(This is an incredibly long post, but what do you want? I went to Japan.)
Well, these last couple of weeks have not exactly been idle. After the incredible birthday evening my two great friends gave me for my 21st, I wrapped up my job of four-ish years at the Aquarium Restaurant in Nashville. After that, I set off on the following Thursday for Johnson City for one final hoorah.
I was able to see my amazing Haley for quite a bit of the time and said さようなら (goodbye) to some of my closest friends. My beautiful lady and I went to Jonesborough, TN on the most glorious day of the year thus far and took bunches of pics.
After an incredibly difficult farewell to my incredible girlfriend, I made the long, lonely drive back to Springfield. The very evening I got back from the JC, I began the jarring process of packing up my life into two bags to last for most of a year. While the stress was absolutely compounded by my procrastination, this day long event absolutely was the starting gun for all of the continuously mounting angst that would be my first day in Japan.
After some hugs from grandparents and even more from the plain parents, it was time for a few winks before waking up at 4 to pack those last few things. On this, the eve of my departure from everything I've ever known, I found myself incapable of sleep. Packing in a rush had made me second guess that I had actually packed any one item, or had merely dreamed it. I slept for maybe two hours before…
Our first plane was much smaller than I had envisioned. It was mostly full of tired looking businessmen drinking the Starbucks that they'd brought on board and doing crossword puzzles. This being an early morning jump up to Chicago, it was no more than an early commute to the Windy City for them. For me and Taylor, it was more than that. The plane took off, Nashville dropping away quickly. As I looked down at the city for the last time for a great while, I saw all of these cars going about their business: driving to work, taking kids to school, etc. This moment for me was such an important one and for them it was as mundane as the next. Everyone is the main character of their own story, and I found myself thinking that those people should realize what a huge day this was for this character.
After what seemed like an impossibly short flight, I think nerves had something to do with that, we arrived at Chicago O'Hare International. Getting from where we were to where we needed to be was fun. We asked a security officer where we should go and he pointed us to Terminal 5, where all of the International lines are. All of them except for ANA (All Nippon Air) which is what we were flying. After we travelled all the way to the other side of the massive airport, we were sent right back to where we had started. Fortunately, O'Hare has a great public transport system. When we got the ANA desk, a super friendly ticket agent helped get us seats side by side and told us exactly what to do next. After we ran the security gauntlet one last time, we were ready to board our big plane for the flight to Japan's Narita airport.
ANA's 777 is huge. Quite impressive. When we first boarded, I was very excited because everything was so very nice, clean and quiet. Unfortunately we had to pass through both first and second classes before we got to our economy seats, so we knew what we were missing out on. Economy class turned out to be quite better than I had expected. Blankets, pillows and headphone for the plethora of in-flight movies were already there and waiting for your convenience. Every seat had a small screen in front of it controlled by a remote tucked into the armrest. There were many entertainment options for the flight using this device. Everything from Hollywood movies (they already had Avatar!) to Japanese TV shows to video games (including multiplayer Pong) were at our disposal for free. Even had you neglected to bring anything to entertain yourself on the flight, this device would've had you covered. They served us two full meals as well as the snacks and beverages that were continuously available. Everything was complimentary from the rice crackers to the beer and little bottles of wine. I couldn't believe how delicious the food was. My first meal was eel and rice with veggies. It was served with some cold udon and another container with a small slice of pork, some salmon and potato salad. The eel I had on the plane was easily better than any eel I'd ever had in the States.
The flight was incredibly long, but really didn't feel too bad. The main problem I had was my damn height. I had an aisle seat (thanks Taylor!) so my right side was ok, just my left was curled up and falling asleep most of the time. After the first meal, they turned off the cabin lights and asked everyone to shut their windows so that the people who had actually prepared for this journey and put themselves in a position where they could sleep would be able to do so. Even though I had only slept a couple of hours the previous day, I was woefully unable to sleep for the most part. My gears were turning too much. I probably slept for an hour all told, broken up. I finished the book I've been reading (a brain vacation, World War Z by Max Brooks about the zombie apocalypse; really very good) and watched Million Dollar Baby. Quite a peaceful flight. We were on a Japanese airline and one thing that I've already noticed is how much more peaceful travelling is in Japan compared to America. All of the public transport I've been on has been completely quiet, almost serene.
Arriving in Japan was a surreal experience. Only being able to peek across the aisle and three more seats out the nearest window, my first glimpse was brief but exhilarating. After landing and finally being able to disembark we made our way through Japanese customs and out to baggage claim. On the way we met another guy, Pat, who was going to Chuo as well. We all kinda stuck together and were able to find the meeting desk. Our professional "meeter" took us over to a baggage delivery desk to have our bags sent to our apartments (at this point we hadn't seen where we'd be living) and told us which bus ticket to buy to get us to Tachikawa, the area I am now residing in. When I got on the bus, I was happy to see the other two from ETSU; I was not happy to see the seat that I was going to have to slide into to sit with my group. A younger Japanese man was fully reclined into it and made no move to sit up as I painfully slid myself into the impossibly tiny crack that was my seat. Very uncomfortable, very awkward. That was, until an older Japanese businessman to my direct right told him to sit up. I can't remember if I said ありがと as I had intended, I probably muttered it inaudibly, not out of disrespect but intimidation. Japanese is an incredibly intimidating language, especially when you haven't even been in a classroom for five months. Anyways, he was very nice going out of his way to help a gaijin like me and I appreciated it. At this point, Taylor and I had been travelling for almost twenty hours and were completely exhausted.
When we finally got off the bus after an hour and a half or so (I actually managed to sleep for a bit!) we were met by a couple of Chuo students to take us to our apartments. This was my first harsh wakeup call. I know so much less Japanese than I should. They were both very nice, only one spoke a bit of English. Introductions were pretty broken and awkward, but we were all doing our best. We got on one last bus, this time for only ten minutes, and this was the first time my "foreign-ness" was obvious. I was in the back of the bus, Taylor was sitting one in front of me, we both had empty seats beside us. Mistake. The bus filled more than we had apparently thought it would and a woman with two small children approached. The situation somehow was that one or both of the kids was going to have to sit next to me. They were not having it. The little boy had a look of sheer terror at the prospect and the little girl buried her face into her mother's side. After an extremely uncomfortable minute, Taylor sat beside me and let them all take her seat. The boy gave a very cute "arigato gozaimasu" and sat down.
After a very short bus ride through Tachikawa (which is beautiful, I'll post about it later) we came to our stop, walked down an alley, and arrived at "Friends Tachikawa Apartments". I was immediately impressed with the newness of the building and the general vibe of the area. When our guides let us into our room, I was really floored. I had been thinking the worst. It was actually very nice with a bigger (or at least comparable) living space to myself than I've ever had. Of course the first thing I do is one of the biggest no-no's you can do. Stupidly I just strolled in without taking off my shoes… doh!
After everyone was shown into their rooms and we had regrouped, we set off for Tachikawa-Kita, the area with our train station as well as a huge department store, to get something to eat. At this point things seemed to take a slight downward turn. Our guides literally took an hour or two deciding where we should eat. After twenty plus hours of travelling I was ready to grab a McDonald's burger and go to bed, but no. We had to eat somewhere Japanese. And not just anywhere Japanese, because that would've been too easy, but somewhere expensive Japanese. We ended up in a restaurant called Chibo. It was quite delicious, I just had what our male guide was having and aped his every move. Literally like, "Oh, the noodles go in that after you put sauce in that; and when you're done you say this to make it soup."
Finally we were free to get some sleep. The making of the futon was, and is, still rocket science to me. I stuffed my comforter into my main mattress combo and then spent the next 30 minutes stuffing it into the Japanese version of a fitted sheet. After an Olympian struggle I was able to lay my tired head down for some sleep, and that ended my first day in Japan.
