, we would’ve been down at 12 and up at 5 all over again, and that does kinda take something away from the experience of a nice hotel.
Day 4: Wednesday, April 17, 2009:
Last day of the trip. We woke at about 5:30 and met downstairs for a 6am breakfast served to us in a private banquet hall. Decent food, not gonna lie.
After breakfast, we gathered our things and headed down to our chartered bus, which drove us all back to Ueno Park in central Tokyo. At the park, the students went in to peruse the National Museum while one of the female teachers and I went off to secure lunch for the group.
This was my big job of the trip: helping to carry the bento boxes. *sigh*
At this point, after a day at Disney (and 2 days prior to that running around Tokyo), my feet were pretty much done. I doubt that I could’ve made it through the museum even if I had been included in the tour group. But the good news is, we had a lot of time before we had to pick up lunch, and Ueno is a big ol’ station full of shopping…and Starbucks. We hit the coffee shop first, where I got some sugar flowing through my veins, and then Ms. O and I went to the closest stores-the bakery, a cutesy tea shop, etc.
I have never been so happy to be in the company of a girlie Japanese woman. You know, the type whose idea of shopping is moving at a snail’s pace through the aisles of a store that could probably be sized up for all of its wares in a 2-minute once-over. But my poor ankles needed a time out, so it was pretty good timing. =_=
We met up with the students again at around 11 and headed for the Shinkansen platform. Most exciting thing that happened there was a crazy tour guide woman (again, with a group of JH students) getting behind me and physically pushing my back in an attempt to get me to move faster…when there was absolutely nowhere for me to go. I was about ready to whip around and snap at her when I realized I was at my seat. Sitting won out over a potential brawl in the middle of a train, soI sat myself down for 4 good hours of non-movement.
Back at Aomori Station, we unloaded from the train and then loaded onto a bus that drove us back to Kanita and my unexpected (but pretty awesome) homecoming. That is, a bunch of 1st years standing there at the door to the school. When they saw me, they all rushed over and welcomed me back, saying they missed me when I was gone because they couldn’t have English class. “And we love English! It’s fun!” How awesome is that? Yay for someone appreciating what I do in my job.
~
So that's pretty much it. I got my experience, and now I feel like I’ve covered all my bases with trying out the teacher thing in Japan, even if I still don’t count as a “real” teacher in most people's eyes, and even if I have been allowed to cut a lot of corners with my status. I have what I came for, and now I can go.
Despite the tone of that last sentence, this really is a good thing. :)