The entire 7 1/2 months of work in Japan has lead up the the International Symposium of Low Carbon & Renewable Energy Technology (ISLCT) on Jeju Island, South Korea. Both Matt and I had been preparing for our presentations and paper submissions by putting in long hours at work. I continually had flashbacks to the days of writing my master thesis (not good). Finally, it was time to show the world the results of our research...the only problem is that we had to get to Jeju first.
Let's be honest, I have a terrible punctuality problem when it comes to public transportation, but THIS ONE WAS A DOOZY! Matt and I had to catch the 6:00 am bus that went to the airport because we had to be on the one, single flight that connects Japan to Jeju. We intended to get a taxi that would take us from our apartments to the bus station in 4 minutes flat. However, a perfect-storm of mis-communication meant that Matt and I were left standing dumbfounded with all of our bags in front of the apartment at 5:49am. At this point we only had one option and it's feasibly was dwindling by each passing second. We looked at each other and said in desperate tone:
Here are the logistics: There was 1.1 miles between us and the bus that was (probably) already accepting passengers. Matt and I were both dressed to impress with nice shirts, slacks, dress shoes, and coats. We each had a suitcase & backpack combo that we had to take with us and we had to be there in less than 11 minutes. Imagine us sprinting in slow motion, theatrical soundtrack playing in the background, determined looks on our faces, our backpacks and jackets slowly drifting up and falling down from our powerful strides across the pavement. Now take those images and erase them from your mind. The truth is that our run lacked any form of grace or beauty. We were like two frightened animals, striving for survival.
I was sweating bullets. The Banana Republic sweater I was wearing quickly became a sweat rag and I was forced to take off my shoes and socks. Sprawled out over two seats, I noticed that my window was fogging up like crazy. Then I looked up and noticed one other window with some serious condensation. It was the window directly above Matt's seat.
Throughout the hour-long bus ride I continued to play out the morning in my head. What would have happened if we hesitated any longer at the Ninomiya House? What if we hadn't purchased the bus tickets the previous night? I'm always amazed when a large sequence of events can come down to a few short moments that determine success or failure. I'm glad that we had made just enough correct decisions to teeter the outcome in our favor.
Let's just say, I had hoped that we had finally learned our lesson and we would avoid these circumstances by taking caution for the remainder of the 5 day trip. Well, it didn't exactly work out that way....
-Seth
Let's be honest, I have a terrible punctuality problem when it comes to public transportation, but THIS ONE WAS A DOOZY! Matt and I had to catch the 6:00 am bus that went to the airport because we had to be on the one, single flight that connects Japan to Jeju. We intended to get a taxi that would take us from our apartments to the bus station in 4 minutes flat. However, a perfect-storm of mis-communication meant that Matt and I were left standing dumbfounded with all of our bags in front of the apartment at 5:49am. At this point we only had one option and it's feasibly was dwindling by each passing second. We looked at each other and said in desperate tone:
"Well...I guess we have to run."
The stats from our run from the Ninomiya House to the Tsukuba Center Station. At least we burned some early morning calories.
Here are the logistics: There was 1.1 miles between us and the bus that was (probably) already accepting passengers. Matt and I were both dressed to impress with nice shirts, slacks, dress shoes, and coats. We each had a suitcase & backpack combo that we had to take with us and we had to be there in less than 11 minutes. Imagine us sprinting in slow motion, theatrical soundtrack playing in the background, determined looks on our faces, our backpacks and jackets slowly drifting up and falling down from our powerful strides across the pavement. Now take those images and erase them from your mind. The truth is that our run lacked any form of grace or beauty. We were like two frightened animals, striving for survival.
I was in a state of panic as my chest pounded and my lungs burned. The only sounds were the sounds of my clunky shoes, luggage wheels rolling on the pavement, and desperate gasps for air. I forced myself to think of only one thing:
We cannot miss this bus.
It was this simplicity that kept me from giving up. Throughout the run I kept pulling out my iPod to check the time with my free hand. Quick glances behind me told me that Matt was still running and thus, still had hope. As we got closer, it seemed more and more likely that we could pull this off. The bus station came within view and I saw that the only bus there was the airport bus. People were putting their luggage underneath and handing over their tickets to the driver. We might actually make it! For a second I thought of yelling and waving my hands so that they wouldn't leave without us, but it hadn't come to that...yet.
An elevator would take us down to the bus so I pushed the button and looked back to find Matt closely behind me. Upon exiting the elevator we made eye contact with the bus driver and I finally knew that we had made it! As we handed over our luggage and tickets our bodies coughed and pumped out sweat in protest to our impromptu morning jog. People gave us puzzling looks as their eyes fixed upon us. We were just two sweaty minorities in obvious pain as we walked down the rows to our seats.
Matt and I found seats at different parts of the bus and quickly started shedding our numerous layers of semi-formal clothing. As I took off my jacket and sweater, Matt smiled back at me with a look of utter disbelief that we were on the bus. Before i could sit down the bus driver shut the door and started driving. We had truly caught the bus by the skin of our teeth.
Matt and I found seats at different parts of the bus and quickly started shedding our numerous layers of semi-formal clothing. As I took off my jacket and sweater, Matt smiled back at me with a look of utter disbelief that we were on the bus. Before i could sit down the bus driver shut the door and started driving. We had truly caught the bus by the skin of our teeth.
I wish I had enough composure to draw a smiley face and take this picture.
I was sweating bullets. The Banana Republic sweater I was wearing quickly became a sweat rag and I was forced to take off my shoes and socks. Sprawled out over two seats, I noticed that my window was fogging up like crazy. Then I looked up and noticed one other window with some serious condensation. It was the window directly above Matt's seat.
Throughout the hour-long bus ride I continued to play out the morning in my head. What would have happened if we hesitated any longer at the Ninomiya House? What if we hadn't purchased the bus tickets the previous night? I'm always amazed when a large sequence of events can come down to a few short moments that determine success or failure. I'm glad that we had made just enough correct decisions to teeter the outcome in our favor.
Let's just say, I had hoped that we had finally learned our lesson and we would avoid these circumstances by taking caution for the remainder of the 5 day trip. Well, it didn't exactly work out that way....
-Seth
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