First stop was the International Exchange Plaza about 7 min away from the apartment. I walked in there, looked around and mustered up the courage to speak to the receptionist. The majority of Japanese people I've met so far have had little or no English ability, but I was still surprised when the lady there gave me a completely bewildered look when I asked about free internet. (Keep in mind it WAS an International Exchange Plaza ...) I flipped through my handy Japanese phrase book to find "intanetto" and from the scramble of Japanese that followed, I managed to make out "dame" (no?). After receiving a map of various cheap/free internet places in downtown Kagoshima (in English, thank goodness), I ventured out further into the unknown.
Second stop was Apprecio, an internet cafe. It was really easy to find as I could just walk along the tram line. When I got there however, what welcomed me was a super shady looking first floor. From what I could decipher based on the kanji (chinese characters), posters said do not enter and that the store was closed.
I had two choices, give up or go on. The tram that is. I decided to jump on. I kept watching other passengers to see how they paid the fare and delligently watched the sign showing the different trap stops. I got to the specified stop and had no idea where to go as the directions only said "5 min walk from tram stop".
As I was wandering around trying to find "Sunyell Kagoshima", I heard someone said "onejan" or something like that. I turned to see an old lady with a cane trying to hand me garbage, I took it hesitantly as she spoke rapid Japanese to me. I then realized she was asking me to help her dump her garbage, which was just a few steps away. I asked her where Sunyell Kagoshima is and she continued to speak to me while I just had a super lost look on my face. She tried to walk into a neighboring store to get help (which was further than the garbage disposal area, I felt so bad!) and then a middle aged man comes to drop off a bag of rice.
With the help of a sales associate from the neighboring store, they manage to find Sunyell Kagoshima on the map. I was ready to walk there when the man offers to give me a ride! (He was driving the old lady as well) I was slightly apphrehensive, but they both seemed so eager and I knew it was only a few blocks away so I got in. I started wishing my Japanese was better so I could say more than just "arigatou gozaimasu" and "What is your name". They dropped me off at the center and after a conversation with the girl at the front desk consisting of..."Can I use the internet?" "5 matte" " oh 5 minute wait, okay!" "call... ju yon.." "You will call the number? Ju yon.. 14.. sure, thank you!"... I finally got an hour of free internet! Halleluah!
The majority of Japanese people I've met on the street here have been really helpful and nice, despite the occasional weird looks I have gotten. ( Why is that girl not helping her white friend... and it's the other way around...) One thing is for sure, my Japanese vocabulary needs to improve... big time.
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