Crossing the Pacific and Landing in Japan
Well last night did not go as planned. I guess I can also procrastinate in packing just like I can in school. Because it was my last night in the United States I called up Sandra to talk. She and my mom also had a nice long conversation about my visit in Florida. They got along real well. After talking on the phone for a while I also cleaned the kitchen floor because I know it would be hard on my mom's back and I can do it much faster. Then I had to pack a box of stuff to send to Seattle and anyways, I didn't get to bed until 4:00 am. That was not very good since I needed to wake up at 5:00 am to get ready to leave.
Getting to Miami Airport was not very hard at all. It only took about an hour to get to the airport and parked. Check in was easier this week than last. Because of my experience at Sea-Tac I had the foresight to take my new skateboard apart and put it inside my backpack. Since we were a little early my mom and I went to Starbucks and bought coffee. We sat down for a while and chatted about the trip and where I would be stying in Japan. My mom thought it was bad for me to go to Japan and taking the train by myself without knowing Japanese. I said goodbye to my mom and went through security. The security seemed to be extra rigorous at Miami International Airport, but I think it was only because there were no other passengers and security was bored. One lady looked at my camera and had to open it twice just so she could check it out. Then I overheard her and a coworker talking about pot.
When I was waiting at my gate for the plane to arrive I was surprised to see Sug Knight, president and CEO of Death Row Records come to wait for the same plane. He is actually a pretty big person, but he is not really tall. Before the flight he bought some food at Burger King for him and his friend.
My flight to Los Angeles was really boring. I had a window seat so I took a few photos along the way. Check them out, here. I spent a bit of time trying to nap. The only exciting thing was the amount of smog in Los Angeles. After landing I got some quarters and called my brother to tell him that I was going to fly to Japan. After our conversation I boarded to plane and took off for Japan. There are also pictures of my flight into Japan in the gallery.
My flight to Japan was a lot more exciting even though at 11 hours, it was 6 hours longer than the 5 hour flight to Los Angeles. On the flight I did a lot of readin and I almost finished Fellowship of the Ring. I also met a nice girl from Korea. We sat next to each other on the flight. Her name was Hae Lee and she was returning home. This summer she had an internship in Sacremento for something related to dentistry. I think she liked talking with me because she was learning English. To make more conversation with her I showed her pictures of my friends. She said that my girl friends are beautiful. After I showed her photos I let her listen to my Korean music. I think she was really surprised that I had Korean music. When we landed in Japan she told me 'Good luck in Japan' and I told her 'Have a nice flight home'.
The Narita Airport is a really nice airport and I think it is one of the nicer airports I have been in on this trip. The top 3 airports would be Sea-Tac, Narita and the new terminal in Detroit. Ft Lauderdale is not too bad, but I think that Miami International Airport and LAX are not very nice airports. It was very easy to go through customs and get my baggage. I think that the customs official did not want to deal with me very much since I did not speak any Japanese. As soon as he said I could go I went to buy a train ticket.
Riding the train was a little scary for me since I am not familiar with the train lines and I don't know any Japanese. Jesse had given me instructions to take the Sobu Sen line to Ichikawa. I was able to find the JR Line to Ichikawa right away so I bought a ticket. Afterwards I was worried that these two lines were different lines and that they would go in different directions. Fortunately when I got downstairs I was able to read that they were the same line. Later Jesse told me that JR is the name of the company and Sobu Sen is the name of the route. The train ride was pleasant and it gave me a chance to sit down. I also got to see a lot of the country side near Tokyo. Looking out of the train windows reminded me of when Sen rode the train in Spirited Away.
I got to Ichikawa station successfully, but this is where a small detail in Jesse and I's plans to meet was forgotten. I knew which station to meet Jesse at, but the station had many exits, so I did not know where to meet Jesse. I went out of an exit that I chose randomly since I did not know where any of them went to. I went outside and then walked towards the bus depot because I thought Jesse might be waiting there. ... but he wasn't. I saw a pay phone and since i knew Jesse's cell phone number I decided to try and call him. Unfortunately I got a crash course in how to attempt and fail to make a local phone call from an international pay phone. Apparently in Japan there are two types of pay phones, one for local calls and one for international calls. After this didn't work is when I started to really worry about what I would do if I could not find Jesse. The thought of being in Japan by myself was a little scary. I decided to relax a little and try looking for him again. I went back into the station through another entrance and I was able to spot Jesse leaning against a pole really quickly. I don't think I have ever been so relieved to see Jesse before.
After we met he took me to a nice little restaurant where we ate pork tonkatsu and had a beer. I did not drink much since I was very tired. At this point I had been awake for almost 40 hours with only a few naps that didn't last longer than an hour each. After dinner Jesse showed me how to use the phone. Then we bought some cake for my host family, the Miwa family. That night I also got a crash course on how to ride the bus in Japan. It is really similar to Seattle except you always pay when you get off. Also the layout of the seats is different on the bus. The biggest difference is that people are charged by how far they go. There is an electronic sign on the inside of the bus which tells how much people have to pay based upon a number they pick up when they get on the bus. The bus is also more expensive than in Seattle. It costs about $3 to go from my host families home to the Ichikawa station and the ride is only about 15-20 minutes. On second thought, the bus systems are pretty different.
I met with the Miwa family and we talked about how long I would stay and what we would do. We also talked about the curfew and when I would wakeup and shower and eat breakfast. I was pretty tired because of the layover and walking around, so I went to bed a little early and Jesse walked home to his dormitories from Miwa-san's home.
Getting to Miami Airport was not very hard at all. It only took about an hour to get to the airport and parked. Check in was easier this week than last. Because of my experience at Sea-Tac I had the foresight to take my new skateboard apart and put it inside my backpack. Since we were a little early my mom and I went to Starbucks and bought coffee. We sat down for a while and chatted about the trip and where I would be stying in Japan. My mom thought it was bad for me to go to Japan and taking the train by myself without knowing Japanese. I said goodbye to my mom and went through security. The security seemed to be extra rigorous at Miami International Airport, but I think it was only because there were no other passengers and security was bored. One lady looked at my camera and had to open it twice just so she could check it out. Then I overheard her and a coworker talking about pot.
When I was waiting at my gate for the plane to arrive I was surprised to see Sug Knight, president and CEO of Death Row Records come to wait for the same plane. He is actually a pretty big person, but he is not really tall. Before the flight he bought some food at Burger King for him and his friend.
My flight to Los Angeles was really boring. I had a window seat so I took a few photos along the way. Check them out, here. I spent a bit of time trying to nap. The only exciting thing was the amount of smog in Los Angeles. After landing I got some quarters and called my brother to tell him that I was going to fly to Japan. After our conversation I boarded to plane and took off for Japan. There are also pictures of my flight into Japan in the gallery.
My flight to Japan was a lot more exciting even though at 11 hours, it was 6 hours longer than the 5 hour flight to Los Angeles. On the flight I did a lot of readin and I almost finished Fellowship of the Ring. I also met a nice girl from Korea. We sat next to each other on the flight. Her name was Hae Lee and she was returning home. This summer she had an internship in Sacremento for something related to dentistry. I think she liked talking with me because she was learning English. To make more conversation with her I showed her pictures of my friends. She said that my girl friends are beautiful. After I showed her photos I let her listen to my Korean music. I think she was really surprised that I had Korean music. When we landed in Japan she told me 'Good luck in Japan' and I told her 'Have a nice flight home'.
The Narita Airport is a really nice airport and I think it is one of the nicer airports I have been in on this trip. The top 3 airports would be Sea-Tac, Narita and the new terminal in Detroit. Ft Lauderdale is not too bad, but I think that Miami International Airport and LAX are not very nice airports. It was very easy to go through customs and get my baggage. I think that the customs official did not want to deal with me very much since I did not speak any Japanese. As soon as he said I could go I went to buy a train ticket.
Riding the train was a little scary for me since I am not familiar with the train lines and I don't know any Japanese. Jesse had given me instructions to take the Sobu Sen line to Ichikawa. I was able to find the JR Line to Ichikawa right away so I bought a ticket. Afterwards I was worried that these two lines were different lines and that they would go in different directions. Fortunately when I got downstairs I was able to read that they were the same line. Later Jesse told me that JR is the name of the company and Sobu Sen is the name of the route. The train ride was pleasant and it gave me a chance to sit down. I also got to see a lot of the country side near Tokyo. Looking out of the train windows reminded me of when Sen rode the train in Spirited Away.
I got to Ichikawa station successfully, but this is where a small detail in Jesse and I's plans to meet was forgotten. I knew which station to meet Jesse at, but the station had many exits, so I did not know where to meet Jesse. I went out of an exit that I chose randomly since I did not know where any of them went to. I went outside and then walked towards the bus depot because I thought Jesse might be waiting there. ... but he wasn't. I saw a pay phone and since i knew Jesse's cell phone number I decided to try and call him. Unfortunately I got a crash course in how to attempt and fail to make a local phone call from an international pay phone. Apparently in Japan there are two types of pay phones, one for local calls and one for international calls. After this didn't work is when I started to really worry about what I would do if I could not find Jesse. The thought of being in Japan by myself was a little scary. I decided to relax a little and try looking for him again. I went back into the station through another entrance and I was able to spot Jesse leaning against a pole really quickly. I don't think I have ever been so relieved to see Jesse before.
After we met he took me to a nice little restaurant where we ate pork tonkatsu and had a beer. I did not drink much since I was very tired. At this point I had been awake for almost 40 hours with only a few naps that didn't last longer than an hour each. After dinner Jesse showed me how to use the phone. Then we bought some cake for my host family, the Miwa family. That night I also got a crash course on how to ride the bus in Japan. It is really similar to Seattle except you always pay when you get off. Also the layout of the seats is different on the bus. The biggest difference is that people are charged by how far they go. There is an electronic sign on the inside of the bus which tells how much people have to pay based upon a number they pick up when they get on the bus. The bus is also more expensive than in Seattle. It costs about $3 to go from my host families home to the Ichikawa station and the ride is only about 15-20 minutes. On second thought, the bus systems are pretty different.
I met with the Miwa family and we talked about how long I would stay and what we would do. We also talked about the curfew and when I would wakeup and shower and eat breakfast. I was pretty tired because of the layover and walking around, so I went to bed a little early and Jesse walked home to his dormitories from Miwa-san's home.
posted by Jon Keto at
11:16 PM
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