So, it all started when I came to know about one of my seniors from grad school. He had gone to Europe for 2 weeks(I think), on his way to India after graduation. He had a job offer in the US and would be coming back to work here. This was totally new information for me then. I have heard of Indian students going to India after graduation, usually only if they already had a job offer back in the US. But haven't heard of anyone going to a foreign country.(A little background for any non-Indian readers out there. Usually students who were in the US for their Master's would go to India after graduation, only if they had a job offer so that they can come back and work here.This is if you want to come back to the US of course. Otherwise, without a job offer in hand and after graduation, you would be out of status and hence can't come to the US to work here.)
Until then I wasn't even sure if I gonna go home to India after graduation. I had no job and I really wanted to work here in the US for a while before I went back to India for good. So I never even thought of going to some other country after graduation . So going to Japan was just only a dream. You see, all the fascination with Japan and Japanese only started in my first year of Undergrad when I started to watch anime. I always thought I would go there sometime, but was never sure when. But with the new info, it actually became a possibility.I could go to Japan soon if I managed to get a job before graduation. I think I was in the fourth semester of my Master's or was just finished with it then. I had one more semester before I graduated. I was motivated more than ever to find a job before I graduated.
If I did in fact managed to get a job and go to Japan, I wanted to spend at least a month there. I knew I was not going to get spend so much time in any foreign country once I start working. Any vacation I would get would be spent on going to India and visiting family. So kinda this was my only chance. But if I had to spend a month there and were to just travel all the time, I wasn't sure I could do it. I've never traveled alone anywhere and traveling for a month by myself in a country where I can't even speak the language did not seem fun. I've always wanted to learn foreign languages and wanted to learn Japanese ever since I started watching anime. So I decided to find a language school in Japan and learn Japanese for a month there. This way I did not have to worry about what to do for a month there and also, even if for a very short period, I would get the taste of actually living in Japan. So with that decided, I looked for Japanese language schools and found this one school called Yamasa, in Okazaki, pop up more than any other school in my searches. I went on their site and read more about the various programs they offered and the fees for each of those. This was all before I even got any job interview.
In my last semester, thanks to one of my seniors who gave me a referral, I managed to get an interview from Microsoft at the career fair at my university. Luckily I got selected for the full interview at Microsoft campus in the last week of Oct 2010 and later even got a job offer from them. I got a job! Now it was time to plan and act to make visiting Japan a reality. I had to find a program & get admitted into Yamasa, book tickets to India and decide the dates for Japan, get visa for Japan, find a way to fund all this. I also had to make sure that I did not fail in the research project I had for the semester. It was going to be a busy time until I graduated.
I think the first thing I did was to try and decide which program to go for at Yamasa. They had all kinds of programs, some with few hours of classes per week while others were really intense with around 25 hrs per week. I wanted to learn as much Japanese as I could when I was there, so I looked for the intensive options. I started emailing the school with various questions I had about each of the programs I was interested in. After a string of around 20 emails, I decided on a program with 23 hrs of classes per week. I would have classes from 9am to 3pm Mon-Thurs and 9am to noon on Fridays. I had weekends to travel. The next thing was to figure out the dates. Also, I had to first convince my parents to let me do this. I had not been home in 2 years and I was wondering how my parents would react when I tell them I wanted to spend a month in Japan. I forgot to mention that I had talked to the recruiter at Microsoft and had asked for a joining date in the first week of March. I would be done around mid-December with my research project and that left me with 2 and half months before I had to come back to the US. I looked up the visa procedure and decided that it was best for me to apply for one in India. I needed the letter of acceptance from the school and also had to prepare other documents for the Japanese visa and first needed to somehow get the money for all this. I needed time and also I could not wait go home after haven't been there for 2 years. So applying for a visa in India seemed best to me.
When I was about to talk to my parents about the trip, I was sure that I would need to do a lot of convincing. I called them up and told them about the plan - one month in Japan and the rest in India. I was very pleasantly surprised how easily they agreed to it. In fact, dad said he saw that coming with all my previous talks about how interested I was in Japanese. My mom had one objection though, she was afraid that Japan was not very safe with all the earthquakes they have. I laughed it off and said I did not care and was for sure going to Japan now(The 2011 tsunami happened 20 days after I came back from Japan btw). I asked dad if he could fund my trip but later quickly said that I would fund it somehow by myself. I had taken an extra semester to graduate from my Master's(5 instead of 4), which meant that most of my friends had already graduated and were working. I asked four of my friends for money to do this. I think I in fact coaxed/forced 2 of my friends to lend me some money. One of these friends, when drunk had told me to ask him for any help when needed and few weeks later I rang him up asking for money. As nice as he was, he lent me some good amount for the trip(you know who you are :P). So with the money problem sorted out I really had to get to the actual dates.
I was going to be done with my project around mid-December but the convocation was a week and a half later. I was so split between staying for my convocation and going back to India right after my project was done. You see, I missed my UG convocation and really wanted to attend it this time at least. But in the end, I decided to go home as soon as possible and spend the extra week there. The school had already shipped the acceptance letter to my US address and I had to call them up and get another copy shipped to India. My plan was to surprise my parents by going home 2 weeks earlier than the date I told them I would be home. I also wanted to apply for the visa asap, so thought I would book a flight to Chennai, apply for the visa there and then go home. But once I was in Chennai and talked to a travel agent there I quickly realized I was missing some docs and so I decided to head back the same night to Nandyal, where my parents lived.
Traveling from Chennai to Nandyal in an overnight bus with 2 heavy suitcases and a carry on and a laptop bag was no fun. Especially when I had to make 3 trips on the stairs to second floor(or the 3rd floor if you are from the US) without making any noise so as to not ruin the surprise. I succeeded and my parents were definitely very surprised and happy to see me and I was so happy to be home after 2 years as well. I gave the docs I had with me to the agent and sent the rest once I was home in Nandyal, so that he could apply for a visa on my behalf. Later that week, I got a call from him saying that the consulate had declined to take my application. They told him that I was supposed to apply for one from the US. I really did not understand why and had called the consulate. Looking at the offer letter copy I included in the application, they thought that I already was working in the US. I had to explain to them that I had just graduated and was in India now and would only start working in March. After clearing this up, they were ready to take my application. To make things interesting again, something happened again. This time they wanted my original acceptance letter from Yamasa instead of a copy. It was quicker for me to just travel in person to Chennai than sending it through any courier service and so I did just that. With all of this done, my application was completely done and I headed back home and got the visa after a week or so.
While all of this was going on I was searching for a cheap ticket from India to Japan. The cheapest ticket I found was from Thai Airways, from Hyd to Nagoya with almost a one day layover in Bangkok. I had the luxury of time then and so booked that flight and also was happy that I would get to see a new country. Oh, I also forgot to mention about the accommodation arrangement. The school provides a home-stay option where you can stay with a Japanese family. I was very tempted to do this, but this required me to pay the fee few weeks in advance and I did not have the money in hand to do that then. Also, with not eating beef and not eating any meat in 2 days of the week and kinda unknown travel schedule for the weekends, I decided it was best for me to stay in the apartments that the school offered and booked one. I also found from the school, how to get to Okazaki from Nagoya.
So the day of departure finally came and I boarded the flight from Hyd to Bangkok. Once in Bangkok, I booked a room in a hotel kinda close to the airport. I later booked a guided tour for a day with a travel agency and explored Bangkok. That was a little adventure in it's own right(will write about it sometime). But in the night again, I was back at the airport to catch my flight to Nagoya. I clearly remember the wait near the gate to board the flight. I was finally going to Japan. It never felt so real than it had then. I was super nervous and excited at the same time. I could not contain myself and even without knowing, I had a stupid smile,from ear to ear, plastered on my face when I finally boarded the flight!
P.S: I had so much fun there in Japan.I was like a kid in Disneyland for a month. I met so many cool people and made some awesome friends and it was this trip that kinda ignited the passion for travel. Here are a few more pics for those who have patiently read through this, or just scrolled down to see if I posted anymore pics. :)
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| My loot from Japan |
First things first. Even though I say 'Island hopping' in the title, I rode to just two Islands.
I was staying at a friend's parents' house in Helsinki. My friend was going to be out of town for a couple of days. I did not do much planning before the trip and I found out at the tourist information center in Helsinki that you could bike from an island to another in the Turku Archipelago. Piqued by the idea of island hopping, that too on a bicycle, I decided to go visit Turku, Finland's original capital and then ride a bike to the islands (of course, you would need to take a ferry when you get to the water).
So with a vague plan, I left to Turku from Helsinki by train on the wednesday morning. The idea was to go to Turku and then decide on the final itinerary. Turku is around a 2 hour ride from Helsinki by train. Once I got to Turku, the first thing to do was to get a map of the town and find the tourist information center. The Tourist Info Center was a good 10-15 min walk away. These walks are always interesting, as they give you the first glimpse of the city and if you spend more time walking, you discover more of characteristics of it. I have been told that since it was almost the end of summer then, not all ferries operated. That meant very limited choice of routes for island hopping. After considering the time and my physical abilities, I just decided to go to Nagu and Korpo. It was around 57 kms to Nagu from Turku and around 27 kms to Korpo from Nagu. I have done a bit of cycling here in Redmond and once did a 50 mile ride to a friend's house(25 miles each way) in the same day, with a good 4-5 hr break in between. So at a relaxed pace, I thought I could go to Nagu that day and go to Korpo the next day. You could rent a bike from the Info center, but I had to walk back to the railway station to keep my huge backpack in a locker. So, I packed just the essentials - a change of clothes, my camera and phone and headed to the Info center to rent a bike.
The rate was 20 Euros per day, a little expensive but I did not have the time or patience to go and find a cheaper place to rent a bike. After I paid for the bike I was taken to a room in the back where I could pick it. Seems like I lose the little common sense I have when on my trips. I should have checked the bike before I paid for it. The bike was, what we would call in India, a girl's bicycle. It was red and short and when I rode it for trial, I found out that it did not have a back wheel brake on the handle. You have to pedal backwards to brake it, as I soon discovered. It was already past 1pm in the afternoon and I was told to go to the Tourist Info Center in Pargas/Parainen to book any accommodation in Nagu. So, I chose to suck it up and ride this not very comfortable bike. It at least had some gears, that was a win. So, equipped with a map to the Islands, I started on my bicycle trip.
So, on the bicycle trip, I walked almost a km and a half to get out of the main city to avoid riding this bike on the sidewalks. Once I started riding the bike, it started to drizzle a bit and I thought I would be fine. It was around 25km to Parainen and I was told that it was almost flat and a straight easy enough route to follow. So I had hoped to get there in an hour and a half. The ride was chilly at the start cause of the wind. After around 10 mins of biking, the rain started to pick up. Though it wasn't pouring down, it was a steady enough rain to get my Jeans wet. I was cold and wet after 20 mins in to the trip. At this point I wasn't sure about the route and had stopped at a supermarket to ask for directions. There was a guy I talked to, who told me on which road to take and I started again. Five minutes after this, I seemed to be in a residential area and still kinda unsure, I kept on biking only to hear someone calling at me. I found out that it was the same person who I had asked for directions earlier and I realized that, with my awesome navigation skills, I managed to get onto the wrong route. The person had seen me passing by his house and called out to correct me. I could not believe my luck and thanked the man profusely and was now back on the (right) road. The bike lane was a narrow gravel road, separated from the main road and ran parallel to it. It was on the right side of the road at the start but I realized that it wasn't the case for long. It kept switching sides a lot, with the underpasses to get to the other side. Also, even though the main road was almost very flat, the bike lane wasn't at a good number of places. By the time I got to Parainen, I was completely cold and wet. It took me two hours to get there. Luckily though I found the Tourist Information Center and it wasn't closed yet.
I locked the bike and went into the building. I told the lady at the center that I was looking to book some accommodation at Nagu. She wasn't sure if there would be anything available as it was off season then. She offered me a seat, but I did not sit down. I was dripping wet and did not want to get the chair wet too. I was just glad to be out of rain and as warm as I can be with wet clothes on. She looked up a few places and after 2-3 calls, found me a place where I could stay for the night in Nagu. She wrote down the name and phone number of the hotel on a post it of which I took a pic with my phone, just to be on the safe side. I was asked when I would reach Nagu and I gave them a safe estimate of 6pm, as it was already around 3:30 then. The lady gave me the map of Nagu and the directions to get to the hotel. So, with accommodation taken care of, I was ready to get back on the way to Nagu.
As I got out of the Info center and I realized that I was missing my bike keys. I cursed myself and went in again to see if I forgot the keys there. Luckily, that is what I did. The lady when she realized that, started laughing and said 'Now I understand why you took the pic of the stick it note'. I was laughing too, at that. With my bike keys found, now I started again.
The rain seemed to be getting lighter and I was very glad about it. I was lazy enough to not get a pair of contacts before my trip again and I had paid well for that mistake. With the constant rain until then, I had to take my glasses off and wipe them with a single hand onto my Jeans, almost every other minute, to be able to see anything at all. Also, on top of this, I had the habit of pedaling backwards instead of just stopping pedaling, when I try to coast on my bike and because of this, the bike would suddenly stop(remember the weird braking system of the bike?). All this gave me enough reasons to swear out loud a lot on the trip. But, even with all this, the trip was very enjoyable as it offered some great views. The views weren't grand like in Norway, but I thought these had their own serene beauty to them. When you travel slowly, you are forced to watch/observe things you would miss otherwise, just because you're moving too fast. I just had more time to appreciate the surroundings I was in, when traveling on a bike. Anyway, the rain stopped eventually and I reached a point where I had to take the ferry to get across the water. I saw a ferry in the water and it seemed to have just left. By then anyway, I was really very damn hungry & thirsty and also needed to pee really badly. Unfortunately, the shop I found there was closed but found a restroom near by. But it was so cold, dark and smelled so bad that I decided to take a leak in the near by bush.
By the time I was got back, I saw that cars were lining up in rows waiting for the ferry. Soon a ferry came from the other direction and after waiting for all the cars to go first, I boarded it with the bike. I really loved views from the water of the surrounding islands and was very glad of the short break I got from biking. As we reached the other end and once all the cars left the ferry, I was the last one to get off of it. To my much delight, the small coffee shop on this side was open. I went in and found an old man inside. I got a coffee and also an apple strudel they had. The coffee wasn't that great but I was so very glad to just have some hot drink and so was the case with the strudel. Never in my life, had a coffee and a snack had felt more deserved than then. So with some renewed energy I continued to Nagu.
I wasn't worried about
the vehicles on the road until then but now there wasn't a separate lane
all the times. I tried to be cautious and traveled on to the very right edge
of the road. Also, I noticed that almost every car/vehicle that passed by, traveled to the middle of the single laned road when they saw me and I was very thankful for that. With my awesome navigational skills I can't remember how many times I got lost on the road. I once took a way that goes to the bottom of a bridge that came by, when I supposed to take the other one which would let me cross it. In hindsight that seemed so obvious, but then I was just cold and hungry. Almost after 10-20 mins since I left the coffee place, I came on to branched roads and a sign that read Nagu pointed to the narrower road instead of the wider one I was one. Now I was very confused. I saw cars passing by now and then, but I could not stop and ask them for directions. So, I decided to take my chance and follow the very obvious sign and take the smaller road. After probably biking for a km or so, I happened to see a person getting out of a car, in front of what seemed to be a huge garage/shed. I yelled for the person to wait and went to her and asked if this was the correct way to Nagu. The old lady did not speak any English but understood me and said that this wasn't the correct way to Nagu. I thanked the lady and started biking back to the point where the roads were branched. Even though I was cursing that I had to bike around 2kms in waste, I was very glad that I at least knew the right way now. It was funny how I was thinking about just getting to Nagu. I was cold and tired and did not have a place to stay at night if I did not get to Nagu in time. It was not a life threatening situation or anything, but as tired as I was then, having some place to stay at night versus possibly spending a night in the woods/by the road made it almost like one. Somehow I even laughed at the situation I was in before I found the lady, thinking all this. So, I got back on to the right road after getting lost yet again. After finally biking km by km, trying my best to stay out of the few vehicles that were on the road I finally got to Nagu. I found a shop near a gas station and asked for the directions to the hotel and by luck, I was at the hotel just in time by 6pm.
Even with the little bumps I had on the way, I absolutely LOVED the trip to Nagu. Like I had said earlier, you are made to watch and observe stuff, you would miss otherwise, when you are traveling slowly. I passed by a few bridges and each gave me some beautiful views of the water. I also remember passing by a mining town/area. The roads were not busy, and even almost empty except for the occasional vehicles that passed by, after Parainen. The ride from Parainen to Nagu, was especially very beautiful. The road went along lots of fields and I passed by sheds/farmhouses etc. With almost no one in sight, I had the road and the place to myself. After being on the Scandinavian trip for 2 and half weeks, the sudden silence and serenity was an unexpected, pleasant and welcoming surprise. I enjoyed the whole experience and would not want to change anything in it.
Once I got to the hotel, I knocked on the door praying that someone would be there to let me in. Sure enough a middle aged man opened the door and after paying up and completing other formalities I was shown to my room. The hotel was run by the man and a lady who seemed to be his wife. It was a bed and breakfast place, so the lady had put some breakfast for me in the fridge. When asked what was the check out time, I was told that I was the only person in the hotel and could leave whenever I want. The owner suggested a restaurant that might be still open and so after taking a nice hot shower and changing into warm clothes I headed out for dinner. I found a restaurant not faraway, ordered a pizza and coke and ate the whole pizza. Except for me and another table, the restaurant was totally empty. Talk about being at Nagu out of season. But I really enjoyed this peace and quiet. I headed back to my hotel room, watched some FRIENDS that was on tv and went to bed! :)
