Ikimasho (let's go) Day 2 in Osaka

It was an exciting day today because we took the trains by ourselves and made it safely to the main station without the help of a local.  Getting to our final destination – the U.S. Consulate – was another story.  We walked out of the station and hopped into four different cabs to go the U.S. Consulate but the fourth cab went to Universal Studios instead…we can totally see how the taxi driver could confuse the two…or maybe not.

One and a half hours later, we were all finally inside the U.S. Consulate and were joined by many others to watch President Obama’s inauguration.  What really struck us was the diversity in the room.  They were young and old, men and women, American and Japanese…etc.   We also met some new friends in the audience, a Serbian Ph.D. student doing research at Kobe University and a Japanese freelance consultant.  They were our guides for the afternoon and took us to a shrine and a noodle shop for lunch.  Then, we broke up into groups and ventured on our own without our newly-made friends. 

We were not deterred from our traveling mishaps from the night before or earlier today.  As MAOL students, we know that being a leader is about being brave enough to venture into the unknown, even if that is a foreign city of almost 3 million people.  If you are a culturally competent leader, you may not know the language well but still be able to function successfully.  

We’re proud to report that every single person made it back safely to their apartments tonight.

 

The U.S. Consulate
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos at the U.S. Consulate.

The Osaka Train System

The Shrine