Japan in the eyes of an American Teenager

 It’s a sea of limbs. Tons of arms and legs squirming around trying to fit into the train. There are men shoving people into the train. The sound of babies crying and people swearing rings through my ears. I watch in silence from my over crowded bench, I’m just lucky that’s not my train. The sound of the train vibrates through the entire tunnel and I hear the first call for my train to board. I try to pry my bag out from under the man sitting next to me. He seems oblivious to the fact that his butt is crushing my purse. I finally shove him over a bit and grab my purse. It is at that moment that I see a flood of people rushing to get on a train. I don’t even know how all those people fit into this building, let alone that tiny train. I strain to hear the intercom announce where this train is headed to but I vaguely make out the word Tokyo. That’s my train… I push past everyone in my way while muttering apologies, they seem unfazed by this behavior, it must be normal to them. I finally make it to the train and see that there is a line leading into every entrance of the train, it;s about 30 meters long. I quickly shuffle into line behind a very large family. The mother is holding her children by their shirts while trying to keep her spot in line. I finally get to the start to the line and feel someone's hands on my back shoving me into a very sweaty man. He glares at me and shoves me over. I look back just in time for someone to hit me in the face with an umbrella. The rest of the trip is a blur, I’m not sure if it’s because of my possible umbrella concussion or because I’m surrounded by tons of people and sound. The trips a blur, but once I get to the city I swear nothing's ever been this clear.

When the train stops I feel everyone start to move and get pushed out the door. I take my first step out of the train and immediately trip on something that’s either a banana or something I choose not to acknowledge. When I finally get above ground I’m temporarily blinded by all the lights. There are tons of billboards and cars everywhere. The city is lit up like a Christmas tree. I’m overwhelmed and realize a moment too late that I’m standing in front of the exit of the train station and get pushed into the busy street. I hear the sound of honking cars and sprint to the other side of the street and onto the sidewalk. The crowd carries me east until I finally cross the street and find myself at a small capsule hotel. I step inside and see that it is highly modernized. I rent a room, I know I’ll need more than nine hours but for now I just need somewhere to stay. I shower and climb into my tiny capsule room. It’s warm, soundproof and extremely tiny. I’ve never been the claustrophobic type but tonight I feel extremely cramped. I quickly find myself falling asleep and dreaming of the city lights.