So this me leaving Japan: sweating, heart pounding, and twitching slightly. Let's recap. I left Nagoya at 7.30 and took the Shinkansen to Osaka. From there I dashed to the Chinese consulate to collect my passport and lovely shiny Chinese visa. After that I zoom to the ferry terminal. I am there in perfect time. It is 10.30, the ferry leaves at 12, I am cucumber cool. And also, I soon realise, in completely the wrong place. The international ferry terminal is somewhere totally different. I have a horrible vision of missing this ferry and either having to fly to Shanghai, or camp in Osaka until the next ferry on Wednesday because it would just be too embarrassing to go back to Nagoya. I get back on the train, go back several stations, manhandle a station attendant, walk/jog for 10 minutes through a non-descript industrial estate, and arrive, wheezing slightly, at 11.30, a full hour later than I was supposed to be here. The attendant looks at my passport and points to the ship. It seems I have plenty of time after all and need not collapse in a small heap just yet.
I don't know what to think as I stand on the deck and watch Japan slide away. I've made some good friends here, had a lot of fun, and done lots of cool things. I can't imagine how the next part will go, and the excitement of the trip briefly overrides the recognition that I have left Japan.
On the boat, I don't know what to do with myself. No phone, no internet, no pressing things I have to do. I wander around the boat, play cards, read books. It's very strange.
I don't know what to think as I stand on the deck and watch Japan slide away. I've made some good friends here, had a lot of fun, and done lots of cool things. I can't imagine how the next part will go, and the excitement of the trip briefly overrides the recognition that I have left Japan.
On the boat, I don't know what to do with myself. No phone, no internet, no pressing things I have to do. I wander around the boat, play cards, read books. It's very strange.
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