So this is from yesterday....i didn't get a chance to type it up:
So...I'm sitting in my terminal after saying goodbye to the dear fam and getting patted down by security. And how perfect is this- I get to watch the sunrise and right as I turn my iPod on shuffle the first song that plays is Viva la Vida by Coldplay. PERRRfect.
Over whelming misbelief is pretty much what I feel right at this moment. I don't think it will hit me for a very long time - or as a dear friend once told me- until I see that everyone is a foot shorter than me and has dark hair. haha
On my flight from Dallas to Tokyo Narita there was this really nice flight attendant named Lisa who was tall and blonde and had been studying Japanese for 10 years! She goes to camps during the summer and works on her Japanese language abilities. She sounded just like a native
speaker when she would translate what the pilot said into Japanese. She and I exchanged books and all that sort of stuff and she pretty much became a nice friend. She reassured me that I would love Japan and Osaka. I ended up giving her a bracelet that I had made a day ago. Good ol Lisa.
The day of traveling wore me out. Twenty-two hours is a long time and I was exhausted by the end of the night. I couldn't believe how big the jet was that took me from Dallas to Tokyo Narita! It was huge and I could have probably run a few laps on it. I lucked out on my flights that's for sure- no one sat in the seats next to me all through my trip! I was able to get some sleep but not much. When trying to land at Narita there were gusts 30 to 40 miles an hour and it was raining really hard. You know it's bad when you are almost on the ground and the pilot has to do a quick pull up to circle around for another 20 minutes before you try and land again. The second time he tried and we landed fishtailing on the wet pavement. It had to be a sight for sore eyes....I know it was for mine!
In Narita I'm pretty sure I looked like a panic-stricken gaijin (foreigner) who didn't know where she was going. And that is exactly how I felt. There were no signs I could read! So I used my handy dandy Japanese language speaking abilities and charming smile to try and find someone to speak English to. I am normally against doing this but I was in a huge rush and needed information fast - I only had 20 minutes before I was to board my next flight to Osaka. Luckily I found the gate. I think I shed 5 pounds then...at this rate I'm going to lose 50 pounds!
Today (9/1...and I can't believe it's already September) is smoking hot. In our Seminar House when you take a shower you basically are in a sauna. Thank goodness there is air in the computer room, kitchen and our rooms. I would sweat like 10 pounds off of me in 2 days. My temporary roommates are Nikki and Amber. They are pretty cool. Today, Nikki an
d I went walking to find food because both of us didn't have a meal in like ....10+ hours.... It's beautiful here and actually it reminds me a lot of California. We found a 99 yen store (which is like a dollar store...but unlike most dollar stores...everything literally costs the same...). It hit me that I was in Japan when I couldn't figure out what half of the things were in the store and whether or not the ramen I was buying would be spicy or not. I can't take spicy. Also, I almost did the happy dance when I heard my favorite song artist Gackt on the radio. I was so happy.
Last night was my first time sleeping on a futon on tatami mats and it was awesome. Oh and when we got to our seminar house last night I forgot to take my shoes off and it was funny. I felt bad, but then again I was completely out of my mind since I was so exhausted. They understood.
One of the things that really bothers me here is that they waited to pile all of this information on us now. Apparently you have to have the right credit card and the right kind of ATM card to get any sort of money. I am scheduled to go to a banking session today, and I have a LOT of questions to ask because nothing is clear. As well as an orientation and studying to do. Sooooo much studying to do....because I realize that my Japanese is really not where it should be.
I owe it to my family and friends for all the encouragement and support in making one of my many dreams possible. Oh and pictures will becoming shortly....just as soon as I get my lap top registered.
Reachin for that Gold-
~Ashlee
So...I'm sitting in my terminal after saying goodbye to the dear fam and getting patted down by security. And how perfect is this- I get to watch the sunrise and right as I turn my iPod on shuffle the first song that plays is Viva la Vida by Coldplay. PERRRfect.
Over whelming misbelief is pretty much what I feel right at this moment. I don't think it will hit me for a very long time - or as a dear friend once told me- until I see that everyone is a foot shorter than me and has dark hair. haha
On my flight from Dallas to Tokyo Narita there was this really nice flight attendant named Lisa who was tall and blonde and had been studying Japanese for 10 years! She goes to camps during the summer and works on her Japanese language abilities. She sounded just like a native
speaker when she would translate what the pilot said into Japanese. She and I exchanged books and all that sort of stuff and she pretty much became a nice friend. She reassured me that I would love Japan and Osaka. I ended up giving her a bracelet that I had made a day ago. Good ol Lisa.The day of traveling wore me out. Twenty-two hours is a long time and I was exhausted by the end of the night. I couldn't believe how big the jet was that took me from Dallas to Tokyo Narita! It was huge and I could have probably run a few laps on it. I lucked out on my flights that's for sure- no one sat in the seats next to me all through my trip! I was able to get some sleep but not much. When trying to land at Narita there were gusts 30 to 40 miles an hour and it was raining really hard. You know it's bad when you are almost on the ground and the pilot has to do a quick pull up to circle around for another 20 minutes before you try and land again. The second time he tried and we landed fishtailing on the wet pavement. It had to be a sight for sore eyes....I know it was for mine!
In Narita I'm pretty sure I looked like a panic-stricken gaijin (foreigner) who didn't know where she was going. And that is exactly how I felt. There were no signs I could read! So I used my handy dandy Japanese language speaking abilities and charming smile to try and find someone to speak English to. I am normally against doing this but I was in a huge rush and needed information fast - I only had 20 minutes before I was to board my next flight to Osaka. Luckily I found the gate. I think I shed 5 pounds then...at this rate I'm going to lose 50 pounds!
Today (9/1...and I can't believe it's already September) is smoking hot. In our Seminar House when you take a shower you basically are in a sauna. Thank goodness there is air in the computer room, kitchen and our rooms. I would sweat like 10 pounds off of me in 2 days. My temporary roommates are Nikki and Amber. They are pretty cool. Today, Nikki an
d I went walking to find food because both of us didn't have a meal in like ....10+ hours.... It's beautiful here and actually it reminds me a lot of California. We found a 99 yen store (which is like a dollar store...but unlike most dollar stores...everything literally costs the same...). It hit me that I was in Japan when I couldn't figure out what half of the things were in the store and whether or not the ramen I was buying would be spicy or not. I can't take spicy. Also, I almost did the happy dance when I heard my favorite song artist Gackt on the radio. I was so happy.Last night was my first time sleeping on a futon on tatami mats and it was awesome. Oh and when we got to our seminar house last night I forgot to take my shoes off and it was funny. I felt bad, but then again I was completely out of my mind since I was so exhausted. They understood.
One of the things that really bothers me here is that they waited to pile all of this information on us now. Apparently you have to have the right credit card and the right kind of ATM card to get any sort of money. I am scheduled to go to a banking session today, and I have a LOT of questions to ask because nothing is clear. As well as an orientation and studying to do. Sooooo much studying to do....because I realize that my Japanese is really not where it should be.
I owe it to my family and friends for all the encouragement and support in making one of my many dreams possible. Oh and pictures will becoming shortly....just as soon as I get my lap top registered.
Reachin for that Gold-
~Ashlee
REACHIN' FOR DAT GOLD, BABY!!!
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