After saying goodbye to the Muth’s at the ferry terminal (they had kindly accompanied us there to make sure we had a smooth send-off), we went through customs and awaited to board the good ship Camilla, our ferry to Japan.  I wasn’t really looking forward to the night ahead.  I knew at least that this ferry had to be nicer than the ones we took in Indonesia, but that didn’t mean much.  My mind raced back to a memory from over a year ago when we took a Greek ferry from Athens to Chios…

We had bought the cheap tickets along with many other passengers and joined them in the main compartment.  It was a huge room that resembled the inside of a bus.  At first I didn’t know why so many seats were empty, but then as I watched a kid help his grandmother roll out a sheet and blanket I knew why.  Floor space was more valuable on this ferry than the chairs.  However, I wasn’t too keen to spread my clean little sleep sheet out on a floor of questionable hygienic standards and so I tried my best to curl up on my slightly reclining low-class ferry chair and endured a night of restless slumber.  The TV flickered in and out through the night with poorly produced programming, the bathrooms were like those at a ballpark—useable, not the worst, but best avoided, and I can’t quite remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure the lights stayed on throughout the night.

Back in Busan the gate to the dock had just been opened.  We were greeted by happy and politely bowing crew members who pointed us toward the stairs leading to our assigned seats.  The ferry seemed nice so far, but I had only seen the entrance and the stairwell.  Then Matt and I turned the corner into one of the lobby-cum-lounges.  Wow.  Things looked nice.  Really nice.  There were little tables with comfy seats clustered around them, a flat screen TV, and informational brochures at the concierge-like help desk.  Real art hung on the walls; there was even a little sculpture by the spiral staircase.  We took the stairs up to the next floor to our assigned seats.  We discovered that we hadn’t been assigned seats but rather a spacious compartment.  Three of the walls were lined with cubbies, the fourth had windows.  The small boxes near the entryway were for shoes, and along the other two sides giant cubbies, rather like small, doorless closets.  Each had a shelf, about chest-high for stowing luggage.  Beneath was a folded up mat and bedding.  Hooray!  We wouldn’t have to sleep sitting up.  This was definitely turning out to be the best ferry I had ever been on.  Matt and I claimed neighboring cubbies by heaving our backpacks up onto the shelves.  Then, since we were in Korea and headed to Japan and not worried about petty theft, left our bags behind to hang out in the lounge.

We chose a window-side table, next to the massage chairs, and enjoyed a first-rate view of Busan Harbor as we ate our dinner (kim-bap…what else?).  Afterwards, we took in a leisurely movie, Into the Wild, which Anderson had so kindly shared from his collection.  (Decent film, but I preferred the scenery to the actual story.)  Even though there was such a nice lounge, not very many passengers seemed to be passing through.  Those private cabins must have been nice!  At some point, we realized we had been on the boat for a few hours but had still not gone anywhere.  I guess we had to board so early because the terminal closed at a certain time.  So even though the boat didn’t physically leave Busan at any time near to 7:30pm (when we boarded), all passengers had to be in their place by about that time.  Whatever.  Unlike with other ferries, I didn’t care as this one was really nice.  I was enjoying the view, and besides, I rather liked being on the water without the whole rocking sensation of the open seas.

I should mention that this ferry also came equipped with a restaurant, arcade, lockers, gift shop, a public bath, and of course private cabins.  For us, the cheap tickets were plenty satisfactory, and around 11:00pm we headed to bed.  The main lights were switched-off in our cabin, but the green glow of the exit sign illuminated the room enough for us to find our way to our cubbies and unroll our beds for the night. Thankfully the room was only half full (only six other passengers), and no one was snoring too loudly.   After a pleasant night’s rest, we awoke early in the morning to classical music and a soft wake-up call.  At last we’d made it to Japan.

Our arrival is somewhat bittersweet as Japan will be our final destination in Asia.  However, both Matt and I are excited to be here as we have many special plans for this visit (the first for me and second for Matt) including: seeing my brother, hanging out with my uncle and his family, visiting with old family friends, and searching for the hometowns of our great-grandparents.  It goes without saying that we plan to eat some killer sushi as well.