From Detroit to Japan

To say that my voyage to Japan got off to a bad start would be something of an understatement. I boarded the plane, we taxied to the runway, and the Pilot promptly informed us of an equipment malfunction. We taxied BACK to the terminal, waited to see if the could fix it, and eventually left the plane.

In the end I wound up staying at the Weston hotel located at the airport overnight to wait for a similar set of flights the next day. I watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel while reclining in a very comfy bed.

The next day, and after one full hour of sleep, I went back to Smith Terminal at 4am. I was surprised to find another person waiting at the United counter. It was a middle aged Japanese woman who was really very nice and who spoke English quite well. We chatted on and off for the next two hours until the flight boarded.

THIS plane was NOT broken! We took off and got on our way very promptly. I go very sleepy once we were at altitude, and resolved to catch some Z's on the next flight. The next flight, by the way, was very easy to get to. I just had to go down the terminal that I arrived at to a different gate.

On the flight to San Fransisco I watched part of "Prince Caspian," which was mildly entertaining. I spent a good long time looking out the window. After a few pretty cloud formations went by, we got int the clear and I got to see the landscape. You'd be surprised how beautiful the Western US is from the air. I saw more geologic features than I'd care to say. I saw everything from mountains, to canyons, to landslides, to what I think was a nuclear testing ground! It's interesting just how many of these things look Photoshop'd from the sky...

My flight to Japan boarded not long after I landed in San Fransisco. I had wanted to get some food before I left, but it turns out that he first meal on the flight began not too long after I took off. It was really quite good. Beef and mashed potatoes. Anyway, this flight was 10 hours, so I did what I could to sleep. I also read some of the Star Trek novel I brought along and watched two movies on the personal media staion: Kung fu Panda and Iron Man, both of which were good.

I landed at Osaka International ahead of schedule. After getting through customs I was surprised to find that there wasn't anyone there to pick me up as I had been lead to believe. I looked up and down the lobby and tried to call the school multiple times before attempting to see if KIX had free internet. Luckily they did, because I had recieved an email from the school informing me with instructions on how to get to a station via a bus. That bus was scheduled to leave 30min. after I got the email.

I got on the bus and made it to Hankyu Sation. There I met my host family and Sean, a school representative and American, who gave me some papers to read. I rode to their house in their car, and promptly upon arriving I was shown around and to my room. I have a fairly large room all to myself! I was given curry for dinner that was very tasty, and that evening I watched part of a Hanshin Tigers baseball game.

My host parents are very nice people and are very inviting. They gave me a house key so I can get in when noone else is home or when I "stay out all night drinking," as my host mother said. They don't speak a whole lot of English, but we can usually figure out what eachother are saying. I've already taught them a new English word: Muggy!

It's very hot and humid here, and I will probably wind up spending a fortune of bottled water. Anyhoo, I'm gonna go and do some stuff. You can expect to see another post very soon about my first day at school and my trip to City Hall. Oh, and later I may add pictures, which I haven't taken yet.