Japan Day 1: Arrival. Standing on the other side of the world.
The plane trip was long. I slept, intermittently. I watched Bottle Shock (I'd seen it), Eagle Eye, which ended up being better than I expected (I didn't expect much), and an episode of Numb3rs that I'd also seen already. Better than I expected. I hope there are different selections for my trip back, because otherwise I will be very bored. They fed us way too many crappy airline meals. The food wasn't too bad, just horribly unhealthy. Oh, and the sandwiches for the cold meal were completely frozen and gross.
Narita is nice. I walked with the people from my plane and there were no other large groups. We shuttled to the main terminal (very easy) and checked through everything. I was a little nervous when I needed to write where I would stay and I realized that Hiroko's address was only on my computer, in my checked bag. I wrote 'Residence of Watabe Hiroko' and left it at that, hoping that the question was basically just to make sure I wasn't sleeping on the streets or something. They accepted it just fine and I have a sheet that says I am certified to stay in Japan until April 4th.
Probably the first real difference I noticed in Japan was the cars on the 'wrong' side of the road. Okay, the terminal was unusually uncrowded and streamlined. Okay, people spoke in a foreign language a bit. Okay, the roadside curb area by the airport road was a rock garden. Okay, Hiroko gave me some grapefruit juice in a Japanese style bottle. We basically have those things in the US, too. But the US drives on the other side of the road than the rest of the world. It hit me that I was on the other side of the world.
Cars in Japan are cute, bubbly contraptions. Small, mostly. The streets are more narrow. There are road signs in circles rather than rectangles. I think the numbers are speed limits in km. The highway signs are in both Japanese and Romanji (which I later found to be extraordinarily common).
On the bus from Narita, we passed many things. Hiroko was very good about pointing out some of the highlights, including the Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge. I took no pictures and was pretty quiet for the ride.
I want to write down everything and have every memory recorded. I have decided to be satisfied with continuing to find wonder in what I encounter.
Staying with Shiro and Hiroko is different than I expected. Hiroko or someone else will accompany me everywhere. I am a child in this world. I'd like to think that I could get around with my Japanese if necessary. I was feeling pretty good about taking on the airport. I am extremely fortunate to have people with me, but I wasn't counting on it when I planned my trip.
I don't think that I have left my hosts with a good impression of my fluency in Japanese I am to shy to speak up most of the time, and I tend to try the things that I think are more challenging, but I end up being awkward. Now lots of things that I already know are being explained. Actually, this is good, because there isn't too much that they assume that I do know, so a lot of the things I don't know are being explained as well.
I was more tired than I expected and went to bed very early. Intermittent sleep doesn't quite do it for me, I guess. My time shift will be less dramatic because Shiro and Hiroko have breakfast around 6:30 or 7am and I was used to staying up relatively late. (And I had stayed up on Friday doing last minute grad school apps -- most are due on 1/15. I'll do the rest when I get back.)
Narita is nice. I walked with the people from my plane and there were no other large groups. We shuttled to the main terminal (very easy) and checked through everything. I was a little nervous when I needed to write where I would stay and I realized that Hiroko's address was only on my computer, in my checked bag. I wrote 'Residence of Watabe Hiroko' and left it at that, hoping that the question was basically just to make sure I wasn't sleeping on the streets or something. They accepted it just fine and I have a sheet that says I am certified to stay in Japan until April 4th.
Probably the first real difference I noticed in Japan was the cars on the 'wrong' side of the road. Okay, the terminal was unusually uncrowded and streamlined. Okay, people spoke in a foreign language a bit. Okay, the roadside curb area by the airport road was a rock garden. Okay, Hiroko gave me some grapefruit juice in a Japanese style bottle. We basically have those things in the US, too. But the US drives on the other side of the road than the rest of the world. It hit me that I was on the other side of the world.
Cars in Japan are cute, bubbly contraptions. Small, mostly. The streets are more narrow. There are road signs in circles rather than rectangles. I think the numbers are speed limits in km. The highway signs are in both Japanese and Romanji (which I later found to be extraordinarily common).
On the bus from Narita, we passed many things. Hiroko was very good about pointing out some of the highlights, including the Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge. I took no pictures and was pretty quiet for the ride.
I want to write down everything and have every memory recorded. I have decided to be satisfied with continuing to find wonder in what I encounter.
Staying with Shiro and Hiroko is different than I expected. Hiroko or someone else will accompany me everywhere. I am a child in this world. I'd like to think that I could get around with my Japanese if necessary. I was feeling pretty good about taking on the airport. I am extremely fortunate to have people with me, but I wasn't counting on it when I planned my trip.
I don't think that I have left my hosts with a good impression of my fluency in Japanese I am to shy to speak up most of the time, and I tend to try the things that I think are more challenging, but I end up being awkward. Now lots of things that I already know are being explained. Actually, this is good, because there isn't too much that they assume that I do know, so a lot of the things I don't know are being explained as well.
I was more tired than I expected and went to bed very early. Intermittent sleep doesn't quite do it for me, I guess. My time shift will be less dramatic because Shiro and Hiroko have breakfast around 6:30 or 7am and I was used to staying up relatively late. (And I had stayed up on Friday doing last minute grad school apps -- most are due on 1/15. I'll do the rest when I get back.)