My commuting to Smith’s Katsura (スミス英会話 桂) is very simple and convenient. Every day I use a Hankyu Line(阪急京都本線) from Saiin(西院駅). Not very long ago an unusual thing happened to me. I got stranded at Katsura station(桂駅) on my way back home. Not just a short delay, but properly stranded. Come to think of it, in my 4 years in Japan I have never experienced delays lasting for more than 5 minutes and even those I can count on one hand. So this was very unusual.
After waiting on the platform for almost an hour, one man approached me and we started to talk about the situation. My Japanese isn’t good enough to understand all details about the delay so he explained in perfect English(英語) that there might be no trains going to Saiin. Wow! It was already very late I needed to get back home.
He then suggested we move inside the station terminal and ask the staff about my options. The terminal was packed with commuters trying to leave Katsura(桂), everybody was seeking advice. My new companion explained my situation and I was told to immediately get on the train to Matsuo(松尾駅) where I might be able to catch the last bus to Saiin.
Everything happened so fast that I could only say ‘Thank you’ and ran to the platform.
I then promptly got on the train and was able to catch my bus at Matsuo. I got home before midnight feeling very lucky that I didn’t have to spend a night at school.
All thanks to a stranger who used his English skills to offer a helping hand to another commuter trying to get home.
I hope I’ll meet this man again so I can thank him properly.
Leave a Reply