It feels a bit surreal to say the least… Two years of planning have allowed me to finally end up in Japan. Though I realize I should have updated this blog at least a week ago. But with the amount of running around I've done, It would have been impossible. I just haven't had time. Perhaps, I’ll try a vlog…?
To begin, my flight into Japan was in total about 19 hours long. I had a 12-hour flight from LAX to Incheron International Airport in Seoul, Korea. In Seoul, I had a 4-hour layover. And then from Seoul, I had a 2-hour flight into Kansai International Airport.
The beginning of my trip began at 12:10 AM from the Bradley Terminal at LAX. I had spent a wonderful day of errands with my mother and packing with Ines. It was a bit tiring but fun. It made me realize I probably should have started packing sooner than a week before my flight. But considering it was my last day in the states for four months, I enjoyed spending time with my mother and Ines.
A few hours before my flight took off my mom and dad, took me to dinner at the Charthouse in Malibu. It was a wonderful food, though the service a bit slow. However service aside, it was amazing. The entire experience was awesome considering was about the last few hours I spent with my parents.
And it was as I was heading into security, that it finally really hit me.
I was going to Japan. Freaking JAPAN. SWEEET.
Though I was excited, I was a bit miserable. I was leaving the comfort of my home where I was positive everyone could understand me. I would miss my friends and I couldn’t just come home if I was homesick.
Things, I felt, just kept getting worse after that. The 12-hour flight from LAX to Incheron was pretty tough. I think the seats from the window to the aisle got smaller as they continued. It was impossible to fit my backpack under the seat in front of me. I’m pretty positive that my in-flight dinner potatoes were pink, which I don’t think is possible. And, the guy in front of me hit me the head as he pushed his seat back. Overall, it wasn’t a fun way to start a supposedly amazing trip.
Landing in Seoul, I couldn't do much. Because my flight came in at around 5:30A.M, none of the stores were open. However, it was at this point that I realized my computer's battery was dying. I hadn't thought much about it while in the states but while it’s true that Japan has the same voltage as the US. They do NOT have 3-pronged outlets.
Crap.
I did my best to conserve energy [kept my laptop on sleep mode for awhile] but I wanted to let my parent's know I was alive and safe. By the time I had managed to finish all my computer business, I had about an hour of battery for my computer when I boarded the plane. Which meant when I got to Japan I had to find a 3-pronged power adapter and fast.
The flight to Japan was short. But I was really excited when I landed. I could see parts of Japan from the plane and I really w It took only about 2 hours and by the time I finally got there I was ready to go to sleep. Unfortunately, I had to deal with customs. Customs probably took about an hour, but it felt like fooorrreeever~. It was hot and my shoulder bag felt a bit like an anvil on my shoulder. The length in which I waited in line worried me. Plus, I couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to meet the KGU student. But by the time I managed to finally get through all the paperwork and my passport stamped, I was worried that I may have been left behind.
I've over-packed, I've decided. My suitcases, plus my travel bag, and backpack must have weighed the equivalent of myself. I was ready to fall over when I managed to get all my bags.
But I digress... Upon arriving in the lobby of Kansai International Airport the person who was suppose to have a sign with "KGU" was no where in sight. Mildly freaking out, I traversed the lobby hoping to find someone with the description of a KGU student. However, this proved harder than I thought.
I tried to remain calm as I searched the lobby. With no luck of finding said student within the 10 minutes that I was wandering; I was pretty certain that they had left without me.
And then… I was found.
It was quite possibly the happiest moment of my life. Relieved, I obediently followed him to the meeting point. Here I met a couple of my fellow students: Richard, Esuel, Narue, and David [who goes to school with me back in the states].
I’m not going to bore you with all the details of the beginning of this trip. Just know that we talked, we chatted, we learned a little about each other, and we got our first experience of attempting to by a bus ticket [more about ticket buying to come].
The trip from Kansai International Airport to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi station was pretty far but an interesting drive. It gave us a bit of a perspective of what Japan felt and looked like.
Though a bit of a far drive, this gave me time to think about how to introduce myself to my host family.
I had left the states pretty confident in my Japanese. But as more time on the flight as well as the drive had passed, the more my confidence began to wane. I was a nervous and scared.
What if my host family didn’t like me?
What if they knew absolutely no English at all?
These questions ran through my head over and over. It was aggravating and distressing. I had wanted to be excited about meeting my family not scared and nervous.
Then the final bus stop came into view.
With the drive completed, we stepped off the bus. Looking widely around the station, I hoped I could spot my host family. To which I now realize, I had no idea what they looked like.
Here we were greeted by another KGU representative, who then told me my host family had yet to arrive. As my fellow students gathered their bags and left, I asked her if she could point me in the direction of the nearest restroom.
Now, before I move on to the next section of this blog. I have to explain that there are in fact two types of toilets in Japan.
There are bidets and super high tech insanely electronic toilets. Bidets in Japan, for those who don’t know, are known as squat toilets. The title of them is pretty self-explanatory. I wont go into the details. The other toilets are high tech electronic toilets. With westernization in Japan, western toilets are more frequently found in Japan but have other addition such as the water shooting upwards to cleanse areas and heated toilet seats.
In a nutshell, Japanese toilets scare me.
I hurried back to the meeting spot and it was here that I met my host father.
Matsumoto Toru [as it’s said in Japanese, family name comes first followed by the given name] was already putting my oversized suitcases into his small white car.
Nervous but excited, I walked over to him to make a good impression. The words “はじめまして！私の名前はレチャエル”[ I am pleased to meet you. My name is Rachel] should have come out of my mouth but instead a jumbled mess of Japanese came out instead.
Embarrassed, I stood awkwardly to the side as Toru-san laughed at me. With my bags safely in the car, I said good-bye to the representative from KGU and attempted to get into the car.
….Blushing, I rushed to the other side of the car that didn’t have the steering wheel.
Right…Japanese cars are opposite of ours. [Plus, they have working televisions in the dashboards.]
The beginning of the car ride was a bit awkward to say the least. Here, I was so confident in the beginning of this trip and now I can’t think of a single word to say.
“レチャエルさん、どこからきました？“ [Rachel, where did you come from?] Toru-san had asked me. I quickly ran through my vocabulary that I remembered and attempted to answer.
Which failed. I managed to get my answer across but I’m pretty sure along the way I managed to screw something up.
Toru-san replied nonetheless. “Ah, I see. I used to live in Modesto.”
There was a moment of silence and I think a blood vessel popped into my brain. “Ehhhh?! English?!” I was mentally screaming.
Prior to my trip to Japan, I had a sent a letter to the Matsumoto’s, my host family. In it I had distinctly asked if anyone could speak English. While their response letter hadn’t said that they didn’t speak English, some of the sentences had suggested that they wanted me to teach them English. Therefore I had assumed that they didn’t speak English at all.
The trip after that was pretty pleasant. We chatted about football [As Toru-san is a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys], my university back in California, Japan, and the Matsumoto family.
It was along the way that we picked up 6 year old Yui and 10 year old May, the Matsumoto daughters. [More on them to come later].
The Matsumoto’s live in a high-rise apartment structure in the city of Takarzuka of Osaka, Japan. The apartment is a nice quaint apartment building that has about two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a traditional Japanese bathroom and a tatami room. In the middle of the living room was a table situated on the floor: A kotatsu table!
Def. Kotatsu Table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu
It is quite possibly the greatest invention ever. I highly recommend buying one if given the option.
My night wasn’t over though. A few hours later [after carrying my seriously over-packed suitcases up a few stairs and an elevator], I met Asuka-san, my host mother. It was around this time that we decided to go the supermarket. Tired but excited, I decided to tag along.
Japanese supermarkets are freaking awesome. It was a 3-story supermarket, which not only had a supermarket on the bottom floor but a clothing story on the second and an electronic store on the third. So, in that case I’m not really sure what to call it.
Our trip to the market was pretty uneventful. While I was excited, I was super tired. Therefore, I was on autopilot mode.
I have no idea where the girls got there energy. May and Yui ran around the market searching for things that they liked. And although I felt a bit out of place, considering I was being started at both subtly and not-so subtly, it was interesting to see the various things that people bought. I’m not quite sure what kind of fish Asuka-san picked but it was pretty tasty as discovered later that night at dinner.
And… that was pretty much my first day in Japan. Though I had dinner, I wasn’t feeling to well. Making sure I apologized, I returned to my room and with help from May and Yui pulled my futon from the closet and was asleep the second my head it the pillow.
For the record: This Blog post should have been posted on the 27th of March. I'm a bit late. Sorry.
Rara
