I am not sure if it's the jetlag, or the fact that I was feeling residual frazzled-ness from my frantic move, but it took me a while for it to sink in that I was actually in a foreign country. It might have also been because I've been "trapped" in Keio Plaza having nonstop meetings and workshops all day. Last night, however, I was finally feeling Japan.

My TOA (Tokyo Orientation A-something... assistant? I can't remember) for my prefecture had casually arranged for all of us to meet after the reception dinner (dim sum and sashimi and bruschetta, oh my!) and go to some kind of bar/club. Well, when I went down to meet her, I must have gotten the location or the time wrong because I couldn't find her. I was starting to feel a little tired, and was about ready to just go to the convee and grab some Pocky sticks and call it a night, when I overheard the Koshi prefecture chanting and sounding like they were ready to have fun. So I crashed their party and went to a 1000-yen all you can drink place. Turns out you also have to buy all you can eat for 1800 yen extra, which i didn't need cuz I had just stuffed myself silly at dinner. But, I managed to shove some king crab, sashimi, scallops, and calamari down my gullet to make the most of it. The table ordered several bottles of hot sake and several pitchers of beer (take advantage of all you can drink!), and when I suggested sake bombing, the Canadians stared at my blankly. So, I decided to give them a little lesson. I did a bomb with one of the girls, who didn't fare too well. Then the Nashville boys at the other side of the table saw what was happening and wanted to do one too. I had to give myself a minute, then Jon and Jamie got all set up. "Ichi, ni, san, bomb!" Jamie ended up with a mess all over his lap, and Jon had a coughing fit afterwards, hence leading the Canadians to dub me the craziest drinker they'd ever seen. Woops, I didn't need that reputation so early on in my stay here!

Well, I managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour and woke up without a hangover. Today was more meetings, and during my lunch break I ventured out into the heat and explored a bit. It was my first time 1) out in broad daylight in Tokyo and 2) out on my own. I bought some stamps at the post office using my limited Japanese: "Sumimasen. Eigo ga wakarimasu ka? Iie? Hai... Kitte o ni mai kudasai. Arigato!" I was quite proud of myself. I then went to the convee and bought some snacks and a Milk Tea (all the rage here) and was able to count out my yen coins with little incidence. Again, quite proud.

So, I'm finally feeling like living here will not be a terrible adjustment. The heat really isn't THAT unbearable. Although... let me tell you about the public toilets..


Keio Plaza is a 5-star hotel, so I can't speak for the rest of the public restrooms, but there are some interesting elements going on with their toilets. For example, like the toilets in my hotel room, the public toilets come heated! They too have built-in bidets. But, an added feature: When you sit on the toilet, a noise machine comes on and you can choose your noise. Either soothing zen-like music or rushing water. I thought this was to make people relax while going to the bathroom, which is partially true. Apparently the Japanese are really modest and get embarrassed about making any sort of noise while going to the bathroom, whether it's tinkling or other noises. So the noise machine is to mask the bathroom sounds and put the user at ease. This is something I definitely need to adjust to, but at least it's amusing!

Ok, that's about all I have for tonight. I think we're going to a crazy BBQ beef place tonight for dinner, which will prove to be amazing, I'm sure. I think I have another blog I'll have to do about that one. :-)

Yay!

It is 1:55AM California time, which means that right now it’s almost 6PM here in Japan. I’m on a bus heading to the Keio Plaza hotel with a bunch of New Zealanders. I got separated from most of the SF JETS, so now I feel even more foreign and weird, especially since I am sitting in the back of the bus by myself wearing a dorky neck pillow. How did I end up on the back of the bus by myself? I feel like Jenny waiting for Forrest. The bus ride to Keio Plaza is anywhere between 1.5 and 3 hours, depending (on the strength of the Yen? Ha.) on traffic. So looks like I’ll have a lot of staring out the window and blogging I can do!

 

Things don’t look terribly different, although I just noticed that we are driving on the left side of the road. You’d think this is something I would have found out in my research except –oh, wait—I didn’t do any research before leaving. You’d also think that going into this “moving to Japan for a year” thing blindly would be scarier than it is. But I think the fear is actually overrun by the guilt of me leaving a ginormous mess back at home for Dan to clean up.

 

The last night before leaving was almost an all-night frenzy, except for the hour nap I took  at 2am when I felt a potential migraine coming on. Otherwise, It was just boxing up all the junk and stuff that I’d intended to sort through before leaving, except I was just having too much fun saying bye to friends and enjoying my last couple weeks in the States to actually take any sorting/packing seriously. This is a decision I definitely regret. Instead of having a relaxing last evening at home with Dan on his first night in our place, I was freaking out about overpacking, figuring out how to organize things so Dan could find them when I’m gone, and wanting to go through all the old paperwork I was supposed to shred and get rid of. Leaving a heap of laundry and piles of stuff for Dan to clear out makes me feel like the worst person in the world, compounded with the fact that I am moving to a foreign country for a year. What a jerk.

 

Anyway, because I hardly slept at all last night, as soon as I was settled into seat 56C on flight JL001, I popped 2 Excedrin PM and said good night to my seatmate Jess. I literally fell asleep about 10 seconds later, and it was a near dreamless sleep. The only thing I remember dreaming about was hearing Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” playing on constant loop.

 

Some time later, I woke to the smell of food. I really really really wanted to eat what the guy on the other side of the aisle was eating. It looked like dumplings and teriyaki chicken. However, silly me told the travel agency about my minor allergy to peanuts, and they gave me an allergy-free meal. I opened up my little tin tray to find a piece of fish floating in some kind of tomatoe-y sauce. Thank god I like fish and I was starving, or I would have pitched a fit. It was actually pretty good, and it came with some sticky rice that Dumpling and Chicken Guy didn’t get, so I wasn’t too bummed. I tried to stay up and watch Date Night, which seemed really funny, but the Excedrin PM was still coursing through my veins and I promptly passed out once my food tray was collected and my tray table was locked. I again had a dreamless sleep, except this time I heard Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies” on constant loop. Not that I minded.

 

Next time I woke up, it was yet again time to eat, which must mean I slept for a solid 4 hours since the last meal. This meal was less easy to identify. Perhaps it was a fish cake? Was it tofu? I wasn’t sure, but I gobbled it up, tried to watch Clash of the Titans, and promptly fell asleep again. I woke up to the cabin violently shaking, and for a split second I actually thought I was on LOST, but then I realized that I was awake and that we were going through turbulence. I looked up at the TV in front of me (I forgot to mention that everyone on JAL flights have their own Tvs with at least 4 movies and 5 shows to choose from) and saw that we were 15 minutes from Narita. How did a 9.5 hour flight feel like only 20 minutes? I was kicking myself for stuffing my backpack with reading material that I will now have to lug around, untouched.

 

The plane touched down in Tokyo, and I am still waiting for it to feel like I am in Japan. The extreme heat (90 degrees F) and ridiculous humidity might trick me into thinking I’m in a hot day in Hawaii, and so far all the Japanese are speaking English, so I’m safe. I have a feeling things will change as soon as I’m out and about in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, though.

 

I am too tired to be missing home yet, although the first thing I wanted to do when I got through customs was call my mom because I promised her a phone call as soon as I got here. However, There are no pay phones in sight, and obviously my cell does not work here.

 

I’m feeling slightly Amish.

Update:
Got to the hotel. Used a bidet for the first time. Life changing experience. :-)

Yay!