We're here!

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Today, I awoke to the sun rising over the rooftops of our new home town of Kyoto, Japan after an extremely long journey. Monday morning we woke up and finished packing everything we would need for the next seven weeks, said our last goodbyes met in front of Brooks and boarded the bus on our way to the airport. We flew from St. Louis to Denver, played a pick up game of soccer in the terminal, boarded our flight to San Francisco and spent the night underneath the palm trees of California. The next morning we woke up at around 7:00 not to go to sleep again for an incredibly long time.
After arriving at the San Francisco International Airport we boarded the plane that would carry me on the longest flight of my life. After ten hours of movies in the tiny little screen behind the head of the person in front of me, goofing off in the aisles, several long conversations, games, and fun with pictures and video of sleeping people, we landed in Osaka, Japan. At the time we landed, most of us had been awake for about 23 hours only to endure the two and a half hour bus ride to the Pension at which we will be staying. Some people slept but not enough to really count it as any substantial sleep. We arrived on Shirakawa dori, the street off of which the pension is located, unpacked our bags and entered what would become our home for the next five weeks or so.

The pense, as we call it, is a little, three story building that works, for all intents and purposes, like a dorm. Our group is split up into eight rooms (10 including Linda and Dan). Dave, Reeves, and I are on the top floor in a room that we have deemed the Party Pad. One of the two windows in this penthouse room leads out onto the room of another section of the building and provides a perfect spot from which to watch the sun rise and to view the beautiful mountains one of which has a Kanji symbol engraved into the side of it. It was from this private little balcony that I watched the sunrise this morning and was finally fully able to realize that I’m in Japan.

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Photos

Leaving on a Jet Plane
This was the last picture taken on campus before we left on the adventure of a lifetime.

Denver
A little game of mini soccer in the Denver Terminal.

The Rockies
Pretty self explanatory

Tom and Brittany
Leaving from the San Fran Airport

View from the Pense
This is the view out my window onto what we like to call the party pad aka the big open roof where we have dance parties.

The Pense
This is what we call home for nearly three weeks before we go off to our home stay families.

Comments

[Maryyy]

yay!
Eric that sounds amazing! You forgot the part about Reeves bringing home lots of hot Japanese girls at all hours :( Honestly, I know its happening. I miss our phone calls soo so much-- I have picked up my phone to call you a few times since you have been gone and it is so sad not being able to! I miss you and love you!

[James King]

Great first entry!
Thanks so much for this great first entry. Brings back good times for sure! Can't wait to hear more! Have you gone to the noodle shop yet? Who are your Japanese teachers? Do you have Shida-sensei?

[Aimee]

Awesome
Hey! You finally made it. What a great adventure. Can't wait to see the next round of pictures. Have a blast.