As I write this, it's about 6:30 AM in Tokyo on Tuesday, May 21. I just woke up from a decent night's rest and I'm too excited to fall back asleep. Let me bring you up to speed on what the past day was like.
On Sunday morning in Chicago (which feels like yesterday) I caught an early flight to San Diego. It was a 4 hour flight, which by American standards is a fairly long flight. Most of my flights don't exceed 4 hours...but this was just a warm-up round for what was coming next. In the San Diego airport I met an internet celebrity. Unless you frequent Youtube and Reddit you may not know who "Overly Attached Girlfriend" is, but when I saw her I nearly had a heart attack. Here is a link describing who she is (I think her real name is Laina). She said she was flying to Tokyo (on my flight!) en route to Singapore for a social media awards ceremony. We didn't have time to take a picture so you will just have to believe me. She was very friendly and apparently I was the only person who recognized her at our gate.
The flight to Tokyo was very long - about 12 hours or so. When I got to my seat I was dismayed to see I drew a middle seat. However I got really lucky that I was sitting next to two American guys, and they were both experts on Japan. Corey is 32 years old and was visiting his wife and her family in Japan. Mike is 38 years old and was visiting his wife and son in Japan. We all talked for hours on this flight and they were both great people. They both HIGHLY recommend that I find a Japanese wife while I am on this trip. : ) They both spoke excellent Japanese. Mike had a ton of recommendations and tips for me, and he and his wife were even kind enough to help me get a ticket for the correct bus once we landed. Mike's #1 recommendation for me in Tokyo is to visit a club called "Gas Panic" in the Roppongi district.
Japan Airlines was by far the highest quality flying experience I've ever had. Attendants were constantly walking around giving you warm towels, hot tea, iced tea, coffee, and we got a couple delicious meals. Another neat thing is you get free on-demand movies on a little TV screen in front of you...I watched The Hobbit and Django Unchained.
The first observation I've made about Japan is that the people are extremely humble and friendly. They take their jobs very seriously. Even the young man who loaded bags onto the bus stood in front of everyone and bowed before we drove off. When I finally got to my hotel, the women enjoyed practicing their English with me. They spoke excellent English (compared to my nonexistent Japanese) and apologized profusely for their "poor English."
Time for me to wrap this up...it's 7 AM and breakfast is being served downstairs. I could go on for hours talking about everything I've seen already. No pictures yet...it was rainy and foggy last night so nothing to really get a picture of...I promise to include pics in the next update. Wish me luck!
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