Journey to Japan: Days 4 & 5

6-16-08 & 6-17-08

Greetings from tomorrow. Are you ready? ‘Cause this is going to be epic. Get ready for the longest day of my life. Literally. I have been awake now for, oh, 24 and some odd hours. Without any night. (I guess that’s excluding the 10 or so hours of self-induced vegetative state during the plane ride, which doesn’t really count as sleeping either).

Exodus-ing.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Today (or, I guess yesterday), was the great YFU exodus to Tokyo, Japan. And I think “great exodus” is the only way to describe it too. It took two of those massive Greyhound-style buses to get us to the airport. We pretty much filled up three plane flights on our own. It was a great herd of American teenage sheep. Incredibly-sleepy-because-we-all-got-up-at-6-AM-sheep. Rousted at such an early hour, I barely managed to grab a bit of breakfast and drag my stuff onto the buses before settling into my favorite “I’m-not-actually-asleep-even-though-I-look-like-I-am” doze.

On the bus with my nifty new nametag.

Luckily, I opened my eyes as we were about halfway between San Jose and San Francisco so I could witness the amazingness of driving through Sunnyvale, California. (And yes, only some of you will understand that).

Baaaaa...

Once at the airport, there was the momentous Standing In Really Long Lines To Check In, and the epic Standing Around For a Really Long Time While Waiting For People, and, my favorite, Sitting Around For Ages Waiting to Get Your Seat Assignment. Which I did eventually get, thankfully. I ended up sitting between an older woman who spent the trip reading an outdated political thriller, and a lanky, Fedora-wearing YFU boy who requested that I call him “Dante.” I came to the conclusion that he was probably an air sign. The nickname and the chattiness made me think Gemini, though the fact that he was seated by me made me think Aquarius. Taking breaks only for bad plane food, which I ate with far more tenacity than usual, and the occasional logic puzzle, I put in my headphones and tried to use as little energy as possible for the 10 hour flight.

After landing in Narita, I followed the massive sheep crowd (who, unlike me, had spent the entire flight walking around, loitering and partying) through immigration, accidentally smuggled my smoked salmon through customs, traded some dollars for yen, and took another long bus ride. This time, I didn’t doze. I spent the entire ride with my face pressed up against the glass, avidly watching as we drove into Tokyo. Took way too many pictures, too.

We’re staying in downtown Tokyo, in the Tokyo Prince hotel. It’s pretty nice, for a place where they put up a bunch of obnoxious tourist teenagers. Deep bath tub, air conditioning, convenience stores, internet access, and a bunch of nifty little toiletries in the bathroom.

My room.

We share rooms, of course, which is only slightly irritating due to the fact that there’s only one key per room, which inevitably involves someone getting locked out. Most of us are staying on the 6th floor, and I can guarantee I got the best room number of all.