We're Heeeeeeeeere

Alright, y'all...it was a long, long trip, with many pains in my ass, but we made it. All of the airport stuff was kind of a mess, but the plane ride was pretty pleasant. They fed us quite a few times (including-but not limited to-ice cream sandwiches and sausage) and I got to see some movies I'd been meaning to watch (Inside Man, Over the Hedge, Thank You For Smoking, and Mission: Impossible III).

Once we finally got to Narita, we taxied for what seemed like an excessive period of time, then spent over an hour getting through customs and everything. But...when that was over, we saw a familiar face waiting for us in the airport lobby...Naoko! (TIU student-turned TIUA student-turned Willamette student-turned Willamette grad-turned TIU student)
We'd just missed seeing our friend Jen, who left the JET Program an hour earlier to teach in Taiwan. Her plane had boarded while we were going through customs. Sad.

So, then...we made our way to Tokyo to stay at the Keio Plaza Hotel. It's a pretty nice place...probably overpriced, but I don't have to pay, so...GREAT!! I'm on the 21st floor, Tori's on the 31st, and this is the view from my window: Not too shabby, eh?

To celebrate our arrival, a couple of old friends Shimpei and Yohei from TIUA came and we all went out to dinner at a little place about 5 minutes (by foot) from our hotel. We had our first little bit of culture shock there when Naoko ordered raw pork. Yup...raw pork. I know...it goes against everything you've ever heard about the safe handling of pork. It was INCREDIBLY good, though. Kind of reminded me of the time I accidentally ate raw chicken at home...but more tasty...and probably safer. I'll be ordering that again. Tori was having a hell of a time with jet lag...can't blame her, we'd been up for 24 hours. And I think Naoko forgot how goofy Americans could be...but no worries...Dave reminded her. In other news...I also made my first phone call from a Japanese cell phone.



And that was the end of day 1.