日本到着~ Nihon Touchaku ~ Arrival in Japan

I have arrived in Japan!

The trip took me almost 30 hours. First I went to Denver, then to LAX then to Narita. I left the house around 5:30 AM on the 26th and arrived at around 5pm on the 27th. There IS a 14 hour time difference though.

I met my best friend 親友　（しんゆう）　shinyuu Izumi at the airport. Izumi went to school with me in Niigata. She's working at a hotel in Tokyo now.

Anyways we hugged, I spoke in less-than-polished Japanese but it was fine. She speaks some English now since she works at a hotel. I got on the bus to Utsunomiya 宇都宮　（うつのみや）　which cost about 4,070 yen and rode that for about 3 hours. I passed out sometime past the 1:30 mark. I then tranferred to a train at Utsunomiya Station 宇都宮駅 （うつのみやえき） Utsunomiya-eki on the 宇都宮線　（うつのみやせん）　Utsunomiya-sen.

Then I got on the Kurosoi-bound train 黒磯行き　（くろそいゆき） Kurosoi-yuki. I had to ask a high school student on the previous train which one was the right one for Ujiie 氏家 （うじいえ） which is where I am in now. I am actually in Sakura-city, Tochigi, Japan 日本栃木県さくら市　（にほんとちぎけんさくらし）　Nihon Tochigi-ken Sakura-shi　right now.

I met two very nice staff at the office. They took me there first then to my hotel. I love my hotel! It's tiny, tiny but awesome! I have internet and cable too!

I went out hunting and exploring for some food and google maps was no help at all. I had to ask directions. Fortunately I speak Japanese! So it was easy.

I had O~i ocha (green tea made by Ito En which can be found in the US at Whole Food's Market as Teas Tea Pure Green Tea for ~1.50 per 20 oz bottle), Motchi (NOT Mochi) Choco(late) Danish and Nikuman at a Lawson and 7/11 (I went to both). 7/11 has an ATM and I can get money out of that just as soon as someone sends me money, ha. I've got about 275 yen left in my account ;_;. I have about 3,000 yen left until then. (~$40) and I spent about 500 yen on lunch (~$5).

I'm waiting for a phone call from one of my bosses, I don't know what he's going to say to me or when he's going to call but when I get hungry I'm planning on leaving. I'll let the front desk know that I'll be out of course before I go.

Anyways below you are pictures of food and the town. More later!

Lunch. O~i ocha. Nikuman. Motchi Choco Danish. Salmon Onigiri.

Sake Onigiri = Salmon Onigiri = Delicious

 

 

出発日 ~ Shuppatsu Bi ~ Day of Departure

Today I leave for Japan!

For the last two days I spent time with my dad at his house and today we picked up my niece and visited my sister and her friend in north Texas.

My dad gave me a "new" camera so I will be able to post videos and photos once I get USB cable to transfer the files from the camera to my computer as the battery cover is broken and its being secured by a piece of wire and I'm afraid to move it to take out the SD card. Oh well. At least I can take over 1,000 pictures before I have to start deleting/uploading stuff ^_^.

I will be leaving this moring at 5:30 AM or so. It's 1:42 AM right now and I got home from my dad's place around 10 PM or so. I'm exhausted and sleepy but I doubt I'll be able to sleep.

I just finally finished packing and now I can take more stuff than planned originally because my dad gave me 2 large suitcases... unfortunately neither suitcase has the ability to stand up on its own (due in part to the fact that they're both very top heavy). I will weigh them before I leave just to make sure. I had to get rid of a bag I was planning on taking because I will already by lugging around 2 large suitcases plus an overstuffed backpack AND my laptop so I just don't have enough arms!

I calculated my journey and I will be travelling for just over 25 hours from the time I leave the house to the time I arrive at my hotel. Ugh.

I will make a post as soon as I get to my hotel and can figure out how to set up internet.

Oh and I had to ask my employer to give me some sort of stipend or something until I actually start getting paid. So poor ;_;

Until next time!
Toodles~

VISA! 査証ゲット！

I received my Japanese visa in the mail today! It looks so different from my previous visa when I went to Japan before.

I'm also planning a going away party for myself and 6 people beside myself are coming so far according to the facebook page. I just hope they actually show up!

Packing is 1/4th of the way done. I wish I had more room ;_;.

Longer posts for when I actually get to Japan! I promise!

Packing Packing Packing

I have begun to pack now. It looks like I'll be taking 2 checked bags and 1 carry on and 1 personal item. It's supposed to be free to travel from US to Japan for up to 2 checked bags. I'm going to call the airline today or tomorrow and ask.

I have 2 different types of work pants, a black dress that can be made to look like a long skirt and possibly some yoga pants. I need to buy more work clothes when I get to Japan.

So far I have filled up one small bag of clothes that are being washed right now. I'll pack them today.

I have 2 winter coats but I might not be able to bring the 2nd one because it's so big and I will have limited space in my bags.

More to come later.

16 days to go!

Plane ticket purchased!

Fantastic news everyone!

The plane ticket has been purchased and I will be leaving October 26th, 2011! I have already planned out my bus and train route from Narita to Ujiie. I will stay there for a week and then move on to Tomiya.

So excited!

News News News

So I will most likely be leaving at the end of this month. I found a cheaper flight for $646. I plan on sending off my visa application tomorrow and I will likely get it back by the end of the week.

SO excited!