You can hear the voice recording for the diary.
昨日の帰り道、乗っている新幹線が停電で止まった。
Yesterday, on my way home, the bullet train I was on experienced a blackout.
わたしのマンションが見えてきて、もうまもなく駅に到着、というところで急に電気が消えて新幹線が止まって驚いた。エジプト滞在期間を除く５年間の新幹線通勤で始めての経験である。
It was a surprising and unexpected event, as it was the first time in six years of commuting by bullet train, aside from my time in Egypt, that I had encountered such a situation.
新幹線は電気が無くなっても、多少照明がついているものの、エアコンはもちろん、デッキと客室とを隔てるドア、それにトイレも使えなくなってしまうのには驚いた。
I noticed that some of the lights on the train were still working during the blackout. However, the air conditioning, the doors separating the cabins from the end section of the train, and the bathrooms were all unavailable during the blackout.
ニュースなんかで、停電している新幹線を見たことがあるけど、そこまでとは思わなかった。
While I’ve witnessed bullet trains being temporarily stopped between stations due to various issues many times before, this situation of a blackout inside the train was a first for me.
当たり前のように使えることもあって、トイレはギリギリまで我慢してしまうことが多い。ただ、それは当たり前ではない、ということに気づかされた。
It made me realize that relying on being able to use the bathroom whenever I wanted, even on bullet trains, might not always be a given.
To be continued.
