Stuffed myself at breakfast this time as yesterday I got hungry so early! The yogurt with strawberry jam was super delish. I ate with some new folks from Boston and New Zealand this time. The day continued with many more workshops. This time, lunch was curry. This was a sweet version of what I had in the city the other day. I can definitely say I prefer the spicy over the sweet! At the end of the day, we finally had a prefecture meeting to get some more information. I was anxious about all the emails they had kept sending me and wanted some clarity. Apparently, at this stage they wanted us to drop off our big bags to get loaded on the bus that evening! A lot of us couldn’t do it. If I had known, I would have taken a smaller backpack as well for this part. My laptop, toiletries and clothes wouldn’t just fit in my purse. Gunma folks were told it was okay. We would have 30 people on the bus so they were trying to save space.

Our bus would leave at 9 am the next morning and drive us all to the capital city, Maebashi. I also learned that for us Senior High School ALTs we could practice our introduction speech on the bus, whew. That has to be completely in Japanese, eek! With zero Japanese knowledge, I definitely wanted to write that down. That evening I went to a US embassy meeting held at the hotel. Three people from the embassy attended including one guy who used for be a JET before joining the state department. He was interesting to listen to. Started pondering future career tracks again, ha.

Afterward, I met up with a large chunk of the Nashville group, thirteen of us, to go search for some dinner. One thing I had quickly realized from my first excursion out, Japanese restaurants are small! We’d never all fit. But we headed off into Shinjuku anyway. As we stood in the middle of street discussing our options, a Japanese man stopped to ask if he could help us in English. Bam, my first experience with the extreme kindness of these people. He then told his wife to come on, turned around and went back the direction he came from with our whole gang trailing him. He led us to a nice restaurant, but they could only seat six of us. Our group divided in two with one cell phone carrier in each group.

Night view of Tokyo

Our smaller group of seven went back around the corner to a gyudon (beef bowl) shop. We sent B inside to ask if there was enough space as he had a good chunk more Japanese ability and confidence. We managed to all fit upstairs after some customers left, taking up all the spaces, but four where a French family sat. It was rather nice to be able to eavesdrop and understand a conversation ha. L2 helped me order and understand what everything was, basically pointing and saying please. The food was yummy and cheap again, $4. Afterward, we walked back through Shinjuku, stopping at an arcade. I found a gatsupon (turn the handle and get a surprise) that had Natsume-sensei! What cost me $8-10 at conventions was $2 in Japan. Sigh, shipping mark ups. The inside of the arcade was filled with different types from of games from the claw machines featuring super cute stuffed animals and anime figurines. There was also some type of music note game, and tapping game where two pros hit so quickly their arms were a blur. They were even wearing gloves! I also watching a guy play a taiko game where he brought in his own drumsticks. He was getting perfect scores as well, such talent.

Then we stopped at 7-11 for some drinks and ice cream and wandered back towards the hotel. I really wanted to go up in the Tokyo government building that lay across the street from our hotel. We ambled around a bit, ended up going in a circle to find the tucked away entrance. The building had a very impressive plaza. We went through a small security check and rode the elevator up to about the 40^th floor. There was a souvenir shop and a restaurant, as well as an almost 360 glass window view. You could see all the sparkling lights of Tokyo. It’s so huge! We ended up outside the hotel convenience store after that. This was our last night together so we chatted a bit before I gave my goodbye hugs.

I didn’t have to worry about waking up on time. I woke up once in the night to pee, but otherwise slept fantastically till 6 am. I ate breakfast with one of my roommates that awoke at the same time. Our stomachs were growling. Jet lag wreaking havoc on appetite. It was very busy, apparently all the JETs woke up early with jet lag. The display of food was fantastic. Buffet style breakfast with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, potatoes, yogurt, cereal, salad, various fruit, breads and jam, and juices.

The day began with several speeches by important ministries in the Japanese government dealing with education. Our host was a German CIR! Then a long day of workshops punctuated by a pasta lunch commenced. I managed to find Nashville people around everywhere. For a small consulate, we sure were magnetically attracted. Also met plenty of new people from other consulates around the world (Canada, UK, and New Zealand). Dinner was served in a prefecture groups. We had a kanpai, but the only thing to toast with was beer, yuck. Had to take a tiny sip. Another amazing spread. Beautiful little cakes. I actually started with dessert, plus the lines were shorter! I met another ALT going to my city, K! He’s teaching at the all-boys school and I have the all-girls. I had made plans for after dinner, but instead I just went back to my room to sleep. Around 4 pm, the jet lag really started making itself known. I collapsed into bed at about 9 pm.

Hotel room view

We arrived! Japan! Ahhhhh! I was pretty hopped up and excited at this point but also still super tired.
It was something like 3 am at home. I plastered my special JET identifying sticker on my shirt and we joined the mass exodus of JETs from the plane and wham the heat hit us. The air conditioning barely made a dent. I stopped to help some people fill out their customs forms correctly (those who didn’t read the instructions…) as I was one of the few with a pen. We joined our special JET immigration line. No problems for me, had my fingerprints stored, photo taken, and they printed my residence card and attached some paperwork to the visa in my passport. I headed off to baggage claim where they had already pulled off our luggage. Stuck with a fellow Nashville JET and we watched each other’s suitcases while I made a bathroom break and switched to shorts. No more jeans from the plane for me. We ended up joining a couple other straggler JETs from Nashville and went to pass through customs. Quite easy. They ask if I had a yakken shomei or anything to declare, and then waved me on through. On the other side there were many green-shirted JET people guiding the way. We stopped to buy some drinks at a small store as the heat was really intense. We joined a huge winding line of JETs from all over the world waiting for the bus to the Keio Plaza Hotel. The line started inside the airport, and slowly winded outside, down an escalator, across some sidewalks, and into a parking lot.

Waiting outside was bad. I had my heavy pack on me and the heat felt like it was dragging me down. The humidity! It was insane. I finally made it to the luggage drop off point, and gave away my two large suitcases to be shipped to my school. My backpack went under the bus. Another couple Nashville JETs were also on the same bus. They passed out water, but as I was sitting in the back, the bottle ended up empty before it got to us. It was about a two hour bus trip from the airport to the hotel. We drove past Tokyo Disney which was awesome! The huge Disney castle, and amazing hotel could be seen from the interstate.  Also got to see the Tokyo Sky Tree; it was actually less large than what I was expecting haha.

First impressions: so hot and humid! The cars are a lot larger than what I was expecting too. A lot of box shaped cars and vans. 

By the time I arrived at the hotel in Shinjuku, it was about four and a half hours after our plane had landed. Bell boys unloaded our luggage from the bus and we had to follow more staff to a separate room for a brief hotel orientation and then to tables were we could pick up a bag full of information, name tags, and our room keys! The hotel had wifi in the lobby and rooms, whee~ I kept in touch via our Nashville group on Line and made some plans for dinner. I was sharing my room with two other girls from Nashville and was the last to arrive. One girl was on a pull out sofa, but we all fit. The view was amazing! You could see really far into Tokyo. Our group met for dinner and we headed out into the wilderness of Shinjuku.

We stopped by a 7-Eleven where I withdrew more cash, partly to test my card. No problems, thank goodness. We ended up in a little restaurant where you placed your order on an automat that even had English as an option. You even paid on it. I ended up with some cheap curry that came with miso soup for about $3. Free water, yes! We sat down on our little stools and the waiters came by to collect the sheets of paper from the machine. Food was served quickly and I hungrily devoured it. Quite a large portion too. I managed with chopsticks, nothing too complicated. Learned my first rule about eating soup. No using a spoon, just drink it from the bowl.

After dinner, we decided to walk the streets a bit and just absorb the atmosphere. We even stopped by another convenience store, Lawson. They’re everywhere! I also saw so many drink vending machines, they are literally on every corner. We decided to turn back, everyone was rather tired. Perfectly timed too, as it started to rain. Upon my return to the hotel, I crashed. A proper bedtime of about 10 pm.

We had two shuttles picking us up in the morning to drive us the short mile over to the airport. I drove with L’s dad again so I didn’t have to worry about leaving on their schedule. We were one of the first group there so I quickly popped into the check in kiosk line before things got too crazy. Delta was quite efficient in herding us around. I tested my luggage before getting into line. My bags were at 49 and 50 pounds! Damn, I’m an excellent packer. Sadly I had to leave two pairs of shoes behind, my Sperrys and my tennis shoes as well as several bits of clothing.

Check in went swiftly and I headed off with a fellow JET to kill almost three hours at our gate. I wanted to grab some breakfast and lunch items (a bagel and a banana). We only had a 45 min layover in Detroit during lunchtime so I didn’t want to be left hungry. Due to reduced space on the full flight, they were asking those with large carry-ons to gate check their baggage at no additional cost. I jumped at the chance because my pack was heavy and I really only need the things in my purse. The Dramamine knocked me out as usual so I managed to get about an hour of sleep on the short flight. Trying to gather up all the sleep I could!

In Detroit, our travel agent that had flown with us, led the way to the next gate. It was a long walk. We met up with the Detroit JETs there. Our gigantic, double decker airbus awaited us. We actually did have time to grab some McD’s from across the gate, but I just stood around with my fellow JETs and ate my bagel. Eventually we were all crammed into the plane. It was decently nice with individual usb chargers, a large selection of entertainment (all the Marvel movies but cap 2!) and wifi if you wanted to pay for it. The flight left after noon. We had to park on the side on the runway for some reason according to air traffic control although the runway was clear. We actually got much more food than I was expecting. Something at 2 pm? Only choice beef or chicken though. Should have registered as vegetarian. Then a bag with breakfast, Japan time? And then one more meal that felt more like breakfast (egg or chicken).

I was sitting next to one of my consulate JETs who woke me up every time for food. I wanted to sleep the first five or six hours of the flight to get on Japan time. It worked although it was more dozing and not very restful as per usual with planes. With the rest of my time I re-watched Iron Man 2 and Avengers 2, getting my Natasha fix, ha.

At some point we crossed the International Date Line and jumped into the future!

On Friday morning, my sister managed to pull herself out of bed at 6 am. I was going to carpool with another JET, L, from the same consulate who lived right across the border in Kentucky. We popped by Starbucks for a last taste of cheap American Starbucks coffee. It’s always so expensive aboard and I’m sure my smaller town won’t have one. The drive down to Nashville began at 7 am, as I said goodbye to my sister. My family had already departed earlier on vacation so we said our goodbyes almost two weeks ago.

It was a pleasant car ride down with interesting conversation. We arrived perfectly in time at Nashville where we stopped by Panera for lunch before heading to the consulate. From noon to 4 pm we had various workshops preparing ourselves for our departure. Everything was so laid out especially the travel arrangements. It was like travelling with a babysitter service again, ha. We even got forms telling us how to fill out the customs card. Those staying in the hotel had to lug their luggage up into the back of the room. I was lucky because L’s father was spending the night in the same hotel and could drive our directly there later. Thank goodness, because my stuff was heavy! Praying that it’ll be under the weight limit. I had two suitcases and my backpacking bag.

Our Nashville Consulate JET group

For dinner, we all piled on a bus and went to the Consul-General of Japan’s house. Stunning, absolutely stunning. It was huge, with high ceilings, and a pool in the backyard with a cascading fountain built in. We all shared a toast, kampai, after various speeches. Then dinner was served. Gorgeous dishes of traditional Japanese food; all quite delicious. But the desert! We had some type of custard with fruit that I could have eaten all day long. I introduced myself to the Consul and his wife and had a nice chat. They were so welcoming.

Afterward the bus drove us first back to the consulate to drop those off who had left their cars, and then we continued on to the hotel that had been arranged. At this point, it was shortly after 8 pm. As we approached the ramp onto I-65-S, it became apparent that the interstate was closed for construction. We were placed on a detour route. As this was near the area where I used to live and drive a lot, I realized the driver had missed his turn for getting back on the interstate. He ended up following several cars to a dead end. Then the ordeal of trying to turn around in a hulking bus began. After some failed attempts, he realized he’d have to just drive straight in reverse. He made it partway down the street, before trying to then turn into a parking lot so that he no longer had to drive backward. As we slowly drove into the lot on a slight incline, we hear two grinding noises. As the driver gave gas, the wheels spun, the smell of burning rubber filled the air, and we did not move. Stuck, run aground on pavement.

Waiting outside the broken down bus

I suggested we all get off the bus and remove our luggage to help lift the bus, but the driver didn’t think it’d help. We sat there for quite some time as the he futilely tried to move the bus. Finally, one of us, G, took charge and managed to call our coordinator and let him know what was happening. The driver said we would get a replacement bus within 15 minutes but it never showed up. G ended up calling for several taxis that would be able to transport all 13 of us and luggage. At this point a couple people had called friends and family, and managed to get themselves picked up. A couple others and I managed to bum a ride with another JET’s family to the Red Roof Inn. I was so tired at this point. The one hour time difference was not in my favor. Plus, we had to get to the airport at 5 am the next morning.

We checked in at the hotel as the other taxis managed to arrive shortly. I informed L’s dad as to what had happened because L’s phone had already been switched off. I was able to get my bag from L’s dad and finally crash in the room. It was after 10:30 pm at this point. I surfed the web a bit and prepped my bag and clothes for the next day. I had no problems falling asleep after that despite my excitement. So tired!