Well I began my on the job training yesterday, and I must say it went a little better than I expected it to. Unfortunately it looks like work is going to keep me fairly busy, but I will do my best to get some more backlogged junk up from this past weekend soon. Hope everyone back home is well!
P.S. How long is jet lag supposed to last? lol
After spending all night packing and finally getting to sleep around 2 AM, I awoke a few hours later ready to begin the biggest day of my life. The nervousness that had been non-stop for the previous week or so was at a new level, as I realized that I was really about to leave my family and friends and move to Japan. I hurriedly repacked my bags to be sure that they were under the weight limit, and after taking some pictures with my family, we left for the airport. Saying goodbye to my parents and sister was really tough, but as I held back the tears, a new excitement was building as I worked my way through the security checkpoint and into the terminal.
The flight from Milwaukee to Detroit was super smooth, but the flight from Detroit to Tokyo was a little more complicated. After boarding, just as we started to move out of the docking station, the entire 747 shook violently and we came to a stop. Everyone was obviously a little concerned, and a few minutes later the captain unleashed his first words to us. “Folks, I’ve got some bad news”. Not exactly what you want to hear right before you’re supposed to travel 13.5 hours in a plane. Turned out that the towing taxi had its connection to the plane snap off, and as it rebounded it managed to whack the front wheel. The pilot explained that we would need to wait as they performed an inspection, and if everything looked OK we would be on our way. To make matters worse, the ventilation fans that were supposed to keep us cool were spewing warm air due to the engines not being on. The temperature inside the plane had to reach 100 degrees, getting to the point where we were told to close all the windows to try and keep the sun out. An uncomfortable and anxious 2 hours later the captain finally told us that everything was good to go, and we proceeded to take off and enter a heaven of AC. The flight itself had a few episodes of rather violent turbulence, but overall it wasn’t too bad. I tried to sleep a few times, but I think I only managed to get an hour of actual shut-eye, making the flight seem a bit longer than it should have.
I had an aisle seat, and most of the windows remained closed, so I really didn’t get much of a look outside during the flight. That was until the 13th hour or so when we began our descent. About 30 miles off the coast, I was able to see the typhoon that was approaching Japan, which was kind of cool. A few minutes later we finally made our way over land. My first reaction was to think of all the history that had happened below over the past 2 or 3 thousand years. To actually see Japan with my own eyes sent a wave of emotions throughout my whole body, literally giving me chills. It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life, and one I hope to never forget.
We touched down at 5:46 PM local time on Wednesday, and I was officially in Japan. I was kind of worried about going through immigration and customs, as I had a lot of random junk packed, but after all was said and done it was surprisingly non-eventful. I walked away with a year-long visa stamp and my golden ticket into Japan. One thing that was rather surprising was the amount of new recruits congregated in the lobby. I was expecting maybe 5-10, but there was easily 50-75 fresh-faced instructors. We each received our welcome packets, handed off some luggage to the courier service, and broke off into groups based on our destination. I was originally supposed to travel by bus into Kawagoe, pretty much bypassing the downtown Tokyo area. As it turned out though, we took a bus straight into downtown, on our way to Shinjuku Station, where we were to catch another train to our home stations. As we left the airport and hopped on the freeway, everything looked very similar to home, except for the driving on the left side thing and the Japanese text everywhere. It was dark by this time, so you could see the ominously bright glow of Tokyo all across the horizon. It was kind of eerie actually, as I knew that it was Tokyo, but I had no idea what to expect when we actually got there. What I should have expected apparently, was to have my jaw hit the ground as I took in one of the craziest sites I have ever seen. The city of Chicago has been my favorite place for a long time. For some reason, being in a massive city like that makes me incredibly excited. Seeing Tokyo however was like seeing Chicago, New York, and LA thrown side by side. You really can’t describe how huge it is. Unfortunately I was too amazed to even think of taking a picture, but I hope to get some pictures of that view up sometime soon.
We first dropped off about half of the bus in Shibuya, and then departed towards Shinjuku. If you’ve ever seen Lost in Translation, where Meesta Halis is riding into the city by taxi, that’s exactly what I was greeted with. Being in Tokyo at the micro level is insane. Neon everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of different shops, and thousands of people out and about like it’s a Saturday night instead of a Wednesday.
We finally arrived at Shinjuku Station around 10:30. For those of you who don’t know, Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world. When you walk down to the sub-level, it’s a bit overwhelming, as you are thrown into a sea of people that doesn’t seem to end. If it wasn’t for my escort, I probably would have just fumbled around and got lost for the rest of the night. At any rate, we worked our way through the maze of people and boarded a train bound for Ikebukuro, which is the closest part of Tokyo to my apartment. From there we switched trains, hopping on the Tobu Tojo line, and arrived at Tsuruse Station 25 minutes later. It was quite late at this point, but my guide walked me out of the station all the way to my apartment about a half-mile away. Walking through what was to be my new neighborhood at night like that was an awesome experience. It had just finished raining, combining with the random neon glow of signs and street lights, to make it one of the most surreal walks of my lifetime. Once again it’s hard to explain, but the vibe it gave me was exactly what I’ve been searching for for a long time.
After getting a little lost on the way, we finally arrived at my apartment, and I said thanks and goodbye to my guide. I chatted briefly with one of my new roomates, sent off a quick email to my family, and went to my room to crash. My initial reaction to the apartment was that it was quite normal to what I’d seen back home. The one thing that was obvious was that my room was freaking tiny. I’ll be throwing a video tour up sometime soon, but you’ll be able to see in my next post just how small the space is.
I finally fell asleep around 1 AM, as I prepared for my first full day in Japan.
Sorry for not updating yet, but it’s hard to find time to sit down and write about everything that has happened. For the time being this is just going to be a basic travel diary type thing as I’m still in the honeymoon phase, so everything (and I mean every little thing) is amazing to me. At any rate, I’ll try to get some stuff up this weekend. Latez.
Well I did it. 30-some hours after awaking yesterday morning, I am now sitting in my new apartment, on the other side of the world. I’m way too tired to make a detailed post, but let’s just say that I already love this place. Peace.
So the time has finally come to depart for Japan. The past week has been nothing but controlled anxiousness and procrastination, but I think I am ready to Lock N’ Loll. The magnitude of the situation really hasn’t sunken in yet, but there have been brief moments where it kind of just hits you, and it seems like all the emotions are about to spill out at once. I’m sure saying goodbye to my family is going to be rough, but I hope to return from this little adventure having grown enough as a person to make it all worthwhile. Hopefully I will have internet access and be able to post a little message upon my arrival, but if not I will do my best to update as soon as possible. Until then, peace.