I Have Arrived!!
I am officially IN JAPAN. It's crazy!
I wanted to write a nice, full post today with pictures and everything, but my hotel charges for internet and I don't have an adapter for my laptop charger, so the battery will die soon.
But Tokyo!
So I stayed up all night Thursday in order to start getting on Japan time. As a result, I couldn't keep my eyes open during takeoff. I had a window seat and everything! I flew Japan Airlines, which is just...ten thousand times better than any airline I've flown before. They fed us twice, both times were delicious, and I even got to exercise my new-found "legal drinking age in Japan" discovery with a few small bottles of red wine. But, despite how lovely the environment was, it was still a fourteen hour flight. That was the longest mess of my life. I slept in the beginning, watched a movie (the selection could have been better), and thought "I must almost be there by now!"
Loljk.
I was barely six hours into the flight.
Don't get me wrong, though. It was worth it, definitely. I just wouldn't want to do that again for like five months.
So landing was a particularly fun experience for me, as I got to see Japan for the first time. The first thing that came to mind was "green." Japan has so much more plant life than America, especially around where I live. Everything here was rolling green hills, thick forests, patches of farmland, even solar panels here and there! As I took a cab to the hotel I noticed all of the green along the highway, too. Also, I'm never going to get used to the whole drive-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing.
I'm already behind in my studying, and it's showing. I've had numerous opportunities to speak Japanese to people and English just comes out. When I make the effort to try and change that, I end up mumbling. A large portion of speaking a foreign language--especially in the country from which is originates--is confidence. Also just sucking it up and going for it. I should really just try, but it is more daunting than I thought it would be.
Okay, I would go on with more details about Japan or my hotel, but without pictures this just looks like an oddly-spaced essay. So once I get my camera and internet up and running, and am well situated in my dorm, I'll do my best to post frequently and interestingly!
Also, it worked! I'm not jet lagged at all!
Yet.
Edit: I did buy adapters, my dad just never gave them to me before I left. Or a shower cap, for that matter. The things I've forgotten....