The Hotel California, Somewhere East of Hokkaido －ホテル・カリフォルニア、どこか北海道の東ー

 “Relax, said the nightman –

We are programmed to receive.

You can check out any time you like,

But you can never leave.”

From the song, “Hotel California”, by Eagles

 

My wife, my son and I recently took a trip to Hokkaido.  Our plan was to take a train to Ibaraki prefecture, then board a ferry to Hokkaido.  We would spend one night on the ferry, two nights in a hotel in Sapporo, and then come back to Tokyo by plane. 

There is no wi-fi available on the ferry, so my wife suggested that I make a playlist of some songs to listen to while we were aboard.  I put together some songs which I thought might put us in the mood for our holiday.  So the playlist included songs about travel, boats, sailing, and hotels.  One of the songs I included was “Hotel California” by Eagles, just because it has the word “Hotel” in the title and lyrics. 

Unfortunately, while we were on the ferry, there was an earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka.  A tsunami alert was issued, and the ferry was not allowed to approach the coast.  So we had to spend an extra day and an extra night on the ferry, waiting for the tsunami alert to be lifted. 

With no internet connection and no tv signal, I listened again and again to the same short playlist of songs.  The line, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave,” started to sound ironic. 

There was a kiosk on the ferry, selling snacks, cup noodles and a little alcohol.  After the announcement of the tsunami alert, a huge queue formed at the kiosk and people came away with armfuls of instant food.  My wife bought some frozen edamame shelled peas, as well as crisps and chocolate.  It was lucky that we did buy snacks, because the restaurant was running out of food.  All of the 900 or so passengers were offered a free dinner.  We all got a half sized portion of rice with a little curry sauce.  The only solid food I found in the curry was a 2cm square cube of carrot.  Also, the curry was spicy, which made it hard for the children on board to eat. 

Luckily, before we left Tokyo, I had told my son that the most fun part of the trip would probably be the time we spent on the ferry, the Sunflower.  So he didn’t seem too disappointed to be stuck on it.  He walked out onto the deck many times and gazed at the sea and the land of Hokkaido.  Our ferry was soon joined by a long line of other ships, retreating out of the port to avoid any damage from the tsunami. 

At one point, the captain made an announcement.  “We cannot enter port until the tsunami alert is lifted.  We have enough fuel for the time being.  So please don’t worry,” he said.  I hadn’t been worrying until that point.  It hadn’t occurred to me that we might be running out of fuel. 

“Relax, said the nightman – You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave…” 

At last we did get permission to enter the port.  Then we had to decide how to cram three planned days of activities into one afternoon and evening, and one morning.  And for the next few days, I couldn’t stop the feeling that I was slowly swaying from side to side.  My legs were still in the Hotel California.