When in Rome...

forget everything you were ever taught about safety. Or maybe just when you're in Tokyo.

Walking alone in empty streets after dark jamming to my iPod? check. Accepting rides from strange men? check.

Thursday night I got lost on my way to the train station after seeing a friend in a part of Tokyo I had never visited. When I first got to Tokyo I hated to appear 'lost'. I was reluctant to ask for directions, or even consult my incredibly comprehensive Tokyo street atlas. Somewhere along that way that changed, and on Thursday I unabashedly held my map in plain view as I stared at buildings and signs trying to make sense of where I was. I had just decided to continue in the same direction when a Mercedes pulled up and a salaryman got out. He started speaking to me and gesturing, and while I couldn't understand I figured he was probably trying to help me. So I said, Waseda-dori (wa doko desuka)? He indicated that it was parallel to the street that I was on. Takanodababa? The other direction. Then, although he was only a few blocks from home, he offered to take me - "Takanodababa, I take you. Practice English." I was simultaneously hit with my (American) better judgment and my increasing (Japanese) sense of safety. It seemed so wrong to jump into a car with an older man in a confusing city when I can't speak the language. But he offered me a ride to the station; and I was lost. It seemed so right!

I jumped in, with a few gracious thank-yous and a couple rounds of arigato gozaimasu. En route to Takanodababa we did indeed practice English... He told me - in very broken English - about how he loves golf, and now that he is older and in a senior position at work (the president of his company, in fact) he can leave work early to play golf in the afternoon. He also offered me his number, saying something about dinner in Shinjuku. I was like, oh - you like to eat dinner in Shinjuku? That's nice!

I let him write down his number but I left it at that. I'm not above trading rides for English, but thus far in my Tokyo adventure I’m not interested in upping the ante to dinner dates. I still have a few shreds of my better judgment left.