Wow! What a day!
First of all, the flight from Detroit to Japan wasn't bad at all. It was 13 hours but I slept most of it. Upon arrival in Tokyo, I was greeted by a plethora of current JET participants in mango-colored shirts. They whisked off my luggage to be shipped to my city and the rest was loaded onto a charter bus. Narita Int'l Airport is located at least 2-3 hours outside of Tokyo by bus so I dozed on and off on the ride into Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo.
We arrived at the Keio Plaza Hotel around 6:30 and after a quick freshening up session, I went with new acquaintances from the Nashville orientation and a guy from Manchester, UK for sushi-go-round. I ate A LOT for about $10.
While the room is very luxurious, the beds are as hard as they were in China, but with more cushioning... so just really... REALLY firm.
Tonight, we're all attending a welcoming reception hosted by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Relations, and of Sports, Culture, and Education. Afterward, I will meet with my host family, the Sasahiras, for coffee and sweets. I haven't seen my host father since I was last in Tokyo 6 years ago and my host mother since she visited me in 2005. It'll be a pleasant reunion for sure.
I finally met with all the other JET participants who are in the same prefecture as me and one of them, from Liverpool in the UK, is in the same city as me! Awesome accent + good looks = potential date. Ha ha ha! Three others in the same prefecture are also of Japanese decent and are hoping to "discover" more about their family heritage, as I am.
The hotel here has free internet in the room, but I'm sharing with two roommates so these updates may not be so frequent after Tokyo Orientation ends on Wednesday. It may be in the 20s before you hear from me again!
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