The Sunglasses Story

This experience will probably become one of my most told stories of the trip. It shows how kind and helpful the Japanese people are. Our story begins on one of the buses on my morning commute. I foolishly stuck my sunglasses in my sweatshirt pocket even though about 75% of the time everything always falls out but you know I was in a rush to get to school and had to get out my bus pass. Anyway, I get off the bus with Hannah at our stop and after the bus pulls out I realized that it is incredibly bright out now. I reach for my sunglasses and wait they aren't in that pocket, or that pocket, or that pocket (I was wearing cargo shorts at the time so I could go on but I'll stop there). They weren't in my back pack either. I came to the realization that they must have fallen out of my pocket on the bus. I was devastated! These were my absolute favorite sunglasses because they had once belonged to one of my cousins that I am close with. He had bought them when he was my age and had given them to me after I graduated because they were coming back in style. I was so upset with myself for leaving them on the bus. I was going to ask someone if there was a lost and found for the bus company but I mean they were Ray-Bans I figured they were going to be long gone. I waited until the day after and decided there was no harm in asking Nao-sensei if there was a lost and found. She told me that there was one and took me to another professor to explain the situation to her so she could call the bus company and ask them for me. She proceeded to call the bus company and translate my description of the sunglasses to the bus company. By some miracle, the bus company had them! I was so happy my sunglasses hadn't disappeared into the abyss, but the kindness didn't end there. The professor had then written down for me the schedule and route I would have to take to get to the bus station and explained it to me so I would not get lost. So me an Hannah (I do have to give props to Hannah for accompanying me because it was quite the adventure) went to the bus stop and waited for the bus, got on and asked the driver if this was the right bus to our stop and showed him the kanji characters of the bus stop we needed. He told us that it was and he would make sure we got off at the right place. After about 20 minutes on the bus, we arrive at the terminal station where the bus company's lost and found is. We pay our fare and thank the driver for helping us. After exchanging thanks and bows, we enter the office and ask about the sunglasses. They were expecting us because our professor had told them that we were coming and I mean two gaijin in suburban Japan don't exactly blend too well. The woman behind the desk pulls out the glasses and hands them to me and has a book for me to sign to claim them. I thank them graciously for helping me find my glasses and they show us to the bus we need to get back to the train station. We get on the bus and have to wait a few minutes because the driver was taking a break between routes, but not until after he let us on the bus to sit.  You would think that it would be the end of the story here but in one last gracious act of kindness, the woman from the office comes on and tells us not to worry about paying the fare home that they would cover it. How amazing is that! All I had asked was if there even was such a thing as a bus lost and found and I not only got my glasses back but help with every step along the way. This is why the Japanese are amazing people! I am so grateful to have been able to be a guest in their country.