Japan: The Last Train

Friday, April 11, 2003. 11:45am
Skyliner Express from Ueno to Narita

Justin and I are on the last train ride of this trip to Japan. One train to the airport.

The Skyliner Express departs from Ueno, one of Tokyo’s central train stations. Ueno is fairly close to the office. We could have caught a similar train from Tokyo Station, but it would have taken longer to get to the station from the office. It’s definitely more comfortable than the bus service we used to get from the airport to the hotel.

Justin is staring out the window as we move through downtown Tokyo. This is the only day we haven’t had any customer visits. Our day has consisted of packing, checking out of the hotel, coming to the office for a quick internal meeting, then off to the train station.

Despite today’s lack of activity, we are not relaxed. Several days of life in the big city have put us on Tokyo Time. We’re wired but not nervous, ready to run on less than six hours of sleep. In true Doppelganger fashion I have moved into the rhythm of local life … dashing from train to train in a black suit, carrying a train ticket in one hand a can of Boss coffee in the other. My system is primed for battle, but I am not fighting today.

Justin and I are used to this routine. I’ve been doing this flying sideshow thing for a few years now, I just change slightly depending on the location. This is only Justin’s second trip to Japan … heck, it’s only his second trip out of the United States. But Justin plays the Doppelganger well. He’s very comfortable doing business here, even picking up some basic Japanese (something I have not tried due to my poor record with foreign languages).

We understand the lifestyle here, but I don’t think either of us could live this everyday. Justin is a South Georgia boy who grew up on a 200 acre farm, I’m a techno-geek who lives on a small tract of land in Loganville. Justin never expected to be in Japan when he was a boy. I never expected to raise goats, much help my wife design a website to advertise the goats … not to mention the whole “happily married” thing.

Life takes one to many places, not all of them where you expected to be.