SEPTEMBER 1
5am: Awake before first light. The two large luggage I
had packed almost two week ago (which I proceeded to repack until last night)
were set by the front door. My parents were both sitting in the living room on
the large Eas-y-Boy chairs.
They asked, “You ready?” All I could say was, “Yep.”
I’d had been preparing for nearly two years, couldn’t think of anything else to
do but go. I quickly made a bowl of cereal, which I had a feeling I wouldn’t
have the chance to eat it over the next year. The cat’s walked by and ignored
me as usual. My brothers, barely awake, acknowledged my leaving as they turned
in their sleep and muffled something along the lines of “okay”.
This is it then. Time to go.
8:50am: Well, they just cut off my free Wifi access at
the airport. Great. Boarding isn’t for another hour, so I’m left listening to
music and contemplating when a good time to go to the bathroom is. I do not
know what gate my flight from Chicago is; my itinerary says its the same
terminal, so provided that is true, I should find it.
This is the start of my solo journey. It really is a
strange feeling. It’s not loneliness, or anxiety, or even glee… it’s a very
mortal feeling though. Suddenly, everything I do is up to me. Regardless, I
think I will notice and appreciate tings more this way. I have no one to rely
on and guide me. I’m not afraid to make mistakes, I learn a lot quicker that
way.
Still, I hope these connections go smoothly.
SEPTEMBER 2
4 p.m. Flight to Chubu International Airport from
Narita- Tokyo.
Okay, so the good news is that nothing went wrong. But
let me tell you - it was not a pleasant wait.
After I arrived in Chicago I headed straight for my
terminal (from G18 - K19). Usually, I’m a go at my own pace person, but in this
case, I was booking it across that airport. My layover there was only 45
minutes, and I had no idea what lied ahead of me. Thankfully, I made it to my
gate with some time to spare. As soon as I sat down I tried to connect to the
Wifi - and then I heard the check-in desk announce my name. There was a
“message” for me, but they really meant “we need to check your visa”. They also
informed me that I would go through customs when I landed in Tokyo. My layover
there was barely an hour and fifteen-minutes, and I had heard that customs
could take up to a couple hours. I instantly became worried that I wouldn’t
have enough time, but the flight attendants gave me no particular advice on the
matter. So I sat with that worry in the back of my head for the duration of my
international flight. All 13 hours of it.
My seat on the flight was comfortable: Japan Airlines
economy class, and an aisle seat. Coincidentally, there was no one on either
side of me, and in the next seats over were an infant, and girl who can sleep through
anything. Guess I won’t be making friends yet. So, I started off with a movie I
actually wanted to see: it was a recent release in the States, but I chose to
watch it dubbed in Japanese (which was nice, they chose great voice actors).
Then it was onto an episode of Japanese Variety show, DOWNTOWN DX, followed by
some hours of Tetris and countless minutes of trying to sleep, but not being
able to.
Then there was the food (2 meals for international
flights). I had requested a “special” meal plan, aka the no pork option. It was
also no beef, which for the flight I didn’t mind. They must have planned that
meal for travelers from India, because the chicken/fish and rice dishes they
provided were SPICY. I do like some spicy food, so it wasn’t that bad, but
there was a cardamom with my chicken! That is the worst thing to accidentally
eat. Fortunately, there was also a tiny salad and fresh fruit (best part!) and
even a sandwich along the way. They fed us too well!! As a result, the
remaining 3 hours after the 2nd meal were incredibly uncomfortable. Add to the
stress of not knowing how my connection will proceed, and you have a
no-nonsense traveler.
Also, the lightning strike while landing that made the
lights flicker off - not cool.
As soon as I got off the plane I marched my way to the
relative front of the crowd. First, I had to get through the immigration check.
The line was packed, but I was well into the front end of it. Once I got up to
the desk the guy took my passport, and after seeing my visa asked if I spoke
Japanese. My sentences were a bit frazzled from the long, isolated flight, but
I managed to say something coherent. I asked how I was supposed to proceed from
that point: get luggage, go to customs, check-in again, and board flight within
50 minutes.
I sped down the stairs after receiving my Residence
card and rushed to baggage claim. None of the active turnarounds were for my
flight. Panic. Okay, don’t panic. Did it go ahead of me? Were they still
unloading? Time to use more words. I approached the nearest security guard
and he graciously pointed out the corral on the farthest end - and there it
was! Thank you, orange bag, for being one of a kind.
One step down, two more to go. With my luggage in
hand, and paperwork under my arm, I shuffled over to customs. Again, with those
two luggages, a small shoulder bag and a backpack, ridiculous over-sized pink
sweatpants and a somewhat washed out soccer tee shirt, tired and at the same
time on high alert, yeah, I looked like a mess in so many ways. I’m not sure
how it happened, but I ended up in a small conversation with the customs lady
about my study abroad plans, which, I assume happened because she caught on
that I could speak some Japanese. I also took the opportunity to once again
confirm where I had to go for my domestic check-in. Some more rushing and
fumbling with paperwork and I was finally heading to my gate (with 20 minutes
to spare). They say luck is a skill in itself, but I definitely received a lot
of help too.
Lastly, before this turbulence really kicks in, I made
contact with other international students who are going to study at Nanzan
University, a private university in Central Nagoya, and 2 others going to study
in the Shiga Prefecture. Before we boarded the plane I gave them my business
card, so, who knows, maybe I was able to make new friends after all.
Now that I’m on my way to Nagoya all my worries and
reservations are gone, and I already feel at ease with this new adventure. I
wouldn’t mind a shower though.
SEPTEMBER 3
It has been a long day indeed.
My friend Akane, her boyfriend Jon, and her mother
picked me up from the airport yesterday. Since I was a day early for my
program, I spent the night at their house in Okazaki. We made plans to leave
for Nagoya for the International Student meet-up around 10 am.
I had hoped I could sleep in until 9:30, but my
internal alarm woke me up at 5:30. It was already daylight, and as I got up to
use the bathroom I noticed that Akane’s grandfather was making tea in the
kitchen. I didn’t want to bother him, so I tried to go back to sleep - also
known as, I’m going to lay on this futon for a few hours until something
happens. At about 8:30 I couldn’t wait any longer, so I got up again to find
Akane’s grandparents eating breakfast. They invited me to join them: 2 slices
of rice bread with some butter and jam, orange juice, yogurt, pineapple and
coffee. And, of course, grandfather’s tea. All this food, and not to mention
they stuffed me at dinner last night too.
(Traditional
Rice Paper sliding doors)
We talked for some time, and I did the best to speak
with what Japanese I knew. The topics covered everything from my schooling to
my prior trip to Japan. Eventually it was time to leave for Nagoya. I repacked
my bags, now with slightly more space since I had given Akane a large bag of
Starbust and some baklava for omiyage. As they readied the car, I
finally had a chance to see the outside of the house - not only did it seem
three times larger than I had initially presumed, but there was also a large
garden surrounding the house. When I had arrived the night before it was pitch
black, and I could see nothing but the front porch. It was a traditional style
house, with a lovely garden, and even a koi pond. I wanted to see more, but
that would have to wait.
Around noon, Akane and I arrived in Nagoya. We changed
trains from the JR Line to the Sakuradori Subway Line, and rode it out to the
last stop (really only one stop away): Nakamura Kuyakusho (district office).
There we met one of the exchange students from Hawaii, Jason. From there the
plan was to get our apartment keys and then find some lunch. Fortunately, we
ran into the two students from the university who had volunteered to show us
around: Ryoko and Kaori. At the time they were escorting the three exchange
students from France: Marie, Aurianne, and Margeaux. The French girls were all
staying at City Pal, just down the road, whereas Jason and I, along with the
German and American students, would be staying at Chambre 72 (oddly enough a
French word). Kaori showed me and Jason to the apartment, where we received our
keys and finally found our rooms.
Room 705. My new home for a year.
I dropped off my bags and joined the others for a
small tour of the apartment building. After that, we stopped at a small supermarket
across the street to pick up groceries, and other basics. I was still full from
breakfast so I only bought some fruit, vegetables and water. It was a little
more expensive than the prices back in America, but I had expected worse.
We dropped off our groceries back at the apartment.
(Thankfully, the building has an elevator because my room is on the 7th floor).
It was already well past lunch time and we were hungry. We ended up going to a
little well-known place down the road… Denny’s. Yup, first official outside
meal in Japan (this time) and it’s at Denny’s. Could have been less Japanese I
suppose. In any case, to make the experience somewhat more interesting I
ordered the ochazuke,a rice bowl with tea broth. It was all right,
enjoyable because the group was there, but I’m not in any hurry to go back.
After lunch, we went on a search for a hyaku-en
shop. We still needed more basic living things, and apparently dish soap
outranked toilet paper earlier. There wasn’t any near our apartment, but we were
able to find one back near the station, maybe 12 minutes from our apartment or
so. For some strange reason, we couldn’t find any toilet paper INSIDE the
store; but, of course, as we were leaving we noticed it was displayed outside.
Rather than going back in to buy it though, I decided I would come back out
later tonight and buy it.
Back to the apartment and finally, FINALLY! I can
unpack! All the things that I forgot I brought can now see the light. It just
so happened there was another surprise waiting for me. As I was unpacking that
obscenely large orange duffel bag on wheels I found a card tucked under the
space saver bag. It was from my family, signed by each member. I had to stop
and acknowledge the moment because nothing like this had happened before - and
they had managed to surprise me! I was moved. This card is going on the wall, I
decided.
However, before I could stick it on the wall, I needed
tacks. That would be on the next shopping list. Then, unpacking and arranging
the rest of my bags took three hours. Clothes, too many clothes. Mostly
clothes, some shoes, and a few odds and ends. By the time I was ready for a
break, it was dark outside and only 7pm! Now, I needed that toilet paper. So,
as I said earlier, I went out in search for toilet paper. This time I headed in
the opposite direction, just to see if there was any sort of store nearby. I
followed the main road and quickly noticed many of the stores were closed. Only
convenience stores and pachinko parlors seemed to be open. One of those
convenience stores so happened to be a hyaku-en Lawson. Bingo. Got my
toilet paper and went home for some much needed rest.
SEPTEMBER 4
Today, we had our first day of paperwork at Aichi
University, AIDAI for short. Basically, from 9 am until 4 pm we went through
filing forms for setting up accounts and other student documents. Got a few
more things for the apartment from the DAISO (hyaku-en shop) near school, and when I got home I finally had a
chance to eat some of the food that I bought. The 5 small-ish plastic
containers that I bought were not enough to contain all the cabbage and lettuce
that I cut up this morning (a head of each). Still, so far so
good on the solo part I think.
My room is mostly put together
now. It’s small, only a 1K (one room and kitchen), but I think it’s a pretty
good size for a single person.
Also! I met the rest of the Americans today, all from
Hawaii: Mark, Joy and Rachael. That brings up our American status to five,
though it seems as though there is some distinction between “mainland America”
and Hawaii. Nevertheless, I’m not really alone.
Anyway, I tried to do laundry today. The dryer does
nothing. I need to get those hanger clips, and maybe a drying a rack because
I’m not paying 200 again for a dryer that dry. With all the running today, I’m
definitely feeling a bit tired, but I kind of want to workout or something
tomorrow. It’s probably best if I don’t do too much, but…
SEPTEMBER 5
Ahhhh, to work out or not to work out? My feet are
sore from walking and exploring everywhere. I think I’ll just do some stretches
because the rash strikes again! Of course, it’s humid, and walking also
encourages sweat. But, I didn’t expect to get the same upper-thigh rash that I
got three years ago. I hope it doesn’t stay, cause there’s more walking to do
tomorrow.
We got hit with a huge rainstorm yesterday by the way.
Drenched walking home, even though I bought an umbrella — it just turned inside
out after two minutes in the storm. So, I bought a hanger to dry shoes from the
hyaku-en store.
During my wandering today I found Tokyu Hands at the
station - the same one that Lynnette and I visited three years ago. I found the
large toy hammers, just like the one she bought, and some awesome 3D puzzles.
There was also a Haro alarm clock, which was either not as cool as I
remembered, or a different style. I’ll just keep using my phone as my alarm for
now I guess.
For lunch, the Hawaiian girls and I went to a kaitenzushi
(conveyor-belt sushi). Rachael convinced me to try the natto sushi: I ate it,
but it was unpleasant to say the least. “Why is this food?” I wondered, as
mostly the smell took over the experience. There has to be a better way to eat
it…
SEPTEMBER 6
Off to Sakae! But first, we all headed to Softbank to
set up our phone contracts. It was improbable to even consider a smart phone
and contract for several reasons: the contract was for two years, we would only
be in Japan for one year, and the contract cancellation was over $100 dollars.
Another reason was the initial payment itself for the smart phone, over $400
dollars! No thank you! Most of us chose to use pre-paid phones. The initial
payment for the phone and charger was $120, but good news is that the minutes
cards last two months, so we only need to pay for minutes if we need them.
(Views from
Oasis 21, Sakae)
With phones in hand, and some contacts exchanged, it
was off to Sakae! We wandered around the famous Oasis 21, then around the
streets to Loft and the Pokemon Center. I ended up buying a water filter, “just
in case”, and if anything it should discourage me from buying bottles of
anything as much. As evening approached we all headed to Mexigan Bar.
International students get a discount, and the nachos are delicious - slightly
different, but I like them. I’d go back there.
SEPTEMBER 7
Today was relatively eventful. During my adventure on
the train I ended up having a conversation with the woman who sat next to me.
All I said was “Ohayo gozaimasu” (Good morning) and she thought that was
impressive. I of course disagreed, and we ended talking about my studies, the
weather (particularly tornadoes in America and typhoons). Turns out, the woman
was on her way to Shizuoka, the prefecture east of Aichi, to try the squid. I
can’t imagine traveling somewhere just to try the food.
Today is the
third day in a row I have bought Coffee milk… I sense an addiction at hand. But
it’s only 105 yen for 1 liter! Somehow I keep justifying that.
