First Days

My sentiments leading up to the night before my departure for Japan were very clear...I was nervous! However, after spending two days packing, printing off page after page of pertinent information for my trip to ensure that I would not get lost, making multiple runs to the store which included a last minute trip to Barnes & Noble when I realized that I didn't have a Japanese/English dictionary, and spending as much time with friends as possible, that nervousness quickly turned into excitement!

My last night at home couldn't have been more perfect. My mom cooked my favorite meal (enchiladas, and boy do I wish I had some right now), her friend baked me her famous and delicious Blueberry pie (the last piece of which is known to cause vicious fights in my household), all of which I was able to enjoy in the company of my mom, sister, cousin, and two close friends; a mini-going away party indeed.

However, after the night died down, the dishes were washed and put away, goodbyes were said, my friends returned home, and my baby sister had gone to bed, it was just me, my mom, and her friend, B. It was nice to talk with just the girls about being a woman in a foreign country and all of the precautionary steps to take. I went to bed feeling confident and excited. However, I was still nervous about just one thing...how I would manage getting from Narita airport to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel where I would spend one night.

The plane ride over was not as gruesome as I had expected. I stopped in LAX (Los Angeles) for about an hour. I sat waiting for the plane to Tokyo, marvelling at all of the Japanese people, trying to eavesdrop on every conversation going on in Japanese to see how much I could understand. I was intrigued by a group of young Japanese teenagers, their dress, and their demeanor.

Once on the plane, we were served meal after meal. I suppose they were trying to occupy us for our 10 hour flight by putting food in front of our faces every hour. I slept/ate for 5 hours and spent the last 5 hours watching TV and movies which included Number 23, Breach, and The Office (hilarious show!). Before I knew it, the deep blue sea below us turned into the beautifully manicured and lush green farms of Narita.

I was shocked not only by how neat the fields were below, but even how perfectly the wild trees grew in a seemingly delicately and precisely bunched manner, with not even one pine needle out of place.

Passing through customs was perhaps the most painless experience of my life. Everyone was very relaxed and helpful. I was amazed at how much humans can communicate non-verbally as a Japanese worker directed me through the currency exchange process. As I was waiting for the bus from Narita Airport to Shinagawa Prince Hotel to arrive, all I thought about was how easy it was to travel in this foreign country. Even easier than some American airports (not to name names but Philadelphia airport might be the most poorly designed airport in the world).

When I arrived at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, I was impressed by the luxurious decor of the lobby. My room in the East Tower building was slightly less impressive and smaller than expected. However, I had the perfect amount of space, all essential accommodations, and even a cool toilet which had about 3 different functions.

The next day was very fast paced and a lot of information was thrown at us. We met in the lobby at 10am with Morita-san and Nagasawa-san (two of our young, female sensee-professors). We headed over to our residence for the summer, Imperial Minami-Azabu. The accommodations here are about the same size of a single dorm room at Yale but with all of the appliances, shelving, cooking utensils, and cleaning products provided.

After putting our luggage in our room, we headed to our classroom in Akasaka. The placement test was pretty difficult. Being jet lagged made it even more challenging to focus for all two hours of it. However, afterwards, we had an opening party with some Japanese students our age.

We were all paired with one of the Japanese students they refer to as "Buddies". My buddy is named Kaori. She is 23 and lives about 2 hours from Tokyo. She is a graduate law student and plans on pursuing a career as a Public Defender. I was nervous about conversing with her at first, but quickly opened up. I told her about my friends from home and Yale, my roommate Julie, and about my new house in Vegas. She looked at pictures on my camera and thought I had amazing friends.

We talked all day as we walked around Akasaka and then journeyed back to my room in Hiro-o. Kaori even offered to take me to Shinjuku where I could buy a power outlet adaptor for my computer. Jason came with us and we talked all night in Japanese. Shinjuku was amazing; just as bright as Las Vegas but without all of the crazy, plagiarized architecture.

Just like at Yale, we have homework before the first day of class. Some things never change...