Entries this day: Dru_daddy_G First_train Hotel

Dru daddy G

5:12pm JST Thursday 27 March 2003

I'm in Japan. Just met Andrew, a cat from Sacramento. He's been on a trip across Asia (Laos, Burma, Thailand, Taiwan, Macau, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, NZ, OZ, Samoa, Tonga), has a brother in Hawaii. He'll be staying Kokubunji in Tokyo. He requested Chiba and got Tokyo. I requested Tokyo and got Yokohama. That's hilarious.

He also journals, emails them out to his peeps.

Awesome! He just got back from Auckland New Zeeeeealand! Was there for 18 months going to school. Wowza!

He's trying to get a citizenship in NZ.

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Have also met Kevin & Janelle (married, will be placed in Ichihara), Ryan (I think that's his name (he broke his hand snow skiing)). And others others others.

Our person who met us here (Cookie, but I think he spelled his name for me Kwok) looks like a Japanese version of ... ooooh I can't think of his name.... UU YA cat up in Oregon, and he has a British accent.

First train

6:11pm JST Thursday 27 March 2003

On a train with Andrew (Dru Daddy G), Justin & Tara (married) who will be placed in Sendai.

We're being spoon fed train tickets and such for now. This ride is just over an hour it turns out. Assigned seats. I know the symbol for car (train car only?) now. It looks like the top view of a formula car with axels, but no wheels. Or a sideways tie fighter even though Andrew refuses to watch Star Wars.

6:48pm

I'm in Japan! I'm in Japan! I'm in Japan!!! How is it not really sinking in? Andrew was all, "yeah, no matter where I go, I wanna go somewhere else that sounds cooler," or something like that.

"But now you're stuck here for a year..."

Most amazing is how clean this place is! And people with colds wear little white masks like surgeons to keep from spreading germs. Almost like a fashion statement.

7:29pm

D'oh! I just realized I left my hat on the plane. Like a dark green Gilligan hat.

Hotel

9:38pm JST Thursday 27 March 2003

It seems that I've got my biological clock synched up enough with Japan that I'll be allllll good.

Cookie brought me and Andrew to the train station (I forget the name) and Fiona (another (ex-(?))instructor) met us and she led me to my hotel. I'm totally staying in a hotel for three nights and will be met here by AdrienneG on Sunday I think to take me to my apartment.

My bags will be brought to the apartment by ABC, the courier in the airport where everyone dropped off their stuff.

Fiona is from Australia, though I first guessed South Africa, New Zealand, and Britain before she politely said, "you're missing a big island in the middle."

"Australia?"

I dropped off my bag in my hotel room, which is pretty small. A bit smaller than a motel room might be in the US. And it's got a bidet toilet thing. Whoah. And a super deep bath tub! Like fully two feet deep. Hey, maybe it just looks deep cause it's so short. Nevermind.

Um, oh, then Fiona showed me to the building that contains the NOVA Headquarters for Eastern Japan. They're based in a 30 story building shaped like the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston (rooms on perimeter only, huge 30 story tall empty space in the middle) with restaurants on the top two levels. I walked around until someone greeted me helpfully and I spent 1440 yen ($12) on five different types of sushi (one piece each) and water. The cat gave me a free coke.

Each piece of sushi... oh wait they were cooked... anyway, they were each on a little skewer. I put the skewer back on the tray from which they were being served and the cook told me in Japanese (and showed me in kinesthetics) that they go into the gaping mouth of the ceramic frog sitting up on the counter.

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Got a bit lost on the way back to the hotel (I went out a different entrance and ended up walking underground about a block, so I didn't know which way I was going relative to where I had been) but made it back. Oh, and that was after I went to the NOVA office and the Japanese girl didn't understand me, "I'm just exploring; I don't need any help," and ended up getting Fiona for me. That was a bit embarassing; I don't want Fiona to think that I'm a big fat baby, but I explained to her what happened and asked her a question anyway: where is the nearest internet cafe?

Found out, came back to the hotel to get my computer, decided fuckit I'm too tired. Though it doesn't seem like it's possible, my calculations say that it's been 24 hours since I left Dallas.

10:19pm JST Thursday 27 March 2003

If I'm 15 hours ahead of Dallas, then it's 10:19am minus 3 hours = 7:19am CST Thursday 27 March. I've been awake a long time; I'm going to sleeeeep. Tomorrow = Get My Alien Registration Day.