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!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Arrival! June 16
Whew! No one told me that a 12 hour flight could be so grueling! Up at 5:30 am, at the airport by 7:30 am, our flight left for Chicago at 10:40 am....and that was the easy part! We had a three hour layover at O`Hare and then boarded a Japanese Airline flight bound for Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan.
JAL was amazing! Each of the 4oo+ passengers had a persoanl TV screen mounted on the back of the seat in front of us and a set of personal headphones. We could to watch up to 20 movies (some in Japanese of course, with subtitles!, listen to 20 preprogramed music stations, or play video games. It was very cool...but on a 12 hour flight the novelty of it wear's off after about 6 hours. I watched Eight Below, the movie about the husky team stranded in Antarctica. A very good movie, but I was suprised to learn that the story is Japanese in orgin and is based on a true story about a group of Japanese archeologists and their dogs. I intend to watch the original Japanese movie on the flight home!
While I've not flown a lot, I've flown enough to now great service when I get it...and JAL provided the best I ever had. All the flight attendants were Japanese and spoke fluent English as well as Japanese. I had my first opportunity to practice my very limited Japanese. "Konichiwa" "domo arigoto gozaimasu" (thank you very much..polite form) and "sumimasen" (excuse me! I need this one a lot!).
We finally arrived in Narita around 6 pm Tokyo time and processed through immigration and customs in under an hour. Then it was off on a 1.5 hour bus ride through Tokyo to our dormitory at the National Olympic Youth Center on the grounds used in the 1964 Summer Olympics. By the time we arrived I'd had 3 hours of sleep in the past 48 and was largely disoriented and very tired. We got everyone checked in and then it was off to bed. I knew Japanese people were used to less "space" than us, but I was surprised to see my room. It was about 10 feet long and perhaps 4 feet wide...and shaped like an L (upside down). My bed was in the base of the L, my desk in the stem. There was just enough room between the bed and wall to fit my suitcase! I was pleased, however, to have my own bathroom complete with shower and Japanese style tub (more on that later).
By 10 pm I laid my head on my pillow which was foam on one side and some form of husked shell on the other. You could flip your pillow over and the bead were supposed to cooler and would also shape to your neck and head for a more comfortable sleep, but it sure takes some getting used to!
JAL was amazing! Each of the 4oo+ passengers had a persoanl TV screen mounted on the back of the seat in front of us and a set of personal headphones. We could to watch up to 20 movies (some in Japanese of course, with subtitles!, listen to 20 preprogramed music stations, or play video games. It was very cool...but on a 12 hour flight the novelty of it wear's off after about 6 hours. I watched Eight Below, the movie about the husky team stranded in Antarctica. A very good movie, but I was suprised to learn that the story is Japanese in orgin and is based on a true story about a group of Japanese archeologists and their dogs. I intend to watch the original Japanese movie on the flight home!
While I've not flown a lot, I've flown enough to now great service when I get it...and JAL provided the best I ever had. All the flight attendants were Japanese and spoke fluent English as well as Japanese. I had my first opportunity to practice my very limited Japanese. "Konichiwa" "domo arigoto gozaimasu" (thank you very much..polite form) and "sumimasen" (excuse me! I need this one a lot!).
We finally arrived in Narita around 6 pm Tokyo time and processed through immigration and customs in under an hour. Then it was off on a 1.5 hour bus ride through Tokyo to our dormitory at the National Olympic Youth Center on the grounds used in the 1964 Summer Olympics. By the time we arrived I'd had 3 hours of sleep in the past 48 and was largely disoriented and very tired. We got everyone checked in and then it was off to bed. I knew Japanese people were used to less "space" than us, but I was surprised to see my room. It was about 10 feet long and perhaps 4 feet wide...and shaped like an L (upside down). My bed was in the base of the L, my desk in the stem. There was just enough room between the bed and wall to fit my suitcase! I was pleased, however, to have my own bathroom complete with shower and Japanese style tub (more on that later).
By 10 pm I laid my head on my pillow which was foam on one side and some form of husked shell on the other. You could flip your pillow over and the bead were supposed to cooler and would also shape to your neck and head for a more comfortable sleep, but it sure takes some getting used to!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Off to Japan!
After months of waiting...tomorrow is the day! I head to the airport at 6:30 am, bounce through Chicago and hit Narita airport in Toyko about 6 pm June 17. I'm traveling with group of 14 students and the Japanese teacher from AVHS. We'll spend 3 days in Tokyo touring and then off to home visits in Sakura city, Chiba Prefecture. I'll be staying with Hiroshi Kobayashi and his family. Thankfully, Hiroshi is an English teacher....as my Japanese doesn't extend far beyond what I learned from Styx..."domo ari goto", Mr. Roboto!
Anyway, I'll try to keep you guys posted about my experience...and my diet! Raw squid? Octopus tenticles? Yummmmm.
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