So I’ve been in Japan for about 2 weeks now and thus I have an obligation to let everyone know how I have fared thus far.
I started my original series of flights on the morning of the 10th of August from Green Bay. Overall the actual flights were good, however I have to admit that I was not impressed in the slightest by the Chicago O’Hare airport. To put it simply, It has a horrible layout. From Chicago I departed for Japan on a dual operated flight by American Airlines and Japan Airlines(JAL). The aircraft was actually owned by American Airlines, but the flight was operated by staff from JAL. And I have to say that the flight was the most enjoyable international flight I’ve had thus far. I was lucky because no one was sitting in-between the other passenger and myself, each seat had a television in the back of it for the passengers behind them, and there was a good selection of movies. Once I landed in Narita(Tokyo’s international airport) I quickly moved through immigration and customs so that I could get on my bus to Haneda(Tokyo’s domestic airport) and try and get there at a reasonable time before my flight to Kushiro took off. After landing at Narita I only had about 4 hours to work with before my flight to Kushiro took off and my bus ride to Haneda was about an hour and a half, needless to say I was a little stressed. But fortunately after having a little trouble finding where I was supposed to check my baggage in I was able to get to the boarding gate one hour before the flight took off.
Not soon after I left Haneda I landed in Kushiro, my Japanese hometown. While I was flying I was worried that maybe no one would be there to pick me up! I was nervous because I never specifically asked my host family to be there in my emails, it was always implied, at least I thought it was. However that fear was quickly squashed as I was greeted by my host mom after I picked up my baggage. In the car ride to her house she told my that my host dad wouldn’t be there until that Sunday(the 14th) because Meiki’s(the high school I attended) soccer club was having a soccer camp that week in order to improve their game. The week in Kushiro was a fairly uneventful one, after my host dad got back from camp we went back to Meiki to pick up my year book. Unfortunately a lot of the teachers I was friends with transfered to a different high school, as is custom to do in Japan after a few years. And the ones that hadn’t changed schools were home because it was summer vacation. However I was able to say hello the vice principle and some other teachers I was acquainted with. There were many, “お久しぶりです”(it’s been awhile) to be had by all.
After my week of R&R was over and jet lag, for the most part, had been battled I boarded my flight to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. After I arrived and was waiting for my bus to the Hotel Sheraton I was questioned by airport security who wanted to know what nefarious schemes I was planning. Of course one must never let the authorities know their plans, so I told them I was waiting for a bus and showed them my passport. After an excruciating bus ride to the hotel to meet Temple staff, I took a taxi with another new Temple student and we made our way to the famous Ontakesan Dorm. The Ontakesan Dorm got its name from the train station that isn’t more than a 5 minute walk away from the dorm itself. After checking in at the dorm and making my way to my room I was welcomed by an air conditioner, which I couldn’t be happier to see considering summer time is the bane of my Wisconsinite existence and Tokyo’s 95 degree humid summers are no exception. After getting unpacked I went to bed early so I was ready for the next day’s orientation. Orientation went well and after 2 days the weekend was upon me. I didn’t do much besides picking up some needed supplies from the local Aeon mall. However I will admit that Saturday I made a trip to Shinjuku, I’ll blame this escapade on trying to better learn the train system. And while I was out familiarizing myself with that part of town I stopped at a bar to test the rumors that foreigners aren’t exactly carded when drinking. I’ll let you guys decide how that went. After about 5 hours I returned to the dorm to make it back before curfew so I didn’t get locked out(I forgot to bring the dorm’s pass key). That following Monday was placement exams and without a guide we students had to make it to school all on our own this day. However small groups of about 2-5 usually banded together so that we wouldn’t get lost. But before I go on let me explain the two most common routes to school taken by Ontakesan Dorm students. There is the “Komata” route and the “Gotanda” route, and for orientation our student guides always took us the Komata route. They always explained that Komata is not quite as busy in the morning as the Gotanda route. Ho, let me tell you, that is the understatement of the year. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Tokyo train horror stories and the videos of train staff shoving people into trains, if not:
While that is an extreme case, there is usually a little bit of pushing people into the trains during the morning rush hour. Well, Monday one of the students in my group thought we should take the the Gotanda route to school in the morning instead of Komata. Let me just say one thing, NEVER AGAIN! So anyways after braving my way through the English placement test, I basically was destroyed by the math placement test. And after seeing others leave as early as I did, I will assume that they also felt the wraith of the Math placement exam. Once that was finished I decided to make a whole placement exam day of it. So off I went to do the Japanese placement exam, well that was a bad idea. I didn’t brush up before the test and I didn’t exactly study this summer vacation. Well, I payed for it, that’s for sure. I ended up in Japanese Elements 2, which basically means I get to go through the second half of the Genki 2 text book again first semester. FML. And to celebrate not having class on Tuesday I made another trip out to Shinjuku. I went to a different bar this time, and it would be one that I wouldn’t mind returning to. However, I had an unexpected exchange with the bartender when I was there:
Bartender: “How old are you?” Me: “I’m twenty” Bartender: “Yeah? You look kind of young…” Me: *Slightly nervous laugh* “Yeah?”
Needless to say I made my getaway shortly after, but not too quickly as to seem guilty. I think I’m going to wait another month until I am actually legal and hope he forgets who I was. That way I won’t be banned from that bar should he actually check me and figure out I was lying earlier.
So now you know how I’ve been faring up until this point in Japan. I’ll be sure to try and update semi frequently about interesting things that happen while I’m here!
