My First 24

Quite a bit has happened, so let's do this in stages.

Flight:
The flight up to Vancouver, B.C. was easy enough to handle, but the flight from Vancouver to Tokyo was 9 hours and 30-some minutes long on Japan Airlines.  Now, a lot can be said about Japan Airlines to the positive; their service is excellent and the food delicious.  However, their seats are not designed for long-legged people, nor anyone with any kind of hips/curves whatsoever.  My knees were giving me some issues, and my unfortunate runny nose caused me to have to get up several times throughout the flight.  Of course, I was in a middle seat.  But the Chinese man next to me was very polite about constantly having to get up (I did usually try to wait until the end of his movie or before he fell asleep).

There was a bit of a scare in Tokyo, however.  My baggage wasn't on the baggage claim!  When I checked into Air Canada in Portland, I was told that they could check my bags to Tokyo, as that was my displayed Final Destination, but they could not give me my boarding pass for my flights with Japan Airlines.  In fact, I had to go through customs in Vancouver, exit the terminal, check in again with Japan Airlines, and go through Security (in about 2 hours time).  Going with the Vancouver tangent, I was expedited through Customs and that helped me to make my flight on time.  It turns out that when I checked in with Japan Airlines, they were able to tell the baggage carriers to stamp a tag on my luggage that would get it straight aboard my flight to Nagoya.  So it turns out my luggage was safe and sound after all!

My flight to Nagoya from Tokyo was 45 minutes long, and I could barely keep my eyes open.  We flew in a 777 with probably 50 passengers total, so there was plenty of room.  This plane, unlike the 747 double-decker that I flew from Vancouver to Tokyo, was very comfortable!  There were contoured headrests that were adjustable to my height, my butt had plenty of space, and I was in an aisle seat with plenty of space to myself.  I honestly didn't want to get out of my seat when we landed.  But the girl  in the window seat couldn't get off the plane fast enough and I had to let her out.

There were about 15 students from Nagoya Gakuin University waiting to meet me in the Greeting Area once I made it through Customs, yet again.  It was nice; I have never had a welcoming party at an airport before.  Some of the students are friends with some of the NGU students I met at Coe, so we chatted about the people we both knew and introduced ourselves.  The girls almost immediately admired my hair for it's color and softness, and have voiced their desires for hair like mine.  There were several other American students from colleges across the U.S. that I also was able to meet.  We took a bus back to campus and I was given keys to my new home.  My roommate is from Shanghai and studying Japanese.   Unfortunately, my Japanese is rusty and so is her English.  We seem to get along fine, though.

MY BEDDING IS PINK! 

Now that I've voice that complaint, it was also free.


My First Day:
I woke up around 9:30am Japan Time and was able to work my way through taking a shower (which is a little cramped) and starting to study for my exam.  I went for a walk through the neighborhood a little before noon and picked up a drink from a local vending machine.  Almost as soon as I returned, Yobi (a student from Canada who has already been here 1 semester) came to see if I wanted to join a few of the other students for lunch in the cafeteria.  So I learned the ins and outs of how to order a meal and where to drop off my tray once I finished.  I had tempura udon (breaded and deep fried vegetables with buckwheat noodles) and it was delicious.

After lunch, Yobi showed us around a little bit; the official tour isn't until Tuesday.  We went to the IJS office, where most of our professors like to hang out, and were shown our mail boxes (I'm still not sure about what my mailing address is yet, but I will let you know when I know).  Then I passed out for several hours before deciding I should probably wake up and study in the Lounge.  On my way, I ran into several of my fellow IJS students who were headed to the grocery store.  Not knowing where it was, I thought that I would tag along and find out.  All of us hung out in the eating/smoking area outside before deciding we should probably get dinner.  The cafeteria was closed, so those of us who weren't too tired went to grab dinner at the 7 Eleven (yes, there is a 7 Eleven here).  When we returned, my friends and the other IJS students had arrived.  I am finally reunited with my Coe classmates!  :)

And that is my first 24 hours.  This weekend will be devoted to studying.  Hopefully.