In limbo at Nagoya train station

I reached my destination, Nagoya, with my bag, map and dignity hanging by a thread. I arrived with plenty of buffer time, in case I accidentally fell into a black hole, while stepping off the Shinkansen (you can never be too prepared). I decided to take my bag off and found a seat in one of the Waiting areas. My back was killing me, the 22 kg overweight bag I got away with on Jetstar, was now taking it's toll! I sat beside a big screen TV, which was playing a Japanese soap opera. I had no idea what the characters were saying but it was novel and interesting to me so I watched intently. It was about an average, traditionally dressed family. Out of the half hour of watching this presumable soap opera, I honestly didn't see anything exciting happened. Maybe my blinks coincided with all the exciting clips, but I also didn't see anyone else around me laugh, gasp or have much of a reaction to the show. I am by no means a soap opera connoisseur, but compared to the few times I have been forced into watching a cheesy, soap operas, like Shortland Street or Hollyoaks, this one at best was dry. I was expecting a crazy Japanese game show, with people doing ridiculously embarrassing stunts, dressed up like Borat at there niece's graduation-or something to that extent. I was hoping I would get another chance to watch more Japanese TV to see something a little more exciting.

A young Japanese mother sat down beside me and smiled. She had on a backpack and was trying to take it off, while holding onto her baby. I couldn't resist but to help her , even though I knew there would be little words exchanged. So I helped guide her bag to the floor and played back catch in case the baby slipped down. She thanked me in Japanese and damn it I forgot how to say, "Your welcome." I nodded and smiled, while racing through my head to find that phrase I knew I had learned before. How much time can elapse before you should just let it go? Probably a few seconds or then people will start to question your level of brain functioning. I had to let it slide and remained silent, awkwardly nodding and smiling at her. When she left a few minutes later, I hastily grabbed my phrase book to remember the word I was looking for. Ah the frustrations of learning another language! I looked at the time almost had killed the hour that I had gave myself extra for unknown reasons and decided to tackle the Nagoya inner city subway lines.