東京！

Wow, guys! I’m here. Can’t say it feels too real yet. Almost, but at the moment, it feels more as though I’m just in a big city in the US that they just designed to look Japanese.

I was going to make a special post on my Chicago trip, but with the way things have happened, that idea kind of flew right out of the window. Well, suffice it to say that Chicago was a blast. I got to see an old friend of mine and spend a few days with my aunt, eating the foods that I have no doubt I will be hard-pressed to find abroad.

I found the BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT EVER. Thank you, internet reviews. What a wonderful little hole in the wall.

An enchilada plate. Only plain old enchiladas. My! It was delicious. I was sad when I couldn’t finish it all, but it was huge. They also had the best horchata that I’ve ever had. Well, everything there was the best I’d ever had, really. I wonder how the queso dip was… We forgot [or didn’t want, whichever] to order some.

All. Li. Gaa. Torrrrr.

We also went to the Shedd Aquarium, which would have been a blast had it not been wall-to-wall full of people. But, overhearing someone’s conversation, it was the first weekend of Spring Break, so of course the place was jam-packed.

We went through the Jellies exhibit. I love jellyfish~.

I woke up at 03:00 in the morning on Sunday to get my boarding pass so I could get on the plane on time. When we got to the airport, it turned out that the place where you get tickets didn’t even open until 05:30, of course. So it turned out that I could have slept for another hour or so, but alas, it was not to be. I met a really nice lady during that point, though. We didn’t decide to keep in touch, but it was nice to just have someone going the same way for a little while with whom I could speak to. My plane left at 07:00 Central Time, and I landed in Toronto at about 09:30 Eastern Time. I had forgotten Toronto was in a different time zone, so I had assumed I would have time to watch a movie [Oh my God, guys. TVs on the back on every seat. My mind was boggled.], and I decided to watch the Iron Lady, Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher. Of course I only got to finish about half of it because there wasn’t enough time to watch it, because yours truly is a numbskull and forgot time zones existed. What I did see was interesting, at least, and I liked it up to the point I saw.

After we landed, I had to swing through the customs for connecting international flights. I said my good-byes to the kind lady I had met and wished her well on her trip, then went on my own way. There was a five-hour layover in which time I could have gotten food, but my numbskullery showed itself again, and I got lost in a conversation with a friend of mine over Skype and completely forgot to eat. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing, because the plane attendants made absolutely sure that we were not even close to hungry the entire time of the trip, and it would have been too much had I eaten before. The news in Canada is apparently both in English and French. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised, but my mind was blown anyway. I think, if I learned anything from the trip, I learned that I seem to be really easy to impress.

The trip from Toronto to Tokyo was absurdly long. I may have just been tired of travelling, though. The first six hours of it were easy; I met a university professor from University of Toronto, and we got into conversations about things like healthcare, feminism, and politics, as well as lighter things like silly stories about families and dream goals in life. She was easy to speak to, and we plan on keeping in touch, but after so long, even with the most pleasant company in the world, any trip can become tedious. Oh my gosh, though, flying over the arctic was amazing. It was like the Discovery Channel was playing in the window, only without the narrator to explain what’s going on during this time of year. The tundra is beautiful. I can’t say I would ever want to be on ground level in it, but from the air, it was wonderful to look at.

After a while, the attendants wanted us to close our windows, so I was left to myself and my company to provide entertainment, but I slept off and on [I was absolutely exhausted], spoke with my new friend, played a little Lost in Blue 2, watched a Charlie Chaplin film [the TVs on the seats kept me ridiculously impressed], and did the best I could to keep myself entertained. At about 16:00 Japan time, my friend and I started opening the window again, and we could start seeing the outlines of cities and rivers and, most impressively, mountains. I must say, I think the mountains impressed me a bit more than the Arctic.

I forgot to take a picture of the aforementioned mountains, but regardless, the view was lovely.

We landed at about 16:30, which was roughly a half-hour late. I said my goodbyes and tried to run through customs. The line to get through immigration was absurdly long, and they were just in the process of opening a new line. Fortunately, I got to go into this new line, but it still took about 10 minutes to get through. From there, it was baggage claims, where I waited for another 15 minutes, because my plane had been huge and absolutely packed full of people. Customs was the easy part. There was no line, and the only thing the security guard asked was how long I was staying. By the time I got out of all of that and into the main area of the airport, it was 17:15, and I had missed my pickup.

I must act far too calmly in most situations, because I stood there for about thirty minutes, looking around absentmindedly, and no one noticed my being lost. The only reason I figured out what it was I was supposed to do was because I ran into another girl going to the same place. She was on the verge of a panic attack because we had no pickup [I was just resigning myself to live in the airport until August], and had attracted someone’s attention. The woman helping us was extremely kind, and when I gave her the phone number for the International Department at Oberlin, she called to ask what we were supposed to do. After thanking her, we went to ForEx to get our money exchanged.

Look at that. I’m rich. Sort of. Uhm…

Well, in all actualities, there's about  US $10 in coins in that little bag.
I'm not used to change carrying so much weight in money!

Coin purse is ugly, don't look at it too hard. I just needed something really quickly, because I was about to have change dropping out of my pockets because my wallet just wouldn't hold any more.

After that, we went on ahead and went to the hotel that the school provided to us, and so I went, dropped my things off in my room, and then got dinner with my new friend; I was too tired, though, so I only ate a little. Then I went back to my room, took a shower, and went to bed. It was only 20:30. 

For those of you travelling to Japan from a more western country, planning on using the same mobile when you arrive [even if it's for just a moment before you get a new one], stop planning. It won't work--they changed the frequency of the Japanese mobile towers or something, rendering mine [and every other person I've met originally from a great distance] essentially no more than a glorified alarm clock. I think my Korean friend's mobile still works, but I'm not sure.

Orientation began after breakfast. I ate with my new friend and a couple of people from my school, as well as a Japanese volunteer student. My friend who I was going to meet up with the day before finally found me that morning, while I was sitting in the lobby to get internet to tell people that I was okay. After he ate, we checked out of the hotel and got on the bus that would take us to Fuchinobe and to the international house. It was about two hours away, a little better. 

A view from the bus. The cars driving UK style is still weirding me out. It has been several days and I still think I'm about to get run over at every turn.

My friend and I made a few new aquaintences and friends, and we all have since been working on orientations ever since.

Buuut. This entry carries me to Wednesday, which was where I was supposed to be.

Suffice it to say, I've been having a blast, and I already know now that I won't want to come home when the time comes. I'll have to, though. You'll find about what's going on now next week. 

'Til then, loves.

-RD