Christmas Journey, there and back again (part three)

“The next half hour may be really easy or it may be a horrible nightmare,” were the words Steph used to describe our search for a hotel. Osaka looked awesome outside the train station with long, bright arcades filled with crowds walking the streets. Osaka has been described as having a “Blade Runner”-like setting with its neon and gritty urban feel. Young people with spiky hair and tall boots strutted by with an air of cool toughness that makes two white guys wearing backpacks and frantically searching a “Lonely Planet” guide book feel a bit vulnerable. Steph and I were two big targets and if Japan wasn’t such a bizarrely safe place, we may have found ourselves in a bit of danger.

At one point we found ourselves in the lobby of the Swiss Hotel…a large, upscale place with a piano lounge and lots of foreigners in gray sweaters. We knew the hotel was out of our price range, but desperation leads men to walk down all sorts of avenues in an attempt to find a solution. The Japanese attendants behind the hotel desk were very polite and smiled when showing us the ridiculous room prices. Steph and I smiled at one another (though it was a different kind of smile) and walked back out into the crowded neon streets.

Up one street, down another, back again…nothing. Try the phone…call this place, that place, another place…all too expensive. Feel desperate. Give the “Lonely Planet”, that double-edged guide book, one more try. Youth Hostel! On the other side of town…back to the trains.

Finally, after about an hour of walking, talking, calling, and eating (had to stop and get some snacks) we found our way to a youth hostel housed on the third floor of the Osaka football/soccer stadium (weird). The establishment was newish and comfortable...and the seven phone calls to the proprietor to get broken directions there made for jokes later.

The next morning was a time of farewells and a parting of ways. Steph planned to continue his journeys eastward while I wanted to see more of Osaka before heading back home. I was going to navigate Osaka—the big gruff city of Japan—alone. Perfect.






First stop, Osaka Castle…a place I had been reading about since I arrived in July. Getting there by myself on the trains was empowering and some snow fell in a celebratory fashion when I reached the base of the castle. An old Canadian lady took my picture.



Next stop, the famed Osaka Aquarium…on the other side of town. My reason for going was not just because I love aquariums, but because on this day, December 26th, my sister’s birthday, my family over in Atlanta, GA was heading to the new Atlanta Aquarium and for the first time in my life I wasn’t going to be celebrating with them. Going to the Osaka Aquarium was a way for me to be with my family in the sense that we would both be doing the same kind of special thing on this special day. I walked through the plastic-walled compound staring at blue tanks filled with fins and gills and thought about my family. Everyone around me was a trendy Japanese couple with high collared coats covering bright striped shirts. They giggled and gasped at the creatures and often took pictures of one another in front of the tanks. I enjoyed the aquarium well enough, but really just ached to be with my family…even in spite of the fact that about the last 15 Julie birthdays have been monumental days of stress and chaos (day after Christmas, Julie shares her birthday with my grandma, holiday stress reaches an all time high....).






A little later I found myself walking along the water front area watching the sun set westward in the direction of home. I told the sun to say hi to my home for me when it rose there a few hours later. I had survived Christmas in Japan and had an impressive itinerary to show for it. Kyoto, Koyasan, and Osaka all in three days…I never went hungry, I always had a place to stay, and I had seen some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life. Life felt good.