Chasing the sun...

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Wee! I made it to Japan. Crazily, I left Seattle at 1:30 pm on Friday, traveled for a straight 10 hours and landed at Narita at 3:30 pm on Saturday. Not once during our travels did it get dark outside.

The plane ride was awesome! It's the first time I've had real food on a plane since 1999! We got two hot meals plus snacks and tons of drinks. Lots of movie choices (I could be as ADD as I wanted!) so I watched parts of Indy 4, Narnia 2, Leatherheads, Miss Pettigrew, and the Jet Li/Jackie Chan flick. Good times. We could also track our progress, so I watched that a lot!

The lady next to me was great...a Japanese native who has lived in Alaska for years. We chatted like crazy ( to the chagrin of the sleepers) and she quizzed me on my Japanese language skills and knowledge of the culture. Her assessment is that I don't know many words, but what I do know I pronounce perfectly. Go anime-power! 😊 And, surprisingly, lots of what I've learned about the culture from manga and anime is accurate. She even leaned in and lowered her voice when discussing the yakuza!

No problems w/my flight, but Rachel's & Samia's is delayed so I get to hang out here at Narita for three hours. I've been tasked w/renting a phone (though I make no promises to call anyone!) and figuring out which bus/train route we need to the hotel.

I feel like a rich woman because I traded $600 for 62,000 yen! Yikes! Feels like a lot of money...then again, the lemon tea I got out of the vending machine (my first Japanese vending experience!) was 150 yen so everything is relative.

Customs was super fast and efficient. Like customs/immigrations agents everywhere else I've been no one looked at me or talked to me. I basically get the wave through. Do I seriously look that unthreatening? Not that I want to be hassled, but I could be dangerous. They don't know!!!

I feel great. This travel day was easier than it is to get home to Missouri to see the family! I slept a lot and am raring to go. It's really hot and humid, but I brought lots of trashy American clothes. 😊 We have a rest day for fun stuff in Tokyo tomorrow and then on to Yokohama for the conference.

That's all for now. These entries will probably be rambling and wordy. Now that I've decided to blog, I'm probably going to try to record everything. Feel free to scan or skip.

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Photos

Fun w/Technology!
Endless hours of fun tracking exactly where in the Pacific we would land at any given moment. :)

First look of Japan
From the air it looks the same as US!

ANA air!!
Here's a shot for Ana-banana! There's a whole airline named for you, baby doll. :)