Tokyo!

Morning arrived early in Tokyo; 4:30 am in fact. Despite the fact the clock said it was 5:30 am, my body should have been screaming that it was 4 pm Minnesota time. But instead I felt refreshed and revived and ready for my first real day in Japan.

I headed off to the cafeteria by myself and came face to face with the fact that I was illiterate. Not only could I not speak to anyone, I couldn't read the signs either. Thankfully, I had a map of the youth center campus to guide my way. I met Bradshaw-sensei on my way and she pointed me in the right direction.

As I entered the cafeteria I had two major concerns - one, would there be anything here to suit my palate and, two, could I accomplish anything with chopsticks other than embarassment and eye injuries?

I queued up, grabbed a tray and (gulp) my chopsticks and loaded it with miso soup, a bowl of rice, and a roll. I turned the corner and discovered a self service line with a combination of Japanese and western foods. I added a glass of orange juice, a couple of fried eggs, and some grapefruit slices. Comforted I began to look for a friendly face and was immediately reminded that I was "gaijin" - a foreigner, a stranger - and was surrounded by unfamiliar Asian faces. Fortunately, one of the AVHS students saw me and called me over. I was relieved to see that one of them was using a fork!