The First Day, or Jet-lag Limbo

Well, it was a fun trip to Hirakata. I'll try to put down what I can remember from it although a lot was probably lost in the sleepy-haze of traveling.

I woke up on the 29th at 3:00AM, showered and out the door by 3:30AM with Angela's Dad whom was kind enough to wake up that early to take me to SEATAC. We said our goodbyes there and I spent maybe an hour or so waiting for my plane to Vancouver, even though I didn't notice the wait with my coffee and a book.

The flight was uneventful and I got in Canada at about 7:00AM. Going through Canadian customs the Canadian security laughed at me for taking my shoes off. "This isn't America, eh?"

My flight over the pond was scheduled for 12:45PM, so I had quite a wait. It wasn't so bad since Vancouver is the best airport I've ever been in, it beats O'Hare, JFK, SEATAC, Detroit, BWI, and some of the other ones that have escaped my mind. I'll have some pictures up later. While waiting I bought some gifts for my Hokkaido host family that I plan on visiting eventually and had some breakfast. The rest of my time waiting was mostly spent reading.

Finally came the flight to Japan. There were a few other non-Asians on the flight but I didn't bother asking them if they were going to Kansai. I'd much prefer to just travel alone. As always, JAL treated everyone so well. The stewardesses are amazingly nice and helpful and I really liked the food that was served for both meals: soba noodles, chicken and rice, a bread roll, good cookies, and all sorts of tasty and healthy items. You were presented with chopsticks and a spoon, knife and fork. I used the chopsticks and noted how well they go with the food served; not just because it is Japanese food but the chopsticks complement food in general. You pay much more attention to the texture and shape of what you're eating...

8+ hours is a difficult flight though. I finished my one book and played my DS for a bit but not too much. On the TV screen I mostly just watched the plane fly on the GPS, and swicthed to the bottom view when we were over land. I watched Kung-Fu Panda in Japanese and then some Japanese movie about a guy with a time-traveling robot girlfriend which was funny at times but mostly confusing. I watched a few episodes of the third season of Eureka that I downloaded for the ride too, and after all of this I got in maybe an hour nap. Keep in mind the night before the trip I fell alseep at around 1:30AM due to excitement...

Landing in Japan was cool due to being able to watch the ground below us with the TV screen. I was getting tired though and thought at several intervals that the ground few was really the front view and that the plane was heading for the ground...

Narita was an okay airport to get through. I was somewhat worried that it would take me a long time to find my bag and figure out the bus route to Haneda, but preparation took care of that. I did have to wait awhile for my bag, and I found the bus kiosk and bought a ticket to Haneda for 3,000 yen ($30). It took some instruction from the luggage loaders outside to figure out what line to wait in but it wasn't hard. The Japanese couple behind me made fun of the Kanji on my bag that I put on in duct-tape.

The bus ride was about 45 minutes and at one stop an American pilot from Cincinatti sat next to me and we talked for a bit; he was heading to Haneda for training. I spent my time trying to read the Kanji and Katakana of all the passing signs and could figure most of them out unless they were company names that I don't know. It was good practice to read Katakana faster. I dozed off once we got closer to Haneda. I forgot to make sure I knew which terminal I got off at but the pilot showed me on my baggage ticket which one it was so I was lucky he was there.

Now Haneda didn't have as much english in it as Narita. Luckily I figured out everything quick and could understand directions given to me in Japanese, although I had to go through a JAL check-in twice to get instructions for checking my bag again.

The Japanese security was quick and I went to go wait for my plane. I failed at using a vending machine due to being tired so I probably entertained some passengers waiting.

The plane was very nice. Spacious and you could stretch your legs out. There were eight rows of seating too, so it was a faily large plane. The guy next to me slept and there was a dad with two little girls who sang the Totoro song before take-off which was kind of adorable. I read a bit then rested my eyes, but I didn't sleep.

Itami airport wasn't bad at all, I got my bag quick and found the Kansai Gaidai driver. I was the first one there, so we walked to the next gate where other students would be and I bought a pastrami and potato sandwhich and a tea-drink and waited. I snapped a picture of a bacon ad as well.

Few of the other people that were coming were as prepared as me. Some knew no Japanese at all or didn't bring any Japanese currency (that would have made me not make my flight at Haneda if I had to figure out where to get money.) I loaned one of them 2,000 yen ($20) for the driver's fee. These impromtu fees become a recurring theme, by the way. Gettysburg doesn't cover all of the costs like they say.

On the ride back I had to listen to the other people talk about all kinds of stupid immature things that I would be embarassed about in front of the driver... They could have been more respectful. One of the guys I liked right of the bat and seemed like he would be an awesome traveling partner since he's more interested in the culture and language than partying and other crap, plus he didn't talk constantly like the others. Hopefully I run into him again.

When we got here I was dropped off at Seminar House I and was showed the ammenities by Sena, who is an RA or CL or something of the sort. It's all pretty nice. My room has eight tatami mats in it, I beleive, and two desks. My roomie's stuff was already there without him, but I noticed he had two Vonnegut books and I became really excited.

I unpacked and went to go meet people in the lounge. I was dying for a shower but I never brought a towel and I need to get body wash anyway. At some point I went back to my room and shortly thereafter my roomie showed up, a Canadian by the name of Matt, from Alberta.

He's a really nice guy and he was in Japan for a week exploring on his own which I admire. He climbed Fuji at 9:00PM to watch the sunrise and went around Kyoto on his own, and he never had taken a Japanese class and is self-taught (but claims he's not that good, haha.) He seems to have no trouble getting around though. He showed me pictures of his travels and we chatted for a bit then I crawled into my comfortable futon to sleep.

I slept so well, and got up only at 6:00AM, then went back to sleep until about 9:30AM. I changed and prepared to go exploring the surroundings.

Our dorm is next to a nice park where a lot of people were walking their dogs. I found a cafe next to the Hirakata library and picked a direction and walked. I found mostly houses on my first walk, and then eventually found the 100 yen store. I went in to look for a towel and looked at other things and then left, towel-less. Going past the store I found bakeries and other little stores and found the drug store to find it towel-less as well. I then found a nice restaraunt that I'll try at some point and went back to the 100 yen store and got two little towels, two peaches, a huge thing of tea, and some soba noodles.

Once I got back to the dorm (at about noon) I tried the peaches and they were the best peaches ever. Only cost 380円 ($4) and were the ridiculously huge and juicy. They were also kind of white on the inside too. I then looked at some maps and paperwork I have to get to eventually and discovered more lovely fees that I have to pay (deposits totaling about $260) that I will eventually be reimbursed for, as long as I don't break things.

And now I'm here typing this up in the computer lab. I have to go buy a CAT5 cord tomorrow after I register my laptop tomorrow on campus. After writting this up I'm going to figure out how to get to Hirakata station since the surrounding area has lots of stores including a department store which must have a towel and bodywash that doesn't look feminine. I think I may go get some noodles first.

Other people are stuyding for their language placement tests, but I'd rather study where I'm living.