I Left My Computer in Saitama Prefecture!!!

Of all the dumb things to do…on Friday, I left my class at the music college in Saitama Prefecture, and i forgot to grab my computer. I had set it down to charge it for a few minutes. The school is in Minami Furuya (南古谷), which is about 1.5 hours or so by train from my house. How far is that? I’ll put it to you this way: the next stop on the train, after Minami Furuya, is Kawagoe (川越), a popular day trip destination for people anxious to get out of Tokyo! In other words, it is not down the street! (And that is with the really fast train, that skips most of the stops. If you took a local, it would be much longer!) I remember having a nagging feeling that I should go back to the classroom because i was forgetting something. But I ignored it. I didn’t realize I’d left my computer in the classroom until later that night, as the train was pulling into Shinjuku….

I had fallen asleep (Sometimes, I can take advantage of those long train rides!) and I was really groggy as the train left Ikebukuro (池袋), which is the stop before Shinjuku (新宿), where I needed to get off to transfer. I still felt a bit sleepy, but refreshed, as the train eased into Shinjuku Station. But as I started to get up from my seat, I realized my bag was lighter than it had been this morning, and my mind flashed back to a moment a couple hours earlier, when I had hesitated to plug my computer into the wall to charge it. I was a bit worried I might forget it in my rush to go home. But I decided that I would surely not be dumb enough to walk off and leave my beloved iBook. Boy, was I wrong!

I considered going right back, but decided the chances that I might not find someone to help me get into the room were too strong to waste the time and expense of going back. (The cleaning staff usually comes in and cleans the room and locks the door immediately.) I also decided not to call my company, because it would probably be a huge hassle. Instead, I decided to get up early on Saturday and go back for it.

Of course, I could always get a new computer if someone had walked away with it, but…what a waste. And I am usually good about backing up my computer to an external hard drive (ahem! hint, hint, everyone….), but I hadn’t done it for a few weeks. So I had some work files and pictures that I had not backed up.

So, on Saturday, I made the long trek up. Since I knew it would take at least three hours, and cost around $15, I decided to make an adventure of it and take my cameras. Actually, I didn’t mind the money, but…Saturday morning was the only break I had, and now I would have to spend it going all the way back to my school to track down my computer, and I didn’t even know if it would still be there. The only way not to be mad at myself about it was to pretend it was a short photography trip!

As it turns out, the room was unlocked, and the computer was right where I had left it, unharmed. So, I grabbed it, and made my way back to the station. I had both of my cameras, so I took a bunch of good pictures. I even took the opportunity to go that one extra station away from home, to Kawagoe. It has a historic area that attracts many visitors, but I just walked around the station for a few minutes. After all, I had to get back home to get ready for my afternoon lesson.

I’m glad that I got my computer back and I had a nice little trip. I want to go back to Kawagoe more and explore the historic area of the town. Even the part near the station was pretty nice I took some nice pictures with both cameras. I will post some later. But for now, it is Sunday night and I need to do a few things to get ready for another week before I head off to bed. I am already getting tired.