I used to be terrified and completely confused by subways and trains not to mention
\nthat I have a poor sense of direction.The first time I ever rode on a subway was on a college trip and I had to hold my friends\u2019 hand getting on because I was scared I was going to slip in between the gap.<\/p>\n
Once I moved to Tokyo and started working at OneUP\u2019s several different schools I knew I had to get over my fears. Thankfully when I came to Japan, map and public transportation apps were just starting to be released and I used them a lot. Also, as I lived on and basically only used the Tokyo Metro lines I just had to focus on those systems. I would often get confused about which side of the platform I should be on to go the appropriate direction. Then once I left stations and got above ground, I would get confused about which direction I should be heading. I would often leave a good chunk of time<\/strong> earlier than I needed because I would make a mistake and need extra time. Finally, learning basic kanji really helped dissect <\/strong>the information on train screens as things were only written in kanji back then. Once I learned the kanji for \u2018local train\u2019, \u2018express train\u2019, \u2018bound for\u2019, \u2018doors opening on the right or left side\u2019, etc. It gave me more of an understanding, so I didn\u2019t get confused so much.<\/p>\n After 10 years of living in Japan I rarely need to look at a map but when I do and I have the extra time I\u2019m actually excited about learning how to get to and around a new place. A weakness in my life has turned into more of a hobby for me and I\u2019m grateful for it.<\/p>\n Laura<\/p>\n I used to be terrified and completely confused by subways and trains not to mention that I have a poor sense of directio\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":43179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43170"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43180,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43170\/revisions\/43180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oneup.jp\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTokyo isn\u2019t necessarily the best place to get over one\u2019s fear of using public transportation, but I knew I had no choice but to do my best. Also, I was very fortunate to have friends in Tokyo when I moved here so they were kind enough to take me around while I first got my bearings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nAt that time only Tokyo Metro had stop numbers, so I was lucky I leveraged <\/strong>that.<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s where the stop numbers came in. If I was at Otemachi Station (T09) and was going to Minamisuna Station (T15) I knew I had to be on the side where the stop numbers would get bigger, not smaller. It is something I don\u2019t even pay attention to, now that I know my way around, but it was so helpful back then.
\nI also didn\u2019t have to remember the long names of the stations but simply the letter, number, and color of the stop symbol.<\/p>\n
\nGoogle Maps was of no use<\/strong> back then as GPS abilities weren\u2019t what they are now. I then learned to use the station maps as I left and also convenience stores became landmarks for me. They were some of the few businesses that I could easily recognize being in a new country.<\/p>\n
\nEventually, I learned that those mistakes were important for learning and overcoming my directional issues. Once I took an express train instead of a local train and had to go back, so I was careful to never do it again.<\/p>\n
\nleverage (verb) - to use something to maximum advantage
\nchunk of time (noun) \u2013 a large amount of time
\ndissect (verb) \u2013 to analyze something in detail<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"