Herro Tokyo

It's not as hot as I expected! Humidity definitely made everything worse when we were lining up to ship our bags but it wasn't as bad as the "feels like 110 degrees" Chicago weather that one day. A lot of thanks to the JET baggage workers and coordinators! They were really nice and helped us move our bags with welcoming smiles even though the weather was crappy. Going through customs and immigration was also as smooth as it could ever be. I was actually worrying about bringing some antibiotics and tylenol but wow, what a breeze. After shipping our bags to our C.Os, we lined up for the buses and headed to our hotel.

Keio plaza hotel is superb. It's definitely a huge upgrade from holiday inn express (now don't get me wrong, that place was nice and comfy too). Lots of chandeliers in the lobby, and people in suits ready to accomplish hotel business. Rachel and I were ready to part as roommates (we were roomies at the Chicago orientation), but what do you know, we are roomies again at Keio! (; It's definitely comforting to have someone you know well be your roomie for 3 days in a foreign environment.

After we exchanged some money at the front desk, we met up with my high school friend Shouhei who's in Japan for the summer. We ate udon at a place where we can customize what goes into our bowl. The place was good and fairly cheap. Udon noodles were different from what I'm used to eating in Hawaii. Noodles were more chewy and fresh! After dinner, we walked around the Shinjuku station area and eventually through Takashimaya time square. Then we headed back to our hotel. Meeting Shouhei again tomorrow after the orientation... we'll probably hit up Shibuya and harajuku. We'll see.

Prep & Going

One day before flying out to Chicago for the orientation, and then off to Japan on Saturday... Pretty excited about it. Been running around for the last few weeks trying to prepare for the departure and it has worked out pretty well (fingers crossed). For one I got everything I need in my suitcases. Most importantly though I have omiyage covered. What I basically did was request items from 'Sharing Aloha' (they were generous! got some pens, pencils, post-its, and magnets with Hawaii logo on them), and buy macadamia nuts, Hawaiian Host chocolate (mini bags), and key chains. Hopefully the chocolate won't melt.

Anyway, I decided to start this blog (my first blog everrr) to write about my adventures teaching & living in Miyazaki City, Japan. I have all sorts of ideas about the place from what I read, heard, and saw on youtube so far and I think my dad's right: "I'm basically going from Hawaii to Hawaii." Miyazaki-shi is on Kyushu which is the southern island of Japan so it'll be pretty warm all year round. Heard mangoes are good there... I love mangoes!