finally in japan!

*Note:I wrote this last night, but the internet connection here is unreliable and I gave up trying to update. I've been trying to upload a video onto Youtube and that takes forever too.

Over the summer, many people asked me, "Just how do you pack for a year?"
GOOD QUESTION. At first I assured myself that I wouldn't be bringing that much since my parents will be visiting me in December and would bring my winter clothes BUT there is no easy way around packing 2 check-in suitcases that each meet the weight limit of 50 pounds. At least I didn't find an easy way. When I got to the airport, one of my suitcases was around 5 pounds over. Luckily I knew a woman at the JAL check-in counter! Her name is Miyuki-san and she used to fill in as a waitress at Teriyaki Box when I was working there during high school. I remembered that she had also been working at JAL---It just didn't occur to me that she would be there on the day that I was leaving! SO! She helped me out and I was able to avoid the overweight fee! She also found me a seat with nobody next to me, which made it better to relax on the plane. CHO LUCKYYY.


Gosh, my brother is getting cuter than me.


I said good-bye to my family and departed at 11:30 that morning.



The flight itself wasn't as excruciating as one might imagine of a 12 hour flight. I think my anticipation was probably a big factor. It was almost like the feeling when you're just so anxious to get home, the car ride back seems much shorter.

Arriving wasn't too bad. I did have trouble with my contacts since my eyes were so dry. My right contact fell out on the plane. While waiting in the line for immigration, my left eye felt itchy and when I touched it, my contact fell out! It didn't help that at that moment it was my turn to present my passport. But I had extra contacts so I just rushed to the restroom and all was well.

Yes..for the most part I would say everything went smoothly. I mean, aside from this creepy guy at Narita airport trying to chat me up and getting a bad case of jet lag and throwing up a little (sorry, gross)..everything was fine!

I am just soooooo glad to be here. It still does not feel real in the sense that I'm actually going to live here instead of simply visiting. Right now I'm in Saitama, which is near Tokyo. After this week I will be going from my oba-chan's house here to my aunt Satoko's in Sugamo, Tokyo.

Lately I've been taking it easy to adjust to the time difference. But spending time with my oba-chan has really been fun! I think we've always told ourselves that we get along so well because we're both sasori-za (scorpios) but either way, I just like being around her.

Today we went to Laketown, a huuuge mall. I bought a cute phone strap for my cell phone and other irresistibly cute things. That's something about shopping here. The cute appeal is really hard to avoid.

I bought a small book called Tokyo Sanpo (Tokyo Walks) with my oba-chan in mind so that we could enjoy simple walks around interesting areas. Although I also intend to take lots and lots of walks by myself too.

I know I've only been here for 1 1/2 days and I haven't done anything too big, it's probably the best way to relax and soak it in......YESSSSSSS I'M FINALLYYYYYYYYY HEREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Stray kitty.


Oba-chan.


^-^v


Lunch time!