Flashback from Japan

I remember it clearly as if it happened yesterday. Two years ago on a trip I took to Japan. I had been out late with my friend Fumi in Tokyo and I found my way back to the house my friend was letting me stay in. It was his uncle's house in Machida. They lived in a very nice neighborhood. It was a city on the outskirts of Tokyo. I can't believe I remembered which subway and most importantly which bus I needed to take to find the way back by myself. I remember walking to the bus stop in the morning, it seemed so simple from that bus stop. However, it was 9 hours later, 11:30 at night. I could barely see anything in front of me. Never before had I felt such fear inside of me. I had gotten lost and no one was around to help me. Many thoughts circled my head, "Did I get off at the right stop? Is this the right neighborhood? I was lost but I decided to look for the house anyways. Up and down the streets I walked for what seemed like forever looking for a house that I thought I could find.

I remember the way from the house to the bus stop so I tried to back track but I started to doubt myself. I walked around for 20 minutes looking for that house. I thought to myself, what if I can't find it? What do I do now? I didn't give up though, I kept looking and going back to the bus stop and back tracking the way I came in the morning. Finally, I came to the point of no return. I gave up so I walked up to a house that looked nice and I noticed some kanji written on a mailbox. I couldn't quite make out what it said because of the darkness but I recalled seeing it once before. I was about to knock on the door I had chosen when my phone rings. It was my friend asking where I was. Apparently he thought I was coming back to his apartment and so did his uncle. But my clothes were at his uncle’s house so I figured I would stay there for that night. He realized that I was lost and called his uncle which immediately came out of the door I was about to knock. I had found the way back in the dark somehow and I was right because I could read kanji. I just remember getting lost and being helpless. I thought to myself what will I say if it's not the right house. What a bad situation at the time. I can laugh about it now. This feeling had returned here in Korea but this time I was stronger cause I had been through it once.