Flight and First Day

Wow. Just…wow. I have been in Japan for almost 72hrs and I have no idea where to start. It has been an incredible first few days. Okay, how about we start in Edmonton?

Saying goodbye to my family was tough; we kept exchanging multiple hugs before I had to go. Going through security and finding my terminal was easy peasy. I found myself a seat and listened to music and played a few rounds of Solitaire before they called for general boarding. I got an awesome window seat near the front and there was a seat between me and the lady sitting on the aisle. She was extremely grumpy so I just smiled at her. It was only an hour flight to Vancouver and it was crazy short. You took off, they gave you snacks and a drink, you use the washroom, and then you land.

Getting off and finding the baggage claim was also very simple and smoothly. My bags were one of the first ones to be unloaded and relief swept through me. (I can be a worry wart sometimes.) The employees at the Vancouver Airport were so kind to me and helped me find my way back to the departure gates. As soon as I got into the International Departure Check-In, my world got a whole lot smaller. I am almost 100% sure that I was the only white person for miles in there. My heart sunk a little when I saw this gigantic line for check-in, but I stepped into the back of the line and waited. As I said, I was the only white person there, and with my bright red blazer I looked pretty foreign and out of place. So out of place that an English speaking employee came to talk to me to make sure I was in the right spot. I was in the right place, just the wrong line. He directed me to these machines where you can print off your boarding pass if you had your booking reference number and then I was able to detour the giant line and go through a direct check-in line which was a lot shorter. Security was once again, simple and it was easy to find my gate. I settled down with my iPod and connected to their Wi-Fi for a 5hr layover. Karly Hilgers, the other exchange student going to Japan in District 5370, came and found me around 12:30pm and we chattered with excitement.

Our plane was HUGE!! It is the biggest aircraft in Air Canada’s fleet, Boeing 777-300. Look it up and be amazed. Haha! Karly and I were not able to sit together but during the flight I would go sit with her because the middle seat in her row was empty. The flight was long. It was a 9-10hrs direct flight. We hit a lot of turbulence which resulted me in feeling very nauseous by the last two hours of the flight. I watched Clash of the Titans, which was really good, listened to my iPod, slept, and played card games with Karly. A very sweet Japanese couple sat next to me, but I kind of regret not talking to them more to practice my Japanese. When we started to descend, I grabbed my camera and began to snap photos of Japan as we flew over it. (I was lucky enough to snag a window seat.) My tiredness was swept away by pure adrenaline.

My first reaction to Japan when Karly and I stepped off the plane was hot. And we were inside the airport! It was extremely stifling but we refused to take off our red blazers. It was a long walk along the moving floor things. I can’t remember how many we stepped onto and off in a row. While we traveled down this strip to the baggage claim, someone from behind tapped our shoulders. It was a Japanese girl about our age and she was wearing a Rotary shirt! She asked us, in English, if we were exchange students from Canada. Turns out she was just coming back from her Rotary exchange in Ontario! We exchanged cards and helped each other get to the baggage claims. Before we could get to our bags, we had to clear customs. On the plane we had to fill out custom cards that we had to give to the custom employees. They took our photo and our fingerprints and then we were off to get our bags! Karly was able to get her bags right away, but mine, didn’t come. I was starting to get really worried that my bags got lost. But finally, they rolled onto the caracal. They were the last two bags to be taken off the plane. I guess that’s what I get when they came off first in Vancouver. Haha! Now comes the best part. Karly and I will be laughing about this for years. We got lost. Inside the baggage claim. It was a huge area and we couldn’t find the exit. After asking a lot of employees, who didn’t understand English, we managed to get out.

I was greeted by my exchange counselor, Kobiyama Hiroshi, and Maria Tsubota, who will be going to Edmonton on August 20th. It was roughly 1am for me so I was extremely exhausted. After getting to the car and answering some questions, I quickly fell asleep and missed the drive through Tokyo. When we arrived at Kobi’s house, I would be staying there the first two nights, it was pitch dark and it was only 8pm! Kobi’s daughter and two grandchildren were also staying over as well as Maria’s mom. We had an amazing dinner, and I immediately fell in love with Japanese food. After a quick shower in their strange shower, I was off to bed, too tired for words.

This is all I am going to type for now, for I still have slight jet-lag and may take a short nap. I congratulate you if you have read this entire post! Stay tuned for my next post where I will share the rest of my experiences thus far! Sayonara!

~Stephanie