Day 3, Subway gets stuck, Quiet Subway, Sardine Subway.

The lights went out in Ginza: If you know me or have read my other blogs, you know that I'm claustrophobic. Well, stick a girl like that in a sweaty, crowded subway and then turn that subway off and just know she's being tested to the max.....and getting much sweatier (ick).
Yep, this morning on the way to school, the subway stops, and I don't mean stops on the platform where you can see out the windows....no, it stopped where all you can see out the windows is metal underground. Up goes the temp and in sets that inner struggle of fighting panic. Of course, amazingly, I look around and notice that the Japanese commuters are not phased. They don't even look around. They hear (and understand) the announcement and continue as if nothing happened. This comforts me, yet, my mind still tries to pull me to other possible scenarios. Ultimately, it starts up again in less than 10 min and all is good. I held it together because they did.

You can hear a whisper drop: While the train was stopped, there was absolutely no sound at all....except for the whispers of my classmates. They were about 20ft away from me and I could actually hear their conversation because they were the ONLY sound. That's how quiet it can be on the subway here.

Sardined in: Of course, the next subway event of the day involves the infamous cramming in. I'm standing at the unopened doors and the opposite doors open, flooding the cart with morning commuters....and smashing me against the unopened doors.
Ummmm......my stop is next and there 's no way i'm getting off....can't move. Yes, i'm new at this, so I hadn't strategically planned where to stand yet. It also just goes against my own personal standards to push and shove my way through. It was so packed, they couldn't have even parted for me had I asked. It wasn't life or death, so I knew I'd have to just wait it out.
And side question, how do you even know which side the doors will open on? Because I end up riding 3 more stops and MY doors open, so that's how I got out. Luckily, we had learned how to use the transit map yesterday, so I was able to navigate back to the stop and get back on route to school.