The trials and tribulations of Tokyo part II

It was gone.  Everything was gone.  I had soooo hoped it would turn up, that no one took it, that it was just left in a corner behind a speaker.  But no, it was gone.  With disappointment, I told the man working at the club, “Arigoto (thank you)” and began to leave.  Then I asked him if I could use the club’s phone.  He got confused and wrote down the club phone number.  I tried to explain and I realized that I really had no one to call anyways, so I just left. 

I wandered back to the train station so I could go to Akasaka, a district in Tokyo where the US Embassy is located.  I asked security what train to take.  They told me to take two subways.  So I went off in search of the subway station.  Along the way I saw a few SASers.  I asked a Megan, a friend from South Africa, if I could have her green sheet.  She gave it to me and asked what happened.  I told her and her group and they sympathized.  I ran into another SASer and asked where the subway station was. She pointed me in the right direction and asked if I was okay.  Tears welled up in my eyes, but I couldn’t cry because I had to get to the embassy so I said no but kept walking.

I found the subway and got my tickets.  Finally I made it to Akasaka.  I’d say it was about 6:30 or 7 by this time, but I don’t have a watch.  It was getting dark out though.  I began wandering along the streets looking for the address.  Of course the addresses aren’t plainly displayed on windows of buildings or anything so my prospects of finding this place were looking dim. 

I began to look for someone who could help me and I saw a black man and woman walking along towards me, who looked like they were speaking English.  I walked up to them and asked if they spoke English.  The man told me yes.  I asked if he knew where the US Embassy was and he gave me directions to the embassy.  I thanked him, and then he said, “You know it’s closed, though.”  That was it.  I started crying.  I must have looked so foolish: standing on the street, disheveled hair, pale-faced, carrying a backpack almost as big as me, wearing the same outfit from the night before, crying in front of strangers.

This man immediately asked what was wrong and, in between sobs, I told him that I was student studying abroad and had lost my passport and needed a new one by tomorrow in order to continue on with my program.  He whipped out his phone and called the officer on duty at the embassy.  How did he have that number in his phone, you may ask?  Because he worked at the embassy! Aaron Baloney (great name), Chief of the Military Liaison Group, my hero.  CITY OF MIRACLES. 

I composed myself, and Aaron gave me the phone and I talked to the duty officer.  She instructed me to come back as soon as the embassy opened the next day (8:30am) and bring either my birth certificate or driver’s license and the copies of my passport that I had.  She also informed me that it might take 3 to 5 days to get a new passport so I should discuss my options with SAS.  I had no options.  If I didn’t get a passport by the next day, I wouldn’t be able to sail with the ship to Hawaii.  I would miss 9 days of school on the ship, which is like the most school we ever have in a row.  I would have to pay for a pretty damn expensive ticket to Hawaii. I had to get a new passport by the next day.

After I got all the information I hung up, and thanked Aaron profusely for letting me use his phone.  His mom, Judy, gave me a big hug and said, “It’s okay, honey.  I’m a mom.”  I needed that hug more than she will ever know.  Aaron asked if I had a place to stay for the night and I told him I was going to go back to the ship in Yokohama.  He asked if I had money to get back to the ship and I told him I had about 2000 Yen.  He, then  gave me 3000 Yen and directed me towards the right train to take.  I started crying again because I was so moved by his compassion.  His mom put her arm around me and said that she had been having a crappy day until she met me and I brightened up her day.  Oh you’re having a crappy day?

I thanked them for their help and they made me promise I would call once I got back to the ship safely. 

Back to the subway.  At this point I changed out my dress and tights from the night before and put on sweatpants.  Earlier I didn’t feel like I had time to change or eat or drink or do anything.  I also had a tiny box of Frosted Flakes that I jacked from the ship’s breakfast a few days before.  In new clothes and with some food in my stomach I got on the subway back to Shinjuku.  Once in Shinjuku Station I tried finding a train to Yokohama.  A woman came over and asked if I needed help.  I told her I needed to go to the Nihon-Odori station in Yokohama and she helped me buy a ticket for the right train.  City of miracles.  So many strangers helped me in Tokyo.  Thank God.

I got on the train.  I had to stand for a while until the car emptied out a bit.  When I finally got a seat, I was exhausted.  I had been hauling my huge backpack around all day and it had been a pretty draining day without the extra weight.  Everyone else on the train was exhausted too.  The Japanese really know how to sleep standing up while holding on to the overhead bar on a train.  I’ve never seen anything like it. Every single person is asleep.

My stop was one of the last ones and it had been about an hour ride, but it could have been quicker if there had been less stops.  I got off the train and saw some SASers.  I asked if I could follow them back to the ship since I didn’t know where the ship was docked,  because the last time I had seen the ship was in Kobe.  They agreed and we made our way back.  When getting back onto the ship everyone swiped their ship ID cards and when it came to me I told security I lost my card.  She asked for my passport and I told her I lost that too.  I explained that I had lost my bag that contained most my belongings.  She seemed frustrated and began asking me all of these questions like my room number, my ID number, what classes I took on the ship.  Once she was satisfied that I am indeed a student on Semester at Sea she told me to go immediately to the front desk and alert them of my passport.  I did so.  

Honey, the lady at the front desk, made me a new ship ID and called the dean on duty.  The advice from the dean on duty was to go to the embassy as soon as possible the next day and get a new passport.  He said it could be done pretty quickly, and another student had lost her passport earlier and she already had a new passport.  That gave me some hope.

I got back to my room and put down my bag.  Kendra was there.  She asked how everything went and told me that if I couldn’t get a new passport she would ask her aunt and uncle in Hawaii if I could stay with them until the ship got there.  I couldn’t really handle that idea and at that point, all I wanted to do was call home.  All I wanted was to talk to my mom.  I tried to buy a phone card but Japan has its own network for phones and Internet so phone cards wouldn’t work and the Internet on the ship was turned off.  I didn’t know what to do.  I really couldn’t keep it together much longer.

I went over to Caroline’s room and told her what happened and asked her if her phone was working. It was and she let me borrow it.  She let me use it the whole night, even after she went out.  I have such good, caring friends.  I am so lucky.

I went outside on the front of the ship and tried calling my mom.  She didn’t answer because it was pretty early back home.  Finally she called back and I broke down.  I was scared, tired, devastated, and in need of some motherly love.  She gave it to me.  She was so supportive, so level-headed.  She was my mom and that’s what I needed then.  Thanks Mom.  I love you very very very very very very much.

Once I got a hold of myself, I called my parent’s college friend Mark Schumacher, who I planned to meet up with the next day and told him of the situation.  He told me we could meet up a bit later after I sorted everything out at the embassy, so I said I’d call him the next day.  Then I called Aaron Baloney and left a message on his answering machine thanking him for everything and letting him know that I got back to the ship alright.

It was weird having a phone again.  I talked to my mom several times that night as she did more and more research on getting a new passport made.  I finally went to bed around 1. 

The next morning I got up at 6, I packed my smaller, more manageable backpack with my drivers license, a copy of my birth certificate, a copy of my passport, two passport photos, $100 USD (I had $102 USD left in my safe), 4000 Yen, the address for the embassy, Caroline’s phone, and some cereal and went on my way to the embassy.  I got to the embassy at about 8:20am.  I went through security and then took a number and waited.  I was third in line, I believe.  They called my number, I told them the situation, gave them all my papers, filled out some paperwork, and waited for them to process an emergency passport for me.  An emergency passport is valid for one year.  I have to get it renewed in the US when I get back.  It looks the same as other passports, except it has EMERGENCY written across it and I think it has less pages.  It also won’t have all the cool stamps, stickers, and visas my old passport had.  But oh well, it’s a passport.

While I waited for my passport, I watched the cutest Japanese family.  A mom, a dad, and a little boy and little girl.  They spoke fluently in English as well.  Those little kids were so cute.  The mom was counting some yen, and the little girl leaned over her mom’s shoulder and said “Is that mine?” and her mom said, “No,” and the girl said, “Oh…well where’s mine?”  Then the two parents got up to talk to one of the workers at the embassy and the little boy sat at the table trying to open his water bottle.  “Daddy! It’s tight!” he cried out, when he couldn’t open the bottle.  His dad didn’t respond.  “Tight! Tight! Tight! Daaaaaaad it’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiight.”  Still no response.  It was pretty funny.  Finally he gave up.

At one point I looked up and Aaron Baloney was walking towards me.  I stood up immediately and thanked him again.  I asked if he got my message and he said yes.  I told him I would pay him back for his loan and he gave me his e-mail address and told me he was glad everything worked out.  Aaron Baloney saved my life.

At about 10 o’clock I had a new passport, so I called the dean on duty on the ship and let him know, then I called my mom to let her know, then I called Mark and we agreed to meet in Kamakura, where he lives, in an hour.

I arrived in Kamakura about an hour and a half later and Mark was there to greet me.  He gave me a big hug and then took me out to lunch at this tiny, eclectic place down a back street in Kamakura filled with all sorts of pottery and artwork.  The restaurant served us several dishes, there were no menus, they just brought out food.  We had rice, pork and corn, noodles and pork, sardines (I think), soup, and green tea.  It was all pretty good, too. 

Next Mark took me to a couple of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.  Mark studies Buddhist and Shinto statuary, so he was a fabulous tour guide.  He was so knowledgeable about Buddhism and the various deities and practices and myths.  I’ve seen my fair share of shrines and temples in the countries I’ve been to, but it was nice to have a tour guide that added a little flavor to the whole spiel.  At the end of the tour Mark tested me on what I had learned.  I got an A. 

Mark is just as fun and entertaining as I remember him when I was 6, a bit more crass perhaps, but in an good-natured, silly way.

Mark also introduced me to sweet potato ice cream, which was delicious.  If I can’t find that in the US, I will make my own and start a sweet potato ice cream business.  He also bought me a deep-fried sweet potato treat.   Sweet potatoes are the shit. 

Mark sent me on my way around 3:30.  I thanked him for showing me around Kamakura and allowing my time in Japan to end on a good note.  Mark also loaned me money for the rest of my trip since I only had $2 USD to my name at this point.  What a good guy.

Back in Yokohama I got lost on my way the ship and ended up having to take an expensive cab ride to the ship, but I made it to the ship, didn’t get dock time and I had a passport so I could pass the face-to-face customs passport inspection.

I hadn’t been on the ship since early that morning, so none of my friends knew if I got a new passport and everyone was pretty worried.  The news spread pretty quickly that I lost my passport, too, so lots of people I never told came up asking me about it.  Steve, Hussain, and Disha ran up and hugged me when they saw me. Caroline, Alicia, and Jill greeted me with hugs and stories.  Win gave me a big hug and said he was glad I was still sailing with the ship. Greg told me he was glad I made it.  Everyone was soooo soo nice, and I felt really loved.  I’ve made some pretty spectacular friend while on this voyage and I’m extremely grateful for all of them.  I needed a lot of love that day, and I got it.

So that was my Japan.  I lost a lot, but I gained a lot more.  I lost my passport, my money, my Japan Rail pass (which looked super cool), my camera with all my Japan pictures, and my credit cards.  I’ll probably never get any of that back.  But I got a new passport, I can earn money, I can get pictures from friends and I learned many lessons from that experience. I learned to never let my guard down.  I learned how to ask for help. I learned to travel on my own in a foreign country.  If I can do that…I can do anything.  I learned people’s true colors.  I learned how supportive my friends and family are.  And most importantly I learned to have complete faith in humanity.

Two days later, on Easter, I had a lot be thankful for as I watched the sun rise over the bow of the ship.