Tag Archives: walking in circles

Arrival in The Motherland: Vladivostok – ruler of the east

I arrived in Vladivostok Monday afternoon. Although on a map, Vladivostok doesn’t seem that much farther east than Tokyo or Seoul, it’s two time zones later. Guess I should check it out on a globe when I’m home, to see whether it’s a geographically or politically based zoning.

I hadn’t had much luck in getting a map printed out in Seoul, but I figured that there would be something posted at the train station or at a tourist info booth when I arrived. And how wrong I was! I got to the Vladivostok airport info desk and they helped me on how to catch the airport express train. However, they didn’t have as city map. I hopped on the train, delighted to find it even had wifi, and sent a quick “safe arrival” email. I tried using Google Maps walking directions but they were sparse. Once arrived at the station, I tried to find information or a map without luck. There were a number of men hanging around the station, probably taxi drivers, but enough so that I didn’t want to hang around walking in circles and looking lost any longer. So I picked a likely looking street ( not knowing my compass points in the city but with the vaguest of vague ideas that the hotel was to the west of the station) and started walking. 100 yards in, I saw a sign that said tourism, so I figured I’d keep going. I got two blocks up this steep hill and there was no tourist office, just possibly a travel agent or travel tv channel or something not too helpful. I approached two women taking a smoking break and showed them the address I was looking for. They didn’t speak a word of English, but what with pointing and drawing a pedestrian crossing in my little notebook, they managed to give me great directions. Turns out that intersection was where I needed to take a left and go to the crosswalk. Lo and behold, there was the hotel – or what I assumed was the hotel as I painfully tried to sound out the Cyrillic letters above the door.

It was indeed the Zemchuzina Hotel, so I checked in, then headed out to the supermarket around the corner to load up on supplies for the train trip (like juice boxes and ramen cups). I noticed each time I entered the lobby any men there would stare at me. I wondered if it were my schlubby American clothes (travel pants and a fleece, when all the young Russian women I’ve seen are carefully made up and coiffed, wearing either short skirts, skinny jeans, or leggings). I’ve since read in my Trans-Siberian guidebook that women staying alone at hotels are often thought to be prostitutes, so maybe they were wondering how I was going to get clients when I was more bundled up than the “proper” young Russian ladies!

I was only two blocks from a cafe recommended in my guidebook as marvelous, so with no other deciding factor, I decided to try it out. Then came another mortifying cultural exchange. (This trip is certainly good for my humility!) I walked into the cafe through its accompanying art gallery. The lady in the gallery watched me, even moving closer to the door between the gallery and cafe to see what the foreigner was going to do. The folks in the cafe said hi and then promptly ignored me. I made my way to the front, where there was a Russian/English menu, but it wasn’t clear to me if I ordered up there or sat at a table and was waited on or what. I also wasn’t sure how to pronounce the full phrase “do you speak English?” in Russian so I just said “English? (Angliski?)” in a questioning tone of voice. The woman behind the counter looked at me as though I were an idiot, pointed to the menu I had just been looking at, and told me it was in English and Russian. What I would have given to be able to reply!

Anyway, again, no dying of embarrassment, though I didn’t feel very welcome. It’s not that I expect people to speak English, it’s just that a smile and goodwill go a long way…but I ended up with a tasty and cheap plate of Russian meat dumplings with sour cream, and the lady at the cafe thawed a bit towards the end (possibly because it was clear I found two little boys who seemed to be her grand kids very cute – children are a universal).

I went to bed feeling very happy to have hired an English speaking guide for Tuesday morning, as I had anticipated some difficulties in Russia.

Last Day in Tokyo

On Thursday, it was time for me to head back to Tokyo and the Ginza district. The return went off without a hitch, Fuji-San as beautiful as on my way to Kyoto. As we neared Tokyo, I noticed that a lot of cherry trees were blooming – many more than I had seen only five days earlier on my way down.

Despite the guilt of not fully using my half day in Tokyo for touristy things, I decided to rent a laptop at the hotel so I could transfer the three hundred photos I had taken to a flash drive and upload them to WordPress. I had grand plans of getting them all into blog posts, but it actually took a substantial amount of time just to transfer them. Hence why I am even farther behind posting pictures than I am even with writing.

The next day, Friday, I flew out to Korea in the late afternoon. This meant that I had the morning to get some last things accomplished before I left. I wanted to go to the post office to mail home some souvenirs and items I just don’t want to carry for the next two months. I figured I’d have plenty of time to mail the package and check out Ueno Park’s cherry blossoms before checking out. Well, whenever I make that assumption, it’s just begging for something to go wrong.

I set out to walk what looked, on the hotel map, to be about six blocks laid out in a grid format. It wasn’t. Well, it may have been six blocks, but it wasn’t a grid, and I got fairly lost. However, I finally came across the post office, only to find out that they didn’t take credit cards and didn’t have an ATM. That threw a bit of a wrench into actually mailing the package!

I headed out of the post office, determined to find an ATM, sure I was going to miss seeing the cherry blossoms, and wondering frustratedly why everything has to be so hard when you don’t speak the language. Not being able to communicate means that some things we take for granted are next to impossible. I’m gaining more and more sympathy for toddlers!

I found a convenience store but it didn’t take my card. I headed to a big pedestrian overpass, hoping to get my bearings. I got there and realized I was only a couple of blocks from my hotel – that windy road I had taken meant I had pretty much gone in a circle! I popped into the hotel to ask directions to an ATM, and also got directions to a closer post office. Of course, the post office didn’t open till ten, but by the time I got there, I only had a few minutes left to wait. My 20 minute errand was taking 4 times as long as anticipated.

Once in the post office, the nice lady at the counter pointed out to me that the envelope the hotel had given me was the equivalent of priority mail, and too expensive. She helped me repackage my parcel, even running back to grab a handful of candy to throw in. She either wanted me to join in an international candy smuggling operation or was trying to be welcoming to the poor American!

Finally done, I raced off to Ueno. And when I got there, what had been an avenue lined by bare branches less than a week earlier was now crowded with people and surrounded by trees loaded with pale pink fluff. It was glorious – it looked like it had snowed on the trees – and I felt very lucky to have seen it. I wandered down the avenue with the masses of people enjoying the blossoms. I can only imagine how crowded it would be when the actual cherry blossom festival started the following day!