I’ve written a number of blogs over the days and, unfortunately, have not yet had a chance to post them up, so here they are in various parts since the beginning of my study abroad:

So after over a year of actual planning, scholarship work, paperwork, stress, nagging, pain, agony, and about seven years of legitimate, heart-wrenching yearning for the country, I was going to Japan. I flew by Korean Air, going from Washington Dulles Airport to Seoul, Korea, then to Nagoya. With a thirteen hour and 2 hour flight ahead of me, I had been pretty set for exhaustion, but even I didn’t expect to actually stay awake for about 25 hours straight.

Still, in the meantime, I managed to watch Thor, Cafe en Rue, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, The Adjustment Bureau, Source Code, and Limitless in one sitting. The food was rather incredible, we got served bibimbap for lunch and a fairly appetizing pasta meal for dinner. Despite that, Steff and I were still awfully dehydrated, nauseous, and exhausted by the end of our journey.

We arrived in Nagoya around at 8:50 exactly, as it said on our ticket. After going through immigration and grabbing our luggage, we got to ride first class in a train into Nagoya station with the student director, then walk to the Daichi Fuji hotel, where we stayed the night.

Barely slept a wink, usually waking up every hour, but I had a refreshing shower and the room was very comfortable, if not small. Everything was so compact, and yet very practical, such as the bathrooms and tiny shower.

 

The next day, we got to meet our IES:Abroad group of about 20 people, had a brief run-through of the train/subway/bus systems in Nagoya, then we were off to Inuyama for our orientation.

At the time, it was decided that I will not only make a valiant effort to try every single drink they have in Japan, but that I will document it with a review. It shall be done!

Overall, the first flight in and arriving wasn’t as dramatic and tear-inducing as I had imagined. I was exhausted, I was jet-lagged, and all of this was wrapping up to make me mildly miserable and extremely homesick. I don’t often pine for my family and my closest friends, but being shoved into a new country with very little sleep under my belt made for a gloomy situation. Even if I had just accomplished one of my lifelong dreams. Still, excitement was still high. I was in the land of vending machines on every corner, advanced toilet seats, and onsens. I was in Japan.

Location: Daichi Fuji Hotel, Nagoya, Japan