On getting here

Oh wow, so I've been in Japan for about two weeks now, but this is the first time I have had time to write!! I guess there are quite a few things to cover about getting here and my first impressions, so I will do that in this entry and then perhaps later have a few more specific entries about particulars!

The flight: First of all, leaving Atlanta was a real pain in the ass... I felt especially bad for one girl in our group.. at the ticket counter, they were calling for e-tickets and she just went up to an open counter space to check in. Without checking her ticket, they put luggage tags on her bags and then said "Ok, have a nice time in Hawaii!". The poor girl's bags were being sent to Hawaii because they had mistaken her for an e-ticket customer! This took all the way up until the time our plane left 3 hours later to sort out, but they got it fixed for her, fortunately! However, we had yet another problem which kept us stuck on the runway for an hour. The fight was overbooked, and 4 people needed to get off. Obviously, it couldn't be any of the 40 or so of us with JET b/c we had to travel as a group! But NO ONE would give up their seat and we couldn't take off until 4 people moved!! At first they offered one free ticket to anywhere in the U.S. if someone would take a later flight. No one budged. They had to offer 2 free tickets before anyone would go, and even then only 2 people would do it! Meanwhile, we are starting to be in serious danger of missing our flight from Minneapolis to Narita. Finally a 3rd person got up and the pilot announced that 3 was OK, and we took off. The flight seemed shorter to me this time than last. I don't really even know what I did for those 13 hours because I didn't sleep much, didn't watch the movies or read, and only listened to my music a little bit. I guess I just spaced out? For 13 hours? Either way, the flight was mostly pleasant, minus the obvious seat issues and the inevitability of getting stuck next to the most obnoxious person on the whole plane. But, one we were in flight I got up and moved around a lot and talked to a lot of the other JETs. A few of us made a little standing corner by the bathrooms (which I think the stewardesses found irritating, but they didn't really say anything about it) and just stood around drinking sodas and chatting. We also chatted with a few Japanese passengers, who were mostly curious about why there were SO MANY gaijin (foreigners) on the fight, hahaha.

On Tokyo: Shinjuku was as busy and bright as I remembered it, but I guess even busier for me this time because I had a full schedule from day 1! JET really has no sympathy with jetlag. However, I've also heard that jumping straight in to the new country's schedule is the best way to combat jetlag. I guess it wasn't as bad for me this time as it was last time. We had very official opening ceremonies where we had opportunities to meet ambassadors and many people from Japan's Ministry of Education. We met a lot of very important people, and I wish I hadn't forgotten to ring my camera to the session! Everything was so formal with very low formal bows all around. We had training everyday and meals were provided. A lot of people complained about the food, but I thought it was really good! No one complained about the banquet the second night though. This was a welcome reception for all of us new Jets and was very formal. We could not eat or drink before the toast, which is very important in Japan. Then, people were free to roam around the ballroom and have many kinds of alcohol, juice, soft drinks and pick from dozens and dozens of different kinds of hors d’œuvre, sashimi, dumplings, exotic fruits and vegetables... you name it and it was probably available at the banquet! Unfortunately, the banquet was when Jetlag started to really kick in for me and for Moraya (the other JET going to Wakkanai with me!). I felt really really ill and faint. I ate a little to help with the lightheadedness and tried to go stand alone where it was quiet. JETs, for the most part though, I think, are very friendly personable people. Anyone standing alone was a target for small-talk, which I would have welcomed if I hadn't felt so ill and exhausted. Finally, I found Moraya who was feeling as miserable as I was and we went back to our room (we roomed together in Tokyo) to rest. Our feet were even really swollen - maybe from the long flight :(. I mostly just felt flu-ish and exhausted. It was too bad missing suh an extravagant banquet, but I didn't regret my decision to rest when I saw Jets the next day who were both jetlagged AND hungover. By the next night I was really re-energized too.

I did go out a bit the following nights though! I went to izakayas twice with Jets (izakaya is a Japanese all you can eat/drink club. You pay about 3,000 yen for unlimited food and alcohol at most of them). I also had a chance to meet my old tutor from TMG, Tomoo, and my suitemate from Maryville, Tomoko. Unfortunately, we had a mix-up at Shinjuku train station and I was actually lost for about an hour because I thought I was in the right place and I wasn't! Tomoko asked me to meet her by a specific department store at the south exit near the flower shop. I was y the department store, and the flower shop, AND at the south exit, but there are apparently two very similar areas in the south exit like this!!! Eventually we found each other and everything was OK, though I feel bad for causing my friends stress! We also went to an izakaya, and both told me they couldn't believe I really came to Japan, haha! (I had told Tomoo 4 years ago when we were in Tokyo that I would come back and live in Japan, but he was a little surprised that I really did it!).

After all that, it was time to head to Wakkanai, which is the topic of my next entry :).

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