First Few Days

I have some real down time for the first time since I got to Japan, so i figured now would be a good time to fill you all in on what I've been up to. After getting to the airport, I discovered that one of my bags was now missing a tire. Not that big of a deal at the time because there were carts with which to bring it out to the Hiroshima version of the Hut, but later on it would be more of a hassle. After arriving at the transit station in Hiroshima with Naho who was waiting for me at the airport, we grabbed some food from Mcdonald's (it was late and not much else was open) before heading to my friend Eddie's place to stay for the next couple of nights. I'll try to possibly get a picture up later, but Eddie's appartment is roughly the size of a modest bedroom with a tiny kitchen/laundry room attached.

After a night of somewhat fitful sleep and what felt like an altogether too early morning, we headed to a mall for a quick bite to eat and to try to set Eddie up with a phone. Once that was taken care of, we decided to look into using a phone Eddie already had as a prepaid one for me. Naho went about getting it all in order, but there is apparently some problem with it right now because its not working correctly. Once it does work, people will be able to send me e-mails to the phone that I receive and can respond to as if it were a text. As soon as we get it figured out, I'll post that on here so you can all get a hold of me at almost any time.

To cap off my first full day in Japan, we met up with a couple of Naho's friends from college and a professor that works at the university they all attended and that Eddie currently works at. The place was an Irish pub called Molly Malone's and I had a plate of Classical Bangers with Mash and Gravy for dinner. After we had finished eating and talking, we headed back to Eddie's and turned in early.

The Following morning, Eddie had work early so Naho and I went about repacking all of my stuff before grabbing something called okonomayaki (I think that's how it was spelled) and brought it back to Eddie's office. While we were in there eating, a student came in and asked if I were the new English teacher. I think she just assumed I was because I looked the most American to her. It was even more funny because I was simply wearing a t-shirt and jeans while Eddie had on a dress shirt and nice slacks.

Naho and I spent the rest of the day taking care of a few errands she had while also getting some food for me to eat while I was at her family's home. After finishing all of that, we headed from Eddie's to the train station. It is only about a half mile probably, but we had avoided the trek by taking a taxi the first night I arrived. This time we decided to walk. Naho took my bag that still had two functioning wheels while I balanced the other on its one good wheel and pushed it in front of me the whole way to the station. Once there we boarded a train for the almost 1 hour trip to Naho's town a little outside of Hiroshima.

When we did finally get to Naho's home, her mom was there to greet us. She was thankful for the gifts but left soon after we arrived to take food to Naho's grandparents. When she got back, Naho and I rode over to the store and grabbed a few more things for me to use to make my own meals while Naho and her parents were at work. Some bread, jelly and a few Cup o' Noodles are to be my meals for the rest of the week.

That night we had a kind of tomato based stew with chicken and mushrooms in addition to some rice and salad. Carrying on a conversation at the dinner table was a little bit difficult because only Naho speaks both languages. Whenever a question was asked or and answer was given, we would all turn to look at Naho and wait for her to translate the statement and response. Her family was very nice and welcoming though, despite this difficulty and they did their best to make me feel at home.

Now it is about one local time (9 pm Oregon time) and I am sitting in the window of a bright, clear, 80ish degree day while I write this. I think that tonight we are going to be having a BBQ with some of Naho's extended family so it should be interesting to meet them and try some of the Japanese style BBQ food.

Thanks for reading

Sam

Hiroshima Cab Ride

Arrival in San Fransisco

I just landed in San Fransisco and have about 2 hours to kill, so I figured now would be a good time to set up this blog. I decided on the name because I felt it will aptly describe the way I will stand out once I arrive in Japan. I'm not sure if the terminal that I am currently seated in is the correct one or not, but all the qualms I had about weather booking my ticket online have mostly vanished now that I have already completed the first leg of my journey.
My next flight is scheduled to depart at 1:10 and arrive in Seoul, Korea about 13 hours later (5:30 local time). From there I have an hour before my final flight into HIJ, which should be the quickest of all three flights. Once I land and am able to get situated, I will look into updating my current situation.
As I was walking through the airport down here in San Fransisco, it was really starting to dawn on me that I am traveling on my own for almost the first time in my life. Besides one quick trip to Reno with a couple of friends a few years ago, any trip I have ever taken has been with family. The lone exception to that is when I traveled home from Arizona on my own way back when I was 7 years old, but in that circumstance family both walked me to the plane and was waiting for me when I landed. For the first time I am truly out on my own.
This realization has resulted in mixed feelings of excitement and a little bit of anxiousness. Fortunately, the excitement evoked from the looming experiences greatly outweighs any solicitous emotion. I'm looking forward to both the flight and to finally arriving in Japan.

Thanks for reading, I'll post again before too long.

Sam