To the land of the rising sun

So the plane ride into Tokyo was really not that bad. The whole time was spent just trying to figure out if I wanted to sleep or not. I officially give up on ever trying to sleep on a plane ever again. Talked to two of the girls and fellow JETs who were sitting next to me. Had a really neat conversation about research and doing women’s studies. Seems that people everywhere are amazed that a guy can be so interested in such topics.

After I got off the plane about a million current JETs were there to help us organize everything we needed and get us onto a bus to our hotel. The air in Tokyo was stifling to say the least. I don’t think I have ever felt so much humidity in the air in all my life. Luckily the bus was air-conditioned. When we entered the city of Tokyo, I was amazed at how green it was and clean compared to other cities I had been in. It really stood out among the rest. A girl named Shannon sat next to me and we really hit it off. She is going to be living in Shiga-ken, a prefecture a bit southwest of mine. I really am hoping that I will get a chance to go and see her and vice versa. She was really open to talking about pretty much anything and this made it a very comfortable situation for me. We ended up going out into the city together the first night in Tokyo. Decided to eat at this tiny little place underground…yes…apparently Tokyo has multiple levels of shops/businesses/restaurants all underground. It looks like you are going down to a subway but instead there is an entire shopping center. It was so bizarre. The area that my hotel was in is called Shinju-ku and was full of small streets with bright lights, electronic stores, conbinis, and other stores. It really was a sight to see. Really hard to describe.

View from my hotel window

Shinju-ku, Tokyo