here goes nothing...

so i spent my last evening at home trying to watch all of down with love, even though i knew i had to wake up at 5:30am to leave for the airport. it actually seems to be a pattern of mine, trying to get in as much "movie" as i can before leaving the country. i did it before going abroad for a semester (great expectations), and before traveling in france and italy (rising sun). on this particular night i was unsuccessful. i fell asleep on the couch in the middle of the movie and dragged myself up to my bed at 3am.

the next morning after tearful goodbyes to my family i boarded my flight, first to detroit, then on to osaka. i had a two seat row all to myself, and hoped to get some sleep during the "night" portion of the flight. but until then i slipped off my shoes and cozied in for some in-flight entertainment. i was very excited to see that one of the movie options was down with love! i also got to see the italian job. so after 2 movies and a decent dinner (by airplane food standards) it really hit me. 14 hours is a very.... long..... flight.....

i was able to doze a little after dinner, since i had hardly slept the night before. i read some of my japan guide, all about the kagawa region where i would be living, some history, some culture. i flipped through my japanese phrasebook trying to imagine which phrases i might need upon arrival. for a while i chatted with a few guys around me, all on their way to teach at nova as well, one downing sake like it was going out of style. i dozed some more. eventually we arrived in japan.


osaka, japan
the other new nova teachers and i managed to find our luggage, navigate customs, and locate a man holding a nova sign. he led us to the end of the terminal where there were more future teachers hanging about looking tired and a little lost. our names were checked off a list as we left our bags to be delivered to our respective apartments within 2 days. for another hour or so i sat on the floor looking over all the papers and booklets i had been given. finally we were shuttled onto a bus and brought to our hotel in dotonburi.

after dropping my remaining bag on the floor of my room and sitting on the bed for a while i went back down to the lobby to use the internet. i sent a slightly frazzled e-mail to my parents and set out into the night to find something to appease my grumbling tummy.

continued next week...