12.15.2010 Flight and arrival in Osaka

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I woke up very tired and groggy due to the jet lag from the previous flights and wanted to just sleep all day, however Kaori and I needed to get on a bus and go to Narita airport; then from the Narita airport take another bus to Haneda airport and get on the flight to Osaka. The packing was easy and light since we only had two backpacks and a small bag with us. The next bus ride to Haneda was GREAT! I kept flashing pictures during the ride as well as recording all the crazy looking cars, Tokyo from afar, and the Disney land resort. I was in the front seat just so I could take as many pictures as I wanted without embarrassing Kaori too much.

After passing through Tokyo we ended up at the airport where Kaori burst out yelling “KAWAII!” at the Pokémon planes, geeez. The airport was huge with small kiosks and shops to eat, drink, chill, have fun, and buy souvenirs. We ran over to Relakuma which is a store that sells small little stuffed animals and Japanese anime animals, I’m sure Kaori was excited to see some items from home again. There was no way I would have been able to make it through the airport without Kaori, so word of advice either travel with a partner while abroad or learn the language really fast. The rest of the airport was busy and we had already eaten our food for the day, so we made our way through security, which was 100x easier and nicer than American security, and got to our gate for Osaka. It was just a short wait till the plane arrived and we got on. I had another burst of excitement while boarding the plane; glancing around I noticed I was the only Caucasian person on the flight and it didn’t seem like many people spoke English, let alone engrish.

The plane ride ended then the train ride began! I had only been on a train twice in my life while in Washington D.C. and this experience was extremely different. Kaori went ahead and got my ticket since I had no idea what was going on. She instructed me to put it in the “machine slot” and it pops out the other side for you to grab for the next train. On the train ride to Owada Station I ended up taking so many pictures that I ran out of battery, lucky Kaori had another camera. Apparently I was being watch as I took pictures, not a good thing to do I guess. There was a business man on the train whose head bobbed up, down and round the as the train swayed side to side. I felt it was funny enough for a quick click of the camera.

We arrived at the final destination and it was only a short walk to “diaie” the grocery store. The first time I walked in the neighborhood it felt just like the movies. Everything is so close to one another! You can look down one street and it has hundreds of signs and many houses staked one next to another. I was absolutely astonished. Grocery shopping was fun and interesting at the same time, I couldn’t really understand what we were getting but I did know what some of the products and veggies. It was only a one minute walk to Kaori’s house from the grocery store, but I still had a stupid confused foreigners look on my face.

Arriving at the house was spectacular. The architecture is classics Japan and the foundation follows the traditional Japanese way of building up rather than out like the US. The inside is as grant as the outside. When entering a Japanese house you must first remove your shoes then step up into the house. It is still winter here and I didn’t know this but there is no central heating in Japanese houses! Some of the newer houses might but most of the older style houses have a convenient heater and ac counsel that projects out from one corner of each room. When you walk into any room you have to shut the door, then leaving you must turn off the light and shut the door. One of the house rules is that every time you come home you must wash your hands and gargle water. I’m not sure why but it seems to be a cleanse thing. The house itself is very cozy, and I love how everything is easy to get to. FYI I am only 5ft. 7in. yet I still need to bent over to do most things like washing dishes, washing clothes, and finding items in the cupboard. I was shown to my room located on the lower level. Bed rooms are usually on the second floor but I would consider this room a guest room. 30 minutes after arriving home we passed out since we were both exhausted. We woke up and her dad texted her to make dinner so we got up and started making macaroni with fish flakes, chicken with mushrooms, salad, and miso soup. My responsibility fell upon the roll of sue chef, I loved making smaller parts for the whole meal. Usually in America, there is one big meal served such as a post roast, or pizza, however Japanese style regards a meal to be made up of smaller items. Later that night Kaori’s sister came home, Midori, and there was no hugging or “I missed you so much” that Americans sometimes say. Instead we sat down together and talked about the flight and how “different” it is here. She can speak some English and I can speak some Japanese so it is fun to learn from one another. After a short while her father came home and I was sweating bullets. He came into the room and spoke to Kaori for a sec then turns to me and asked a question in Japanese. I stood still and looked at Kaori, she repeated the question in English “how are you?” I replied “genki” or good in English. Our conversation carried on to explaining that I’m a student, my year in school, and thanking him VERY MUCH for letting me stay here. He was very calm and relayed that it was ok. He left the room and Kaori mentioned “that went good”. Later on we all sat together and talked about our trip and some of the things in America. We had a great first night and I smiled and knew that this was going to be one heck of an adventure.

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