The journey back to Japan and JET Tokyo Orientation

Family photo before I departed

The journey to Japan was a long one. The San Francisco area JETs all met at SFO on Saturday at 8:30 to collect our passports and other materials from the consulate staff. My mom and grandma came with me, and we actually arrived there super early, like 6:45! That's what happens when you take a town car early in the a.m. on a weekend with plenty of time to spare. So, before I went through security, I spent some quality time with my mom and grandma just chatting and browsing the MoMA store in the departures terminal. When I finally did go through security, I felt sad for leaving them, but I guess I'm so used to leaving home now that no tears fell!

I was on my own in a sea of fellow JETs, so I befriended a few and we sat together, waiting by the gate. When we finally got on the plane, our San Francisco JET coordinator was there to see us off (and check us off — the JET staff is super organized and doesn't miss a single detail!). He had been a great help in getting all our paperwork taken care of over this long application and acceptance process.

On the plane, I chose to keep to myself and so did the two JETs on either side of me, which was fine with me as I wanted to try to sleep. To no avail... I arrived at Narita Airport ten and a half hours later but no less sleepless. This was not helped by the fact that we then had to go through customs/immigration and lug all our checked baggage down and out of the airport to be shipped off. But finally, we got on a bus to Tokyo and all was well.

Hotel Keio has Hello Kitty rooms you can book,
but sadly we did not get one, nor were we greeted by her.

After chilling for a bit at Hotel Keio, I met up with an old friend, K, living in Tokyo who had studied abroad in my hometown during our senior year of high school. Believe it or not, that was ten years ago! It was great to see her again, and we had a lot of catching up to do. We talked in the lobby for a while, waiting for another of my Tokyo-dwelling friends, JR, to join. A friend of his was also going to come with us for dinner, so there were four of us, old and new friends together, headed out in Shinjuku to find kaitenzushi, or conveyor belt sushi.

We wandered around in circles a bit before finding a restaurant recommended by JR's friend. Lucky for us, there were four seats free around the conveyor belt! We sat and talked and enjoyed the sushi and matcha. It was a really wonderful time, and I was so glad to be spending the evening with the three of them. It really felt like I was back in traveler mode, mingling with people from around the globe and just enjoying their company.

Afterward, the three of them walked me back to the hotel (so kind of them!) and we parted ways so I could try to sleep some of the jet lag off. It had been a tiring but satisfying first day in Tokyo.