It took me a bit of time to get down the stairs of Daikokucho station. I was exhausted after a long flight, being abandoned at the airport, and then a taxi ride to the other end of Osaka city. As I got further underground a giddy smile formed on my face. The sauna like temperature was cooling off. They have air conditioning in the subways! I headed to the platform for the train to Suminoekoen and parked myself in front of an air conditioning vent. I had 2 minutes before the train was set to arrive. I was just beginning to dry off when the train pulled in. I thought that there would be more people. I had heard that trains in Japan were crowded but the one I just got on was all but empty. At the end of the car was a man and his son. I made my way towards them as the doors were closing. Using a series of gestures and a few words we shared I learned that Suminoekoen wasn't two stops away like the Australian had told me. I would have to get off at the fifth stop. At about the third stop the man and his boy got off and I was alone. If things had been surreal before they definitely were now. I was alone, on a train, heading into the unknown. I would have liked to sit a little longer but the train pulled in at Suminoekoen. I gathered my stuff and got off the train.
From a payphone in the station I called the Australian again. He answered quite quickly and told me to take the stairs to street level at exit number 4. He said that he would meet me and bring me to the apartment. I hung up the phone and headed to exit 4. At the top of the stairs I was greeted by darkness and the unrelenting, sauna like heat. The area seemed kind of industrial and there wasn't any people walking around but I didn't really notice that. The only thing I could think about was getting to a bed, any bed.
I waited for the Australian. And I waited. And I waited some more. After about 45 minutes I went back down into the subway station and called the apartment again. The Australian answered the phone and sounded kind of pissed off. He asked me where I was and I said I had been waiting at exit 4 for the past 45 minutes. He said he went to exit four and no gaijin was there. I said that I was at exit four and not only was I the only gaijin but I was the only person there at all. I was feeling quite frustrated because how could he miss me when Suminokoen station was practically deserted.
"Suminoekoen? Why the hell are you at Suminoekoen? I told you to take the train towards Suminoekoen and get off the train after two stops." He was telling me this and I could swear that his accent was getting harder and hard to understand with each word he spoke. I had to swallow the stress, fatigue and frustration I was feeling because I still needed this guy to get me to the apartment. I got the name of the station out of him and said I'd call again from exit four.
Back on the train. At least I had the air conditioning again. I didn't bother sitting down this time. I thought that if I sat I might not get up again. It didn't take long for the train to get to Kishinosato (surprisingly my destination had a name. I don't remember hearing it from the Austrailian though). I went up the stairs and was looking for a phone when a short, stocky, blond haired gaijin walked up and said "Are you Oliver?"....
