It's difficult to spot her in this photo, but my daughter is standing by the door of the train. Heh heh.
We really enjoyed using the train system in Japan. A couple of etiquette notes for you: at the ends of the cars are seats reserved for elderly and handicapped riders, and moms with small children (fine...pregnant women, too...haha!). Either don't sit in them or get up when someone needs the seat. You know, common courtesy. Also, take off your backpack if you're wearing one and toss it on the rack over the seats. It's not fun for people to be smacked by your backpack while you're navigating backwards to make room for people entering and exiting the train!
We rode on one trip where I just couldn't get mine off- the train was packed, everyone was in a hurry, and we were only on for one stop. I also had two suitcases that I was trying to pretend were teeny tiny. In fact, I was trying to pretend that I was teeny tiny. I did bump into someone, who gave me a glare until I unleashed a series of "Sumimasen. Gomen nasai. Sumimasen. I'm sorry!" He seemed mollified and actually helped me squeeze one of my bags into a space smaller than the suitcase and helped me get it rolling at the stop. But he did look rather relieved that we were getting off the train. :)
If you've read about, or seen photos of, people nodding off on the train, it's the real deal. In fact, after a couple of days of traipsing around on foot, I found myself with head drooping, eyes closed on intercity trips. It's also a nice little defense mechanism when you're tired of pretending that you don't notice people looking at you :) Actually, that didn't happen much. When I did accidentally catch someone peeking, I usually just gave a small smile and then looked away. I was looking, too, after all.
We really enjoyed using the train system in Japan. A couple of etiquette notes for you: at the ends of the cars are seats reserved for elderly and handicapped riders, and moms with small children (fine...pregnant women, too...haha!). Either don't sit in them or get up when someone needs the seat. You know, common courtesy. Also, take off your backpack if you're wearing one and toss it on the rack over the seats. It's not fun for people to be smacked by your backpack while you're navigating backwards to make room for people entering and exiting the train!We rode on one trip where I just couldn't get mine off- the train was packed, everyone was in a hurry, and we were only on for one stop. I also had two suitcases that I was trying to pretend were teeny tiny. In fact, I was trying to pretend that I was teeny tiny. I did bump into someone, who gave me a glare until I unleashed a series of "Sumimasen. Gomen nasai. Sumimasen. I'm sorry!" He seemed mollified and actually helped me squeeze one of my bags into a space smaller than the suitcase and helped me get it rolling at the stop. But he did look rather relieved that we were getting off the train. :)
If you've read about, or seen photos of, people nodding off on the train, it's the real deal. In fact, after a couple of days of traipsing around on foot, I found myself with head drooping, eyes closed on intercity trips. It's also a nice little defense mechanism when you're tired of pretending that you don't notice people looking at you :) Actually, that didn't happen much. When I did accidentally catch someone peeking, I usually just gave a small smile and then looked away. I was looking, too, after all.
I'll write more about trains later. Right now I think I'll pretend I'm on the Yamanote line, and nod off for a bit.
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