A Tokyo Experience!
Ok all, I'm finally getting down to the nitty gritty about my time in Japan thus far. Sorry for the delay! Not having internet makes it hard to keep this blog updated! Oh yes, I'm also going to attempt to attach a link to my Chicago/Tokyo pics. Let me know if it works, I'm still trying to figure everything out!
Ok, I'll send a link to the stupid freakin' pics, then, until I figure out this stupid freakin' blog thing. Damme!
(Don't miss the adventures of Army Bear!)
Where to start, where to start. Tokyo is such an intense experience... nearly impossible to explain in words or show in pictures. It's a place y'all have to visit yourselves! Keep in mind that I barely even scratched the service, IF THAT! They kept us busy, busy, busy with workshops and the like. Nevertheless, I had a blast and would HIGHLY suggest that everyone who is can pay a visit to this amazing city!
Anyhoo! The first day really went by in a blur as most of it was spent in various airports (see previous post, A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vanessa Chronicles!) Needless to say, I stumbled into the hotel, briefly thought, "Whoa! This place is nice!", collected everything that needed collecting, and promptly went to bed. Boring, dull, but definitely needed!
The next day I discovered the meaning of Jet Lag when I woke up first at 3 (am!) and again at 5 (AM!)... WITHOUT AN ALARM CLOCK! I was displeased but, HEY!, I'm in Tokyo! I really shouldn't complain! They had a really nice breakfast laid out for us and then the orientation began! All the JETs in Group A (the first to arrive! Oh yes, we are the best!) gathered in this huge ballroom and sat according to our Prefectures. It was really cool to talk to everyone who I was going to be in semi-close contact with for the next year! We were talked at for several hours by very important people, (various ministers and the like) who were actually quite hilarious. I never thought that I'd laugh at a joke told by a government official... and a Japanese one at that! I thought they were supposed to be all solemn! Who knew! :-)
The following days followed the same pattern. Up for breakfast by 7:30, workshops and such the rest of the day, (with a break for lunch, of course!) and we were free to do whatever we liked after 6pm! Now, I'll admit to being boring and dull again on Sunday night because I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life! (I think that I got an average of 3-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night in Tokyo, yucky!) I made up for it the next night, however, when I went out with my roommate NgocUyen, another Kumamoto guy Paul, a couple of his friends from Tokyo, (see pictures! They were so cute!)and some other Kumamoto people whose names I have unfortanately forgotten! Anyway! The JET Programme threw us a huge dinner/drink party on Monday night that was extrememly fun. They really pulled out all the stops for us... and man was there a ton of beer! And the food! Heaven! Afterwards, we (the group mentioned above) went to this awesome restaurant (we had to take our shoes off to get inside! Sugoi!) and the girl ordered us a bunch of foods they loved. Everything was DE-LI-CIOUS! Especially these mini-soft shell crabs... god, those things were tasty... but I digress! We ordered a bunch of drinks, the guys got a bottle of sake (which I also indulged in to a, ahem, certain extent. Hey, they insisted, I swear!) and we went to town! It was so much fun and MAN was I feeling good when I got back that night. It almost made up for the 3 hours of sleep I got before the waking up at 5 am. Stupid jet lag.
On Tuesday we met with our Prefectural Advisors and other assorted people who gave us the details for when we were leaving the next day. They also threw us a all you can eat/drink party at the restaurant I'd been to the night before! It was, in a word, awesome. We did the kempai and kept drinking until it was time to leave! (Sorry Dad, but Japan has a very alcohol focused culture. These people drink like it's going out of style! I'm just trying to adapt to a new culture!) If you look at the pictures you'll notice that I often had 3 drinks in front of me at once! (Again, sorry Daddio!) So I was in a pretty happy place when we left the restaurant... a very happy place actually! Then we went out AGAIN to a dance club and man, I had such a good time! It gets a little blurry about that time, but it was still awesome! The problem arose when a group of us decided to head back... I'd definitely had enough! :-/ We got vague directions from the 2nd year ALT who'd led us there and we headed out. Well, an hour later, (and after bothering several nice police officers for directions) we finally made it back to Keio Plaza. Success! (All you the Japanese you need: Sumimasen! (Name of hotel) No nihon-go, sumimasen! Totally works!) ;-P We made it back and that's what's important at the end of the day!
Waking up the next morning was a bit rough, but I was downstairs and ready for breaky by 7:15... go me! It was a bit sad, saying goodbye to everyone that was going to different Prefectures, but I'm hoping that I can visit them during the year! (Get to visit a new place and NOT pay for a hotel! Awesome!) Anyhoo, a couple hours later we were at the airport and, at first, I feared a repeat of the O'Hare fiasco because we were in an awfully long line! Luckily this airport was far, far superior and handled us beautifully. Oh, did I mention there was a Starbucks! Probably the last one I'll see for a year unless I make it to a big city! I got my chai with a tear in my eye... that's amore! (Kidding! Sorry, it's late here. I'm giddy!)
Our plane took off at something like 11-11:30 and we were off to Kumamoto City! OH! Before I forget! The plane had the coolest feature: it had cameras on the front and bottom of the plane so that we could see the outside and the ground on the TV monitor! So neat! (BTW, the Japanese on the plane looked at us like we were crazy because of how excited we got over this. But, I mean, how neat! They'd never do that in the good ol' US of A!) But I digress yet again! Umm, yes! We got on the plane and said goodbye to Tokyo!
I don't know if I'll see Tokyo again while I'm here. There are so many places to see... Kyoto, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Seoul, Hong Kong, Thailand, Shanghai, etc. The list goes on. Nevertheless, I must say that Tokyo is an awesome and amazing place. The night life goes on and on, the food is to die for, and there are so many people! It's intense to say the least, but definitely worth it. ANYWAY, that was the end of my Tokyo Adventure. Next stop: Kumamoto City and on to Amakusa-machi!
Ok all, I'm finally getting down to the nitty gritty about my time in Japan thus far. Sorry for the delay! Not having internet makes it hard to keep this blog updated! Oh yes, I'm also going to attempt to attach a link to my Chicago/Tokyo pics. Let me know if it works, I'm still trying to figure everything out!
Ok, I'll send a link to the stupid freakin' pics, then, until I figure out this stupid freakin' blog thing. Damme!
(Don't miss the adventures of Army Bear!)
Where to start, where to start. Tokyo is such an intense experience... nearly impossible to explain in words or show in pictures. It's a place y'all have to visit yourselves! Keep in mind that I barely even scratched the service, IF THAT! They kept us busy, busy, busy with workshops and the like. Nevertheless, I had a blast and would HIGHLY suggest that everyone who is can pay a visit to this amazing city!
Anyhoo! The first day really went by in a blur as most of it was spent in various airports (see previous post, A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vanessa Chronicles!) Needless to say, I stumbled into the hotel, briefly thought, "Whoa! This place is nice!", collected everything that needed collecting, and promptly went to bed. Boring, dull, but definitely needed!
The next day I discovered the meaning of Jet Lag when I woke up first at 3 (am!) and again at 5 (AM!)... WITHOUT AN ALARM CLOCK! I was displeased but, HEY!, I'm in Tokyo! I really shouldn't complain! They had a really nice breakfast laid out for us and then the orientation began! All the JETs in Group A (the first to arrive! Oh yes, we are the best!) gathered in this huge ballroom and sat according to our Prefectures. It was really cool to talk to everyone who I was going to be in semi-close contact with for the next year! We were talked at for several hours by very important people, (various ministers and the like) who were actually quite hilarious. I never thought that I'd laugh at a joke told by a government official... and a Japanese one at that! I thought they were supposed to be all solemn! Who knew! :-)
The following days followed the same pattern. Up for breakfast by 7:30, workshops and such the rest of the day, (with a break for lunch, of course!) and we were free to do whatever we liked after 6pm! Now, I'll admit to being boring and dull again on Sunday night because I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life! (I think that I got an average of 3-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night in Tokyo, yucky!) I made up for it the next night, however, when I went out with my roommate NgocUyen, another Kumamoto guy Paul, a couple of his friends from Tokyo, (see pictures! They were so cute!)and some other Kumamoto people whose names I have unfortanately forgotten! Anyway! The JET Programme threw us a huge dinner/drink party on Monday night that was extrememly fun. They really pulled out all the stops for us... and man was there a ton of beer! And the food! Heaven! Afterwards, we (the group mentioned above) went to this awesome restaurant (we had to take our shoes off to get inside! Sugoi!) and the girl ordered us a bunch of foods they loved. Everything was DE-LI-CIOUS! Especially these mini-soft shell crabs... god, those things were tasty... but I digress! We ordered a bunch of drinks, the guys got a bottle of sake (which I also indulged in to a, ahem, certain extent. Hey, they insisted, I swear!) and we went to town! It was so much fun and MAN was I feeling good when I got back that night. It almost made up for the 3 hours of sleep I got before the waking up at 5 am. Stupid jet lag.
On Tuesday we met with our Prefectural Advisors and other assorted people who gave us the details for when we were leaving the next day. They also threw us a all you can eat/drink party at the restaurant I'd been to the night before! It was, in a word, awesome. We did the kempai and kept drinking until it was time to leave! (Sorry Dad, but Japan has a very alcohol focused culture. These people drink like it's going out of style! I'm just trying to adapt to a new culture!) If you look at the pictures you'll notice that I often had 3 drinks in front of me at once! (Again, sorry Daddio!) So I was in a pretty happy place when we left the restaurant... a very happy place actually! Then we went out AGAIN to a dance club and man, I had such a good time! It gets a little blurry about that time, but it was still awesome! The problem arose when a group of us decided to head back... I'd definitely had enough! :-/ We got vague directions from the 2nd year ALT who'd led us there and we headed out. Well, an hour later, (and after bothering several nice police officers for directions) we finally made it back to Keio Plaza. Success! (All you the Japanese you need: Sumimasen! (Name of hotel) No nihon-go, sumimasen! Totally works!) ;-P We made it back and that's what's important at the end of the day!
Waking up the next morning was a bit rough, but I was downstairs and ready for breaky by 7:15... go me! It was a bit sad, saying goodbye to everyone that was going to different Prefectures, but I'm hoping that I can visit them during the year! (Get to visit a new place and NOT pay for a hotel! Awesome!) Anyhoo, a couple hours later we were at the airport and, at first, I feared a repeat of the O'Hare fiasco because we were in an awfully long line! Luckily this airport was far, far superior and handled us beautifully. Oh, did I mention there was a Starbucks! Probably the last one I'll see for a year unless I make it to a big city! I got my chai with a tear in my eye... that's amore! (Kidding! Sorry, it's late here. I'm giddy!)
Our plane took off at something like 11-11:30 and we were off to Kumamoto City! OH! Before I forget! The plane had the coolest feature: it had cameras on the front and bottom of the plane so that we could see the outside and the ground on the TV monitor! So neat! (BTW, the Japanese on the plane looked at us like we were crazy because of how excited we got over this. But, I mean, how neat! They'd never do that in the good ol' US of A!) But I digress yet again! Umm, yes! We got on the plane and said goodbye to Tokyo!
I don't know if I'll see Tokyo again while I'm here. There are so many places to see... Kyoto, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Seoul, Hong Kong, Thailand, Shanghai, etc. The list goes on. Nevertheless, I must say that Tokyo is an awesome and amazing place. The night life goes on and on, the food is to die for, and there are so many people! It's intense to say the least, but definitely worth it. ANYWAY, that was the end of my Tokyo Adventure. Next stop: Kumamoto City and on to Amakusa-machi!
posted by VW | 7:18 AM
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