Saturday, June 23/Sunday, June 24
Today has been an extremely eventful day. It is also
rather confusing and mind-torturing to discuss. I am now in Fukuoka, Japan, an
international port city on the western side of this wonderful country. I am
typing this blog at 12:00AM Japan time, which would mean it is 10:00AM
States-side.
Fourteen hours ahead, David and I spent pretty much all
day in sun-shiny brightness. I’m not even kidding about that. Being sent off by
our respective pairs of wonderful parents at 4:30 in the morning on June 23rd,
David and I made it easily through security (there wasn’t much of a line so
early in the morning). So, we found our gate and sat, waiting for the plane and
our departure. Well, our plane took off about 6:45, the sun rise just starting
to dust the world in oranges and pinks. From there, it grew to be the fiery
yellow orb that blinded us the rest of the day…
David and I managed to get seats together on our flight
from MEM to DFW, a short 2 hour flight. A fun ride spent chatting and wondering
what Japan would be like, the time passed rather quickly. So, about 8:40AM, we
arrive at the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas airport. We find our gate easily, then,
too, having to take the fun little tram system over one terminal. This was the
trip that would take us to the beloved country of Japan. But our stomachs were
growling; so, we put off discussing more about Japan as we headed to places
with food. David got something called “grasshopper bark” from The Chocolate Factory,
a mix of dark chocolate and mint. I went to Auntie Anne’s and retrieved for
myself a delicious cinnamon sugar pretzel with light cream cheese dipping
sauce. Delicious, I tell you!
Anyway, the two of us finished our food well before the
flight. At one point, we went up to the desk for our gate D33, and asked the
attendant, a young Japanese woman, if she could possibly put the two of us
together. She agreed but said it would take some doing and that she would need
some time. So, we went to sit back down. I worked on getting my Regions Now
card to work internationally. David was nice and waited patiently for me to
finish the twenty minute process. Then we went to discussing more Japan.
We were called back to the desk right before our flight
began to board. The woman had done it! (One of her associates even said, “She
worked a miracle!” referring to the difficulty of placing David and I next to
one another. But next to one another we were!) This flight left around 10:40AM,
a thirteen hour flight ahead. What does that mean? First off, because we were
going on a route that took us through the British Columbia of Canada, the
bottom edge of Alaska, and over a small section of the Pacific Ocean, our
flight was 13 hours. Thirteen…. I
know that might not sound like too much. But have you a) ever had to sit for
that long, cramped beside the body next to you, or b) had to take a flight so
long just to never once be able to truly fall asleep? Yeah… Well, both of those
were the cases for David and myself. Thank goodness, he and I were by a window,
in seats A and B, the only two chairs before an aisle opened up to E, F, G, H, J.
We did not have to deal with a crazy or annoying neighbor. It was torture
enough simply trying to sleep or find a position capable of sleep. I maybe (and
I stress “maybe”) got two hours’
worth of sleep on that 13 hour plane ride.
David got even less than I did…
Eventually, after that grueling flight that raced the sun
in the setting direction, leaving the plane coasting in a blinding world of sun-dazzled
clouds and darkening atmosphere, we landed in Narita. I have NEVER been so
excited during any of my travels. For so long I’ve dreamed of going to Japan,
and I’ve watched shows and movies and the like set in Japan. So, I had a little
idea of what it looked like. However, finally seeing that glorious land, I
could not hold my enthusiasm. David can tell you because I kept tapping him and
squealing like a silly school girl about how excited I was! Finally, finally, finally, I was seeing Japan with my own
two eyes! (Granted through a plane’s glass window…)
Eventually, my excitement turned to slight anxiety and
mostly focus as David and I found out we had to claim our baggage at the Narita
Airport before we could board our flight for Fukuoka. Neither of us expecting
such a turn of events, we followed the many other people—mostly native
Japanese-speaking individuals that neither of us could fully communicate with.
The line to pass through customs was HUGE!!! I kid you not! There had to have
been at least 300 or more individuals needing to pass through customs. However,
in our confusion, I pulled David out of line because I thought there was a form
we had to fill out. By doing that and looking around confusedly and anxiously,
a kind Japanese woman approached us. David asked her about the forms. (He was
the one that did the asking of just about any and all questions or concerns we
had… I’m a coward… >.>) Anyway, the woman told us to fill the forms out
and go talk to her! What do you know: we fill out the forms and basically
bypass all of the 300 other people save for about 5 already in the line the
kind woman placed us in. Now, in the Priority Line, David and I could pass
through customs quickly to get to the flight that left in about an hour.
Customs is a LOT less stressful in Japan. The people are
SO much nicer and they don’t treat you condescendingly or with impatience. It
was great. I’ve never felt so invited to a country before. :) They had David
and I press our forefingers on to fingerprint scanners, then smile for a
camera’s picture. The man stapled something into our passports, and we were
through, free to go claim our baggage.
We made it to baggage claim and, after another 10 or so
minutes of trying to find someone that spoke enough English to understand
David’s question, we managed to reach the check-in for JAL to Fukuoka. Then we
sought for the gate.
Honestly, at this point, I was exhausted. We both were.
No sleep in at least 20 hours, if not more (in my case). I told David to go to
the wrong gate…. So, we stood there for about 10 or more minutes trying to
figure out why the boards did not show our flight. Finally, I went back to the
flight information board. I realized my mistake. I had sent us downstairs when
we should have gone upstairs… I felt terrible, but the two of us were very
relieved to have found the gate for our flight to Fukuoka.
The
flight to Fukuoka was not very entertaining. We
managed seats together for the third and final leg of our journey, for
which
the both of us were extremely grateful, and I nodded off during the
flight.
Oddly, after almost 20 hours worth of travel in only sunshine, it had
started
raining when we were about 20 minutes out from reaching Fukuoka. (The
world
outside the plane was pure white on all sides; it felt sorta like that
scene in Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2 after Harry has died.) One
could not see the horizon,
nor the Pacific Ocean, nor even the clouds themselves for their shapes.
The sun
lit the world just as before, but this time, with rain running sideways
across
the windows, I could not help but think David and I were actually in a
train-submarine-thing that was traveling in milky white, unbroken waves
of water. The
rain looked more like bubbles streaming along the side of the airliner
than
rain running parallel to the transport’s body.
Eventually, we landed in Fukuoka. We gathered our bags
and were met by two female Japanese students. They
brought us by taxi to the I-House, where David and I are now living for the
next five weeks.
Many of you will be shocked and proud of me, by the way. At the izakaya, Sumika ordered yakitori (やきとり) for all of us. Yakitori literally means "pieces of chicken on skewers," but this included a bunch of other things on skewers, besides chicken pieces, though those were the main things, I think. One of those things was pig heart..... >.> Here's the shocking part: I actually tried that... x.x It was NOT pleasant, texture-wise. Tasty, though, it was... So, yeah. I've now tried pig heart... That would be something I could live without eating again. But I guess I would eat it again, if I was starving, and if it was cooked that way again. I would just need a lot of water... >.< Anyway, there were other things like pig Achilles tendon, chicken skin, little Vienna sausage type things (pretty standard by way of sausage), chicken (like breast meat), some beef pieces, a green pepper (which I also ate but was one of the only two things I ate there that night), and some other gross sounding/looking things (like a full fish that was 6 inches long and looked like a sardine I think looks....). That night I also had some sake!!! It was actually really, really good! It was flavored with apple and I loved it! So, yeah. Cure to my dislike for sake (さけ) = add a delicious, fruity, sweet flavoring! :D
All right. Well, good night to you all! It will actually be morning, but for my sanity’s sake, and for consistency, I will only refer to the Japanese time unless I’m wanting to clarify the time difference.
*Note: The reason this blog was not posted sooner and the reason there are others that came out at the exact time is because Seinan Gakuin’s wi-fi is currently down or inaccessible or something like that. So, I’m writing this even though I’ve not internet access, and I’m hoping to go to college or the armed forces, in order to make some kind of difference. Well, love you all! さようなら！！
P.S. We have wi-fi and received it Wednesday Japan time. But I've been busy and needed to edit what I'd written Sunday night.
P.P.S. The title is simply talking about how I didn't experience night, so it seemed like I didn't age because time didn't seem to really move. :P
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