I unlock my body and move msyelf to dance: part 2

Day 2 in Japan started with the unwelcome sight of the time. It was almost 10:00 a.m. as I pulled up the curtain of my cube, unveiling the soft lights of a dozen 30-watt bulbs scattered down the hall; and directly across from me an empty hole, which another, smarter man had vacated -- and surely with enough time to avoid the penalty for staying past check-out time.

Despite that I was going to be staying in the same hotel every night, I still had to check out. The hotel works like that, see. Other hotels might let you just stay a second night, but this place didn't cater to that style. Check in, sleep, check out. 4 hours after check-out, come back and check in again. It's a bit vicious.

My first stop was the embassy. The computer there welcomed me. I checked my e-mail, and to my dismay found that my visa number still had not arrived. Worse, according to my boss, I would not receive it in time on Friday to apply. So I would instead have to apply on Monday, perhaps not to get my visa till Tuesday, and then not to leave until Wednesday, if all worst-case scenarios panned out. I had brought 3 days worth of clothes, 4 days worth of cash. How to stretch that into 6 days? I proceeded to bitch.

And then worse news arrived. My coworker, Courtney, who was on a similar adventure -- but was supposed to have gotten back to Korea the night before -- was missing. She had not been at the airport when my boss went to pick her up. Now I was faced with the prospect of trying to find her: in a city that was altogether foreign, without much sense of direction, I was going to have to look for another person. I looked for an hour or so, but the hotels I checked showed no one by that name.

Having nothing to do, I went back to my hotel, and checked in again. Emotionally exhausted, I went back to sleep, fearing that staying awake would only bring more bad news.

The night came quick. I ventured out again around 8 o'clock, refreshed and feeling optimistic again. I now had an idea of my surroundings, and was determined not to sit on my ass for 4 more days and do nothing.

There was a record store near my hotel. It was called Time Bomb, and it promised "Rare & Used Vinyl" -- an exciting prospect. I bounded down the steps to the sub-ground level store, and tremulously took it all in. There was 60s electric blues playing over the loudspeakers. I nodded discreetly to the Japanese girl behind the counter, then walked in. The next hour cannot be described, for I was transported out of my body and vicariously lived through every album in the store. I desperately searched for a handful of albums, the things I would definitely buy, but they weren't there. But that didn't stop me from holding up LP after LP and staring at it lovingly: the Housemartins, Daniel Johnston, Dinosaur Jr., the Stooges, Television, Bob Dylan, Todd Rundgren, Frank Zappa, Morrissey, the Animals, David Bowie, Atlas Sound, Pavement, B.B. King, the Birthday Party, Captain Beefheart, the Beatles, Nirvana, and so on.

I grabbed a bite to eat before venturing back to my hotel. The warm air in the lobby greeted me, as well as a couple girls who were on a sightseeing tour.

"We're in Osaka for one day."

"Oh, yeah? Any good sights to see? I'm only here for a visa run, so I haven't much to do."

Etc.

Around 3:30 a.m., after a chat with Miranda, I went to take a bath. The hotel didn't have showers, but it had a sauna and a bath. The prospect was daunting, being around a bunch of ugly naked men, sharing the same bathwater. But I needed to wash. And it turned out not to be so bad. The real problem was more that if anyone tried to say something to me, I could not talk to them because I did not have my hearing aids on.

Sleep still did not come easy. It was 4 a.m., and I went into the lounge, pulled up a chair, and began writing. The lounge was mostly empty, but sporadically being occupied by comers and goers. I pulled out a notebook, and began writing. 1,500 words escaped my pen before a yawn escaped my mouth. And so, putting away the notebook, I went upstairs to my cube, to rest, and then perhaps to repeat the day over again.