I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore...

A lot has happened in the last three days (has it really been three days? wow...) and so this post is going to be very long. So grab a Dr. Pepper and drink one for me while you read this.

Early Saturday morning, I left for Tulsa International Airport at 3:00am, running on no sleep since about 8:00am on Friday morning. I tried to sleep, really I did, but it just wasn't going to happen. At Tulsa, I said my goodbyes to family and did what I told myself I would not do-cry-right before I went through security. On top of that, all morning I spent feeling sick to my stomach, I was so nervous. It didn't help that my flight was delayed by an hour. So finally, at 8:15am, I left in a small plane for Minneapolis.

And spent the entire two hour flight praying I wouldn't get sick.

Here's what I discovered about planes. During take-off, it's fun to look out the window, but be sure I have a landmark to focus on or I'll begin to feel sick. But it's worth looking out, because once you pass the first layer of clouds, it looks like the world below is under crystal clear water and the clouds are the waves. In flight, it's just like traveling in a bus and although the view is pretty, it's just as flat up in the sky as it is on the ground in West Memphis (and in case you didn't already know, I grew up in the mountains and being on flat land makes me feel nauseous). I don't mind take-off and in-flight that much though... It's the landing that I don't like. I thought it'd be fun; if nothing else, maybe like a rollercoaster. No. Not at all. Maybe like a rollercoaster with no track, but that's not a helpful analogy for a person who already feels sick, ne?

Anyway, I successfully arrived in Minneapolis to discover that I wasn't in the same concourse, as the internet was saying, but instead I was in Concourse A and my flight to Detroit was in Concourse F, and I had 45 minutes to get there. Needless to say, I ran. And took the Tram. And ran some more. But after the tram, I was at Concourse E and needing to get to F, only to discover that guess what, inside St. Paul there is a mini-mall separating Concourses E and F. With clothing stores, food shops, and even a Harley-Davidson t-shirt shop, and I wondered "Who has time for this sort of thing when you're traveling by airplane?"

The Detroit flight was on a slightly bigger airplane and on this flight, whomever was seated next to me did not show, so I was able to move over one and have a window seat (which is where I discovered I'm not fond of the in-flight phase either). And after I landed, I discovered that Detroit Airport was even bigger than St. Paul and was a city in and of itself. It wasn't just a mall. No, the gates were on one side of the hall and the shops were on the other, and the tram was one story above us, running directly over the shops. And the concourse? It looked like a hallway that never ends. And, all the signs were in both English and Japanese, and all the announcements came in English, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese too.

This time, my flight left early (and I wondered "can they do that?" until I realized all the seats were full). The flight from Detroit to Osaka was a very long one, and it didn't help that I still hadn't slept since 8:00am Friday morning. I slept maybe a total of 3 hours on the plane, and spent the other 10 hours either eating (when they told us to) or trying to sleep. In regards to the in-flight meal, the dinner wasn't terribly bad (I had expected something not edible) and the mid-flight snack (a mini-sandwich) was also not bad. The breakfast, however... I only ate the two strawberries and five grapes that they gave me. And when we got to Japan, I could see Fuji-san perfectly but I couldn't see Tokyo (though I knew it was right next to beautiful Fuji-san). I didn't actually fall sleep until the very end. I kinda expected this--I can never sleep in a car or on a bus, so why should a plane (which is like a bus as far as seats go) be any different? So when I finally got to Osaka, all I wanted to do was sleep.

But I couldn't go directly to bed; I had to go through customs first. Customs wasn't so bad but for one thing. There were at least 50 of us in line and there was one person at the desk. I didn't even have to say anything to them--I handed them a piece of paper that they'd had me fill out on the plane, they nodded, did something with my passport, and sent me on my way. Then it was to luggage claim, which again wasn't so bad—all of my luggage arrived in tact--and then to the second half of customs where they would check my luggage. All they did was simply look at my passport and send me on my way again. It was really weird. I thought it'd be a hassle but really it wasn't. Maybe I'm just lucky, I dunno.

Anyway, from there I left to the main part of the airport. And I thought Detroit was big... KIX is a huge airport that is painted in all sorts of interesting colors (coral for the walls and grass green for the handrails, and yellow lines on the tiles occasionally, and robin's egg blue for the walls at the other side of the room... Oh, and clear glass elevators with bright yellow and black equipment that you can see from the outside). In that sea of colors, I somehow found my way to the walkway from the airport over to Hotel Nikko, where I'd made my reservation. By "somehow," I mean that my new friend Tori (who had ridden with me since Minneapolis) and her friend Tomo led me to Hotel Nikko. Hotel Nikko, by the way, is the only hotel on-site. KIX is positioned on a man-made island that's a good distance from the city. Being on an island, the humidity in the walkway (which was covered but outdoors) was like that of Kingsport (100% but no rain all day) and the temperature was 95 degrees. The walkway was lit by paper lanterns with all sorts of different kanji and hiragana written on them. And occasionally katakana and the English alphabet would appear. I could read some of it but I couldn't understand it.

Hotel Nikko was very very pretty. I was definitely not staying at a motel 6 (and for how much I was paying, it's a good thing it was that nice). I have pictures that I hope to upload soon, but the trouble is that I forgot to bring a few computer cords. One of those cords is the cord that connects the camera to the computer, so I have many lovely photos of the hotel (yes, I acted like a complete tourist and stopped every two seconds to get photos) but I have no way to get them onto the computers in Seminar House 4 (where I am currently staying). So until that cord is shipped to me by my beloved parents-to-whom-I-owe-everything... Perhaps the computer lab at the university will have a port for me to connect the memory card to the computer. I really hope so.

After getting my room and dumping as much as I could into it, I (even though I was running on almost two days worth of no sleep) decided that I was a little hungry and should go with Tori and Tomo to go eat. And Tomo was an absolute sweetheart and bought Tori and I both something to eat. (ありがとうございます とも!!) My very first meal in Japan was tempura and rice. I also had a glass of very cold water and it made me feel much better. My meal was more like half a meal compared to the soba set that Tori and Tomo both ate, but it was more than enough food. And I will definitely have to eat tempura again--it was very very good.

After all that, I returned to my room and went to bed thirty minutes later. I barely remember my head hitting the pillow. And, having calculated the time difference and everything, it's no wonder why I fell asleep so quickly... I had been awake for 48 hours straight (I didn't know that was humanly possible, but I do know I never want to do it again).

I woke up at 6:50 this morning to a single beam of light coming through my window (I hadn't closed it as well as I thought I had when I went to bed) and because I was already awake, I chose to go ahead and get up (better to get my system on the local time than to sleep too late, besides, I can sleep after I write this). It feels weird to say that it is Monday (still feels like Sunday to me) but it is indeed and I'd better get used to it. Tori and I checked out of the hotel and for breakfast I found a vending machine (you can't walk one block and not find a vending machine in Japan) and Tori and I both bought a soft drink.

A can of coke in Japan costs 150 yen (a little over a dollar in USD) from a machine (but at the 99 yen store you can get a little more drink for a lot less yen) and is definitely an aluminum can, but instead of a tab top, it has a bottle top (which of course I thought was the coolest thing ever and took a picture to show everyone as soon as I can transfer the photos to the computer) and it definitely says on the side ko-ka-ko-ra. And Hiroko was right--coke does taste different in Japan. It has less sugar and is slightly less carbonated (meaning that it isn't as sweet and tastes a little flat). But it was a coke nonetheless and I was very very glad to have it. And in Japan, I have seen only three American labels of cola. Coke, Sprite, and Pepsi. I'll be drinking Coke.

After check-out, it was back to the airport where we were to meet the bus taking us to KGU. We had to wait an hour and a half for the bus to leave, so Tori and I went to look at the Hello Kitty phone decorations. I felt like a little kid again, looking at all the Hello Kitty stuffs (when I was very little, the Sanrio store in the mall was my favorite place to shop). But Hello Kitty wasn't the only famous person there--Snoopy was there too, dressed in kimono or his famous pilot's jacket, all for decoration on your phone.

Finally the bus took us into Osaka, which, by the way, is at least 10 times bigger than Memphis, the largest city I've ever been in (that I can remember). The bridge we crossed was very long and I wondered how it was supported. I suppose it's best not to ask those questions when you're driving over it. Anyway, to get through Osaka, we drove on what I can only assume is the Japanese equivalent to the interstate. It was a toll road with approximately three lanes on either side. It is also built at least two stories above ground so that when you look out, most of what you see is roof-tops and the sides of buildings, but no streets, cars, or people. Osaka is definitely the industrial center of Japan. We drove by office buildings and industrial buildings, and warehouses, but very few homes. I saw every brand name, American, European, Chinese, and Japanese. You name it, they had at least one building dedicated to it with a big neon sign telling you what it was in kanji, kana, and English (the more prosperous of businesses had more than one big neon sign--one for every side of the building). The most amusing to me was a large clump of buildings called "Jaguar Town." You guess what's inside.

Another thing I noticed while driving on that... well, for lack of a better word, interstate... was that in Osaka, people must like to play golf because there were at least five places dedicated to the sport visible from the road. But the thing about Osaka is that everything is packed in as tightly as is possible. So, how then, you might ask, do you have a golf course? Well... They fence the things in with huge nets. There is no outside "rough" to a Japanese golf course (that I could see), and instead they have these huge bright green nets that keep a wayward golf ball from careening into the house next door. Completely practical but utterly strange-looking. Now maybe you're interested in just improving your driving and not playing a full-blown game. In that case, head over to the driving range, tightly enclosed by those same tall green nets and built on top of what looks to be a small pond (and probably was naturally there). Floating squares house the hole that you're aiming for, and wayward golf balls land in the water, presumably to be somehow retrieved after closing time. I wanted to take pictures of this because I found it to be so strange, but the bus was moving and I hate the glare that a window leaves on a photo, so I decided that I'd have to make a special trip sometime. Maybe my host otou-san will like to play golf and will gladly take me to one.

Finally we got off the "interstate" and had to drive a little further to reach Hirakata-shi where I am currently residing. This is the point where I finally got to see what Japanese streets look like. First off, they drive on the opposite side of the road. Second, their streets have the same basic laws as ours (stop at a stop sign or a red light, etc) but their streets are incredibly narrow. Each lane is maybe half a foot wider than the average car. Maybe. Next, their stop lights don't hang vertically like ours, instead they go horizontally across the section, with red to the right and green to the left. And everywhere are flags like the ones you see outside car dealerships in the US, telling you about the stores they represent. And, most importantly of all, gasoline in Japan is very misleading because the sign says 140 yen which sounds really good to the American ear (considering our 3 dollar a gallon this summer) except when you actually READ the sign and realize that it's 140 per liter, not per gallon. In fact, everything is in the metric system after you leave the KIX island. Which doesn't help when you have no reference for about how much is a liter and about how much is a meter or a kilometer. Thankfully, though, I have a workable reference in my mind for degrees Celsius.

We arrived at Seminar House 4 (so I didn't have to switch busses to ride to a different house--I consider myself very lucky) and I was promptly taken to my room, which I am to share with two other people until I move into the home-stay program either the 1st or the 2nd (but probably the 2nd if I had to guess). The room has tatami mats for floors and futons for beds. I occupy a very small corner of the room for now and am living out of my luggage. I don't intend to unpack anything.

Next was a campus and nearby area tour. It's a good 10 minute walk from SH4 to KGU, and it doesn't help that it's hot and humid outside again. Not quite as bad as 105 in AR, but not exactly pleasant either. They showed us the CIE building (where the on-campus computer lab and most of our classes will be) and the cafeteria/student union were. The student union had a McDonalds (マクド-Makudo) so if I get homesick I can order a big mac there and take comfort in the fact that it will be almost just like the big mac at home. It also has a convenience store (コンビキ-Konbini) on the second level. But for today, I ate in the cafeteria. I'm not sure what they called what I ate but it was basically chicken with a bowl of rice and something that looked a salad made of a miniature version of lettuce, with a dressing that was similar but not the same as ranch. Well, what I mean is they called it a "クラブ ランチ" (club lunch) but that still doesn't tell me what it was that I ate. Not that I'm complaining because it was fairly good. Different, but good.

Afterwards was a walk to the 99 yen store. Along the way were many different shops, such as a 7 eleven. One thing I and a few other people noticed was that at another konbini, directly under the title it read (in kana) トバコ(tobacco) and (in kanji) sake. Which, as we all know, could never happen in the United States because of our laws, and so I was greatly amused. This also means I now know the kanji for sake, which again amuses me. But that's only because I'm easily amused.

I bought dinner and breakfast at the 99 yen konbini because they do not feed you at the seminar houses and the cafeterias at KGU are closed (plus it's still a 10 minute walk away). Then began the long walk back to SH4. Which was long, hot, and a little uncomfortable, and here's why: remember what I said about narrow streets? Well, if there is a sidewalk, it's a good yard wide but made entirely of asphalt, which doesn't help in the heat. If there's not a sidewalk, you have a foot or less shoulder to walk on. So that means a foot or less plus the half a foot provided by the street for you to walk on. Meaning that if a car passes you, it's RIGHT there, instead of a mile away like in the US. It made me realize how much I took those wide streets and sidewalks at home for granted. It also might take a while for me to get used to Japanese streets.

Anyway, I am now safely back in the dorm, reflecting upon my past three days and thinking that I should seriously consider investing in a bicycle while I'm over here. Depending on where my host family lives, I just might. I'm going to spend the rest of the evening brushing up on my Japanese skills because I've unfortunately lost half my vocabulary and sentence patterns over the summer due to lack of use and have since then had a little trouble understanding what is being said to me. I will say, however, that I've made a significant improvement on my comprehension today from last night. I can now understand the total amount and the change when it is said to me (as opposed to last night when anything Japanese just sounded like noise rather than actual words). I am also resolved to spend the rest of the night in the air-conditioning.

Goodnight everyone!