Sayonara Nagano

Dearest Rachel –

It seems kind of appropriate that our room here in Nagano is on the very end of the hall, without so much as another room on the opposite side. We’ve rather isolated ourselves from the rest of the group as it is, so it makes sense that we be positioned so as to facilitate that further. The fact that I’m still on an odd sleep schedule, where I wake up three or four hours before the hotel serves breakfast in order to put together these letters to you (among other things) probably doesn’t help – although in fairness, sitting by the elevator bank does allow me to interact with the occasional night owl or fellow morning person now and again.

Today, however, it’s serving me rather well. Not only did I have a lot to put together from yesterday (which, once again, is kind of odd to say when my letter arrived at home hours before some of the events it described ‘happened,’ despite getting a decent six hours of sleep since), but we needed to get everything packed and downstairs before eight this morning, as opposed to the usual nine or nine-thirty. In face, nine-thirty was when our train was scheduled to depart Nagano, and with their tight schedule, there would be no second-guessing. You fall behind, and you’re stuck here.

But of course, I stuck to my usual sleep schedule, which had me up and about before five. I’d hoped to wander through the hall between the hotel and the station, but things didn’t quite work out that way:

Once I gave up and got back to the room, Daniel was up, too, so we basically got ourselves so put together that we would only need to pack our toiletries after breakfast (have to brush our teeth after eating, after all), and be ready to go. Only, once we returned and took care of all that, we hung around the room for so long that we were barely out of there and down to the lobby in time to drop off our suitcases when instructed. Parkinson’s Law in action, I’m afraid.

That having been said, once we were down there, not just with the suitcases, but also with the plug adapters the front desk had loaned us, we had plenty of time to cool our heels while everyone else began to assemble. Some even found time to go across the street to the Don Quixote or the Family Mart (the latter of which we had hit up just before breakfast) for last-minute souvenirs or provisions. There’s always something to fill the time with, but with everybody doing their own thing, it was dicey getting everybody together all at once to move out at the appointed time.

But we did, albeit a couple minutes later than planned (due to someone taking a restroom stop); not a problem, though, since the plan was to leave the hotel at 8:45 for a 9:30 train departure. Even if we were to dawdle through the station until the shopping area opened at nine (which we ultimately did after some of us dropped our backpacks and other carryons off by the turnstiles), we would have plenty of time to make it to the train before it took off.

In fact, I figured that we would be there before the train got there, assuming that Nagano was but a stop along the Shinkansen route, so we only had a few moments to board it once it arrived. However, as we descended the stairs to the platform, I was surprised to hear that the train waiting there was, in fact, our train; we were, after all, about ten minutes ahead of our declared departure time.

Well, whatever. We got aboard, and after getting ourselves properly settled in, the train took off right on time, just as one would expect. And so, sayonara, Nagano; I doubt we’ll be back. Not out of any deliberate aversion, but because it’s just that unlikely we’ll make it here again. Thanks for having us.

And with that said, I’ll ask you to keep an eye on us, honey, and wish us luck, as we’re still going to need it.