Arrival!

Streets of Shinjuku

I'M FINALLY IN JAPAN! It was a long 14 hour flight from Dulles to Narita, but I made it through! I am very grateful that the flight was direct, that I had a window seat, my memory foam pillow, and plenty of good movies to choose from on the United Airlines flight. It's been quite busy since my arrival, and JET lag (ha!) definitely hit me a little harder than expected. I spent a decent amount of time sleeping in my hotel room and attending orientation sessions, so I unfortunately did not get to go out and see much of Tokyo. I am not too worried about this though, because where I live is only a 2 hour drive north of Tokyo and is connected by cheap trains. I will come back!

We arrived at Narita at around 3:30PM Japan time on Sunday, made our way through customs, and were shuttled off to the hotel. They gave us the first night to relax before beginning the orientation the next day which was definitely appreciated. After making a trip to the local post office to get some yen from an ATM, a group of us who flew out from DC went and got Udon together. After that, we all went back to the hotel and crashed.

My first meal in Japan!

The next day I woke up at around 5am (thanks alot jetlag), so I had plenty of time to get breakfast before opening ceremonies at 9am.

Tokyo Orientation Opening Ceremonies Stage

They packed the day full of sessions and I could barely stay awake. I ended up going back to my room around 5:15PM and passing out. I didn't wake up until almost 10PM. I hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I decided to run down to the convenience store to pick up a few snacks before going back to bed. Since I still don't know any Japanese, this experience was interesting to say the least.

Late Night Snack Run

For those who can't read Japanese, the "Chelsea" candies were hard candies that tasted something like caramel and coffee. The onigiri (rice ball shaped in a triangle and filled with something) was surprising filled with shrimp in a spicy sauce-- very oishii (delicious!). The bottle was milk tea, which had some sort of floral flavor to it, along with the taste of strong tea and lots of cream. Finally, the weirdest thing I've eaten so far, the chips. They were umeboshi and garlic flavored. Umeboshi are extremely sour pickled plums. Needless to say I ate the whole bag while I pondered if I liked the flavor or not. (I would never say no to chips).

The next day I was much more awake and was able to appreciate more of the JET orientation sessions. I also saved up enough energy to go out for dinner! I tried conveyer belt sushi and it was delicious (sorry I didn't take a picture that time, but the photo above is from the neighborhood the restaurant was in!)

Today is my last morning in Tokyo before heading out to meet my employers, my supervisor, get set up in my new apartment, and begin my new life in Utsunomiya, Tochigi.

Yay! Tochigi JETs!

I don't know when I will have internet again, so this may be the last post for awhile. To hold you over in the meantime, here are some more pictures of Tokyo!

View from the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo

View from the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo

Not just in Philadelphia!