Haru yasumi (Spring Vacation).
Apr. 6th, 2007 03:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sechan19Touchdown after a long flight was a relief. The staff on the airplane were efficient and helpful and made things as pleasant as possible under the circumstances. I've noticed that International flights tend to be much more enjoyable. I wonder if that has to do with keeping face in front of foreigners. Perhaps when it's just a trip from one American place to another they figure they don't have to bother with the niceties of timeliness and consideration. But that's a question for another day.
There's not much to report at the offset. My first views of the land were standard. From up high the urban sprawl looked like any other urban sprawl the world over. Then as we came closer to land I began to distinguish differences - the design of electricity pylons, the classic Japanese post-and-lintel framework. And at last we were set down in the midst of an airfield, and when you get right down to it those really are all the same. Heh.
I deplaned the aircraft (what kind of expression is that anyway?), went through customs, collected my luggage, took it to the inspection station, found an ATM, got on the shuttle to the hotel, checked in, requested a LAN cable to connect to the Internet - which was not included in the price of the hotel, much to my surprise. Fortunately the cost was minimal.
On the drive over, I was able to see a spate of still-beautiful cherry trees with their blossoms in full bloom. Just seeing them lifted me out of the funk I'd been in on the plane ride over. It seems silly to admit to being in a funk on the eve of such a great adventure, but I was. I missed my family, my friends, my loved ones - new and old. I hated the thought of being so far from them for so long; even in defiance of this great opportunity.
The cherry blossoms set me straight. I know I'm going to love it here and have the time of my life.
Tomorrow I meet the program coordinators and my host family. There's a good chance I won't have internet access for a while, but I'll journal my experiences and post them when I can.
There's not much to report at the offset. My first views of the land were standard. From up high the urban sprawl looked like any other urban sprawl the world over. Then as we came closer to land I began to distinguish differences - the design of electricity pylons, the classic Japanese post-and-lintel framework. And at last we were set down in the midst of an airfield, and when you get right down to it those really are all the same. Heh.
I deplaned the aircraft (what kind of expression is that anyway?), went through customs, collected my luggage, took it to the inspection station, found an ATM, got on the shuttle to the hotel, checked in, requested a LAN cable to connect to the Internet - which was not included in the price of the hotel, much to my surprise. Fortunately the cost was minimal.
On the drive over, I was able to see a spate of still-beautiful cherry trees with their blossoms in full bloom. Just seeing them lifted me out of the funk I'd been in on the plane ride over. It seems silly to admit to being in a funk on the eve of such a great adventure, but I was. I missed my family, my friends, my loved ones - new and old. I hated the thought of being so far from them for so long; even in defiance of this great opportunity.
The cherry blossoms set me straight. I know I'm going to love it here and have the time of my life.
Tomorrow I meet the program coordinators and my host family. There's a good chance I won't have internet access for a while, but I'll journal my experiences and post them when I can.
