The airplane flight went very well. Our layover was very short and the flight only was 12 hours instead of 13 (we got clearance to fly over Russia at the last minute, which shortens the flight). The plane was kind of ghetto because it was American instead of foreign built but it was ok. I had a hard time falling asleep though because the seats were so close together and I was next to this Vietnamese guy who was kind of big and felt the need to spread himself out all over his seat and my seat. It was the biggest international plane I've ever flown on though. It had two floors.
Emily got in 2 hours later on Singapore Air out of California so we waited around in the airport for that time. It was pretty fun because we got to see all of the strange Japanese fashions. They really like the cowboy boot, high heels with knee high socks, shirt-dress, tight jeans, etc. We stayed the night in Narita, a city just outside of Tokyo. The airport is actually in Narita and not Tokyo. I was happy that I am already using my Japanese and a lot of it is coming back to me. I used it at customs, to exchange money, and just regular use with luggage people, waitresses, etc.
We could not really see anything last night because it was dark but we ate dinner when we got to the hotel around 7:00pm. It was very good. This morning we got up at 7:00 to get on the 7:40 shuttle from our hotel to the train station. We all took showers last night so we were ready to go. The bathrooms here are hilarious. The ones in the airport had 3 different kinds of toilet in each stall. They're like space toilets and when you sit on them they make noises. The Japanese think it is really rude to hear people's bathroom noises so the toilets make noises to mask the other ones.
On the way to the station we drove through Narita city. There are lots of bamboo forests there which are very beautiful. We saw a lot of little kids in their school uniforms and hats waiting for the buses. All the kids have to wear uniforms here. The girls also wear a straw wide brimmed hat and the boys a hat that looks like an airplane pilots. They are so cute.
We got to the eki (train station) and we took the Narita Express to Tokyo. We got our tickets but we only had 5 minutes to get from the ticket counter to the platform. Eki in Japan are like three or four levels of underground platforms so we had to run down 3 huge escalators, literally sprint down the platform, and jump on the train right before the doors shut. It was really intense and we were all sweating a lot bc we had carried all of our luggage. But the cool thing is that we figured out the eki even though everything was in Nihongo. The trains here are super super nice. They put amtrack to shame. They are very modern, clean, eco-friendly, and small, not like the huge trains we have the US. Japan is also not nearly as crowded as you would think. It isn't like China or India and people are very respectful of space. Politeness is paramount here.
The Narita Express took us in to Tokyo where we got off at Tokyo eki. Here we bought tickets for the Shinkansen (bullet train). Totemo takai desita. They were much more expensive than we thought ($200.00 [20,000 yen] instead of the $72.50 we had been told) There went all of my cash. We almost missed the shinkansen too because we did not have much time between trains. We did not have to run though, just powerwalk, and we made it on in time. The Shinkansen was really nice. It had food carts and vending machines and everything but I did not buy anything. It was like the Hogwarts Express except in Nihon. It goes REALLY fast. We made 2 brief stops at Kyoto Eki to Osaka Eki.
We arrived in Yamaguchi Eki a little past two; everything here is exactly on time. Yamaguchi means "mouth of the mountain" so you can imagine that it is a really mountainous area. It is very beautiful because here in Japan the geography is much different. The land does not gradually rise into mountains. It is completely flat and then these huge mountain just rise straight up out of it. Yamaguchi is completely surrounded by them and you can see them wherever you look. There are also bamboo forests everywhere, which are very beautiful and far different from our types of forests. I will post pictures as soon as I am able. Everything is very eco-friendly here. The trains are all underground or in the air on these super modern really nice wires that are powered by electrical currents so it looks like lightening going over the train. Everything is is REALLY CLEAN and modern looking. The roads are in perfect condition and everyone drives new cars or cars that look like new. Another interesting thing is that they do not build along the rivers so it is just flat land and then a direct drop into the river. Very pretty. The rice paddies are also beautiful and they are everywhere! We also went straight by the ocean on our way here. There are these mountains all along the coast that just drop into the ocean and you can see all the little fishing boats in the harbors. Yamaguchi is a very beautiful area.
When we got into the Eki we met up with the Canadian students. They are from Bishop's College. There are two girls, Bridget and Dominique, and two guys, Marc-Andre and Elliot. Marc-Andre, Elliott, and Dominique are both French Canadian so English is their second language and Japanese their third. They speak Japanese with a French accent which is kind of funny. They are all really nice and we all got along great. We met up with two Japanese students from Yamaguchi. The one girl was named Rie and I can't remember the other's name. We also met up with the International Studies Professor (Marilyn Higgins) who is American and who came to pick us up from the Eki. We took the Yamaguchi University bus, which is like a for real tour bus that belongs to the college, to the hotel. We each have our own rooms and they are very nice. We walked around Yamaguchi with Rie and she took us to the ATM, to a lot of neat shops she knows of, and to dinner at an Italian restaurant she really likes. We wanted Japanese but she said this place was good because they let you sit and talk for however long you want.
After that we went back to the hotel because we are all still kind of jetlagged. Rie had bought us a gift while we were out. It is a Japanese sweet made out of red bean paste and it was very good. We took pictures of everything like silly gaizjin and I will send them to you as soon as I can. We are having so much fun. I love Japan so much already and I am really excited to meet my family tomorrow. Everyone has told me how awesome they are and how good they are at cutting hair. All the schoolkids here ride bikes so that should be an adventure as well. We have orientation at 9 tomorrow after breakfast. This morning I had rice, grilled salmon, miso soup, and hot green tea for breakfast. Ooiskatta nee. (It was very delicious) I keep waking up at 5am feeling ready to go but then I have to make myself go back to bed for a couple more hours. it's the jetlag that makes you get up early. I also keep going to bed at 8. (Dad would be proud) After orientation tomorrow (where we get our Japanese cell phone and our class schedules), we meet our host families and receive our bicycles. Then we move in. We're all really excited.
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