Upcoming Events: Osaka Lindy Exchange

Not long after I arrived in Japan, I started looking for social dance venues. There don't seem to be any in Kochi, but I discovered that there would be a Lindy exchange (a big gathering of Lindy Hop dancers) in Osaka in October. What's more, it was being held on a three day weekend. I decided that I wanted to go, but didn't actually get started on the planning.

I started to panic when someone mentioned that the highway bus tickets sometimes sell out if you don't buy them fast enough. Taking the train (or a flight) to Osaka is pretty expensive, and perhaps even those fill up quickly. I was frozen with indecision for a while and didn't really know how to go about buying a bus ticket. But today I asked Mitch (a senior ALT) about buying bus tickets, since I knew he had helped Nelson, and he told me a few ways I could do it. One involved a website that is entirely in kanji, so I opted to try my luck at the bus station.

At Kochi Eki (Kochi Station), there is a bus terminal as well as a train station. I went there and bought a ticket. It was easier than I expected; I told the employee the date I wanted to go (and also pointed to the date in my planner in case I was saying it wrong), picked the departure time, and did the same for the return trip. The lady took down my phone number and name, and sold me the ticket. I was a little confused when it turned out that I had a choice between two bus terminals in Osaka, so I picked one arbitrarily. Hopefully it works out well. I intend to ask someone to read the kanji on my ticket so that I can figure out which one I chose.

The next step is booking a hotel. The website for the Lindy Exchange had a list of inexpensive hotels, so I've been looking at those. I just emailed one of the hotels to see how early I could check in. Their online booking system allows you to put in any time, but I'm guessing that was an oversight. Since my bus leaves Kochi at 10:30 Friday night and arrives 6:00 Saturday morning, I'd really like to find a hotel that will let me check in early. That way I won't be wandering around Osaka half-dazed and carrying my luggage. We'll see what I can work out.

I still can't entirely believe that I've got the ticket and that I'm going. It's kind of intimidating to travel alone in a country where I can't speak the language much. Getting around Osaka looks like it could be complicated as well. It's a large city and there is an extensive subway system. Which is a good thing, of course; it just means there's a lot to figure out. But now that I've gotten started, I think I'll be able to sort everything out.