Feeling home with trains in Italy 5/22/13
I always like teaching transportation unit of 2nd year. It feels like my students need to know how to use public transportation in general on top of the language involved. I am from the heavy-duty train country of Japan andI maximized the train riding skills in Japan to today’s little trip from
Fiumicino - Leonardo da Vinci airport to the hotel in Rome.
I have spent a lot of time getting on and off from Kyoto station, so that station of that size does not challenge me. However when Tony and I went to Japan in 2011, for the first time myself maneuvered Tokyo station! Japanese train direction is strange; there is no east/west bound or north/south bound. Whichever direction getting closer to Tokyo station is up （上り）and going away is down （下り). Today I feel like we did European version of Tokyo station: Rome Termini.
It is one thing that you get to the station, then find which platform your train should be and purchasing the right ticket. Luckily my Japanese guidebook had an extensive section of getting around in train and ticket machine comes in multiple languages including English. We were successful in getting Leonardo Express, which very much reminded me of airport express to Kansai International and regional subway to the station near the hotel, which reminded me of very much Kyoto subway.
Getting adjusted to seven-hour ahead is another thing. If you frequently work irregular hours, especially overnight like my friend, Kelly, you are best suited for this game. I have gone back and forth Japan enough, where currently Texas is 14 hours behind and it used to take about a week to the destination time. But that is a long time! I look like I am keeping company with Pacific friends from down under and European friends on Spinervals page, I keep a regular schedule of 4am wake up and 8pm flop time in Texas. So I decided to make myself not going back to sleep on the morning we left (about 7am Italy time) and now I am making myself stay awake in the afternoon. It took about 24 hours door to door, just like Japan because we first went to Germany. We will catch super fast train, just like 新幹線 in Japan to catch the tour tomorrow called Frecciagento.
I have spent a lot of time getting on and off from Kyoto station, so that station of that size does not challenge me. However when Tony and I went to Japan in 2011, for the first time myself maneuvered Tokyo station! Japanese train direction is strange; there is no east/west bound or north/south bound. Whichever direction getting closer to Tokyo station is up （上り）and going away is down （下り). Today I feel like we did European version of Tokyo station: Rome Termini.
It is one thing that you get to the station, then find which platform your train should be and purchasing the right ticket. Luckily my Japanese guidebook had an extensive section of getting around in train and ticket machine comes in multiple languages including English. We were successful in getting Leonardo Express, which very much reminded me of airport express to Kansai International and regional subway to the station near the hotel, which reminded me of very much Kyoto subway.
Getting adjusted to seven-hour ahead is another thing. If you frequently work irregular hours, especially overnight like my friend, Kelly, you are best suited for this game. I have gone back and forth Japan enough, where currently Texas is 14 hours behind and it used to take about a week to the destination time. But that is a long time! I look like I am keeping company with Pacific friends from down under and European friends on Spinervals page, I keep a regular schedule of 4am wake up and 8pm flop time in Texas. So I decided to make myself not going back to sleep on the morning we left (about 7am Italy time) and now I am making myself stay awake in the afternoon. It took about 24 hours door to door, just like Japan because we first went to Germany. We will catch super fast train, just like 新幹線 in Japan to catch the tour tomorrow called Frecciagento.
1 Comments:
Oh Keiko, I remember the Rome terminal!! It was an experience purchasing the ticket and hoping we got the right one!! Then finding the platform! Our train was delayed and changed platforms 3 times! My girlfriend I was travelling with had a huge backpack and a huge suitcase full of wine! LOL! I remember one of the employees yelling at us "Pronto, Pronto!!" as we were running after him. I had so much fun!! Enjoy!
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