Definition: Vacation

I hurriedly write as we get ready to head to Tokyo for New Year's Day.

Yes, it's 9pm Florida time, but 2012 here! Happy New Year!

I failed to peek out the window Thursday morning and notice that the cloud coverage and wind was enough to keep me curled up in bed with a good book and perch, rather than climb Tsukubasan.

Which is just about exactly what I've done the last two days, more or less.

I was told, by my loving hubby, that this, in fact, is exactly what vacation is. And I'm kind of hooked.

We did walk through Tsukuba on Friday, taking the scenic pathway that runs straight through the town from top to bottom. It's beautiful. (For you Gainesville-ians, think Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail. For you MC'ers, think Saint Lucie Boulevard... you know, the one that goes to Sandsprit Park.) It was gorgeous

The trail is littered with numerous parks, these adorable little (and big!) squares with playgrounds and grassy hills. The bigger ones have entire lakes and creeks, and trails for a little bit of "exploring."

 The largest of the larger parks is set in front of an expo center, and has a Japanese rocket in the middle (pictured below.) It overlooks like large lake-type area (think Lincoln Memorial in DC) with ducks and those pesky, lazy fish that you could reach out and grab.. if you wanted.

Tsukuba planners saved the cutest park for the end of the trail. It has this large tower that you can climb up and see, I assume, the entire town. It was closed for the "holiday," so we'll have to climb it when things re-open later in the week.

We also got to see a Japanese-style bathroom... luckily I didn't have to experience it.

Speaking of toilets, I attempted to add a new dish to my cuisine toolbox: Tonkatsu. We resolved it wasn't the worst thing I've ever made (that record belongs to the fried rice debacle of 2010... Ray still shudders.) Ray says he liked it. He's either being completely honest or he's trying to boost my morale, but he wins extra hubby points either way.

The first one is mine, the second from a restaurant.

I think that it shows promise.

Saturday was another "vacation" day, which I'm growing so very fond of. We puttered around all morning, finally going for a run in the afternoon. When you have this to run through, how could you say no?

It was a great way to ring in the New Year. Ray made dinner and we played cards and waited for midnight, at which time I got to see firsthand (on TV) how the Japanese ring in the New Year. Think Backstreet Boys, NKOTB, Nsync and more all on one stage, one after the other. It was like a machine gun of J-Pop, but nothing like in the States where it takes forever between sets.

At midnight, I decided I wanted to watch our traditional NYE movie: It's A Wonderful Life.

I love that movie.

No Chinese food this year to accompany, but I think we'll manage.

Like I said before, we're headed to Tokyo today (a surprising 50 degrees- about 15 degrees warmer than Tsukuba, and only 38 miles south!) Tomorrow we leave for Kyoto, and we'll spend the week on that side of the country seeing Nara and Osaka, as well.

So, my posts may be infrequent, but I'll log it all along the way and post when I can.

I wish you all a very happy New Year full of blessings and prosperity!

Popcorn fixes everything

Oh, wow I'm bad at keeping up with blogs.

I've been here just over a full week, and I'm loving it.

Tuesday through yesterday were pretty uneventful, but relaxing- just what I needed. Everything here closes down for the New Year, so there isn't a whole lot to see or do.


We had a very American Tuesday night: bowling and basketball. We went with friends to an arcade-style megacenter. They had a bowling alley and every arcade game imaginable (including those basketball shooting games.)

I also finally got some popcorn to satisfy my craving!

Wednesday we went for an extended "hike" through Tsukuba.. saw some parks and the scenery of the city. There's a lot of greenery for being a "metropolitan" area, although I'd say this is an interesting blend of rural and city. I experienced my first foreign post office. It was surprisingly efficient.

Thursday is 10% off at the grocery store day... how can you pass that up? It takes about an hour to get through the 15-aisle store, because you have to match up the little symbols on your grocery list with the little symbols on the product (which may be slightly different than what Google Translate tells you!)

I found recipes to make Tonkatsu (pork) and Chicken Katsu, so we had to stray from the "normal" routine in the grocery store to accommodate the needed items. I spent maybe 10 minutes looking through the sauce section for ketchup. I was so proud of myself for finding the right one, but that quickly melted when I looked 12 inches down the shelf to see "Heinz Ketchup" clearly printed on a bottle.

Oh well, it was a fun experience.

If there's one thing I've noticed, it's the similarities in humanity that stand out far more than the differences. Babies cry the same in every language, children laugh the same, and the teenage population still can't drive. Emotions and body language transcend cultural barriers, and hand gestures are a great way of communicating when words aren't possible.

At JAXA Monday, we wanted a picture with the space shuttle that is on display in the quad. A woman and her daughter (presumably) were taking pictures also. They spoke Japanese and we spoke English, yet we somehow managed to get a picture together with the shuttle, as did they.

I know just enough Japanese to get me thrown into jail.

"Excuse me" and "thank you" are the extent of my knowledge. I know "Kon'nichiwa," but since that's only appropriate to use at certain times, and I don't know when those are, I avoid saying it so I don't look like that silly American who watched Tokyo Drift and thought she knew everything about the culture.

Luckily for me, the keisatsu (police) don't look that intimidating and I could easily out run them long enough to get on the global news and become a public figure, rather than another Pat thrown in a white padded room and lost forever.

Today, if we ever get going, we'll be climbing Tsukubasan (Mt. Tsukuba), which will take most of the day (since we rely on public transportation). My sinuses have been the main reason we've been lazy. They're irritated from the heater and dry air and have been bleeding for about a week and slightly infected.

I know, you really wanted to hear that information.

If sinus transplant surgery ever becomes an option, I'm going to be the first one on the table. I call it.

The problem with having sensitive (aka crappy) sinuses is that you just can't win. In the spring/summer/fall, allergens irritate them and I have sinus infections and sinus congestion and feel crappy. In the winter, when everything is dead and I have no allergens, the dry air and the heat irritate them just as bad (or worse) than the other 3/4 of the year. This isn't a Japan problem.. it's followed me here.

I also bitterly hate the cold, and it is bitterly cold here, so I'm kind of trapped beneath 14 layers of clothes in this prison cell called my body.

It will be nice to get outside and moving around (hopefully) enough to warm up and feel at least partially human. Everything here is small-sized: a 10x10 gym, a 12x12 apartment, tiny streets, tiny sidewalks, tiny cars. I'm more of  a wide-open space type of girl. Hence, excited to be in the great outdoors again.

There aren't as many cars and people as you would expect to find in Japan (based on the movies, at least) but we're not in a highly concentrated area. This is a big research center and university town, so picture Gainesville (if you've been there) and you have Tsukuba. Minus the English.

But I am enjoying it here. It's fantastically interesting to watch people of different cultures and experience first-hand how to live in that culture. There's a huge difference between visiting a place, with hotel life, and concierge and translators, to diving head first into a new culture and having to adapt to it as quickly as possible.

It's a fun challenge. Even with the few frustrations I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

The equipment Ray is here to use is down until January 5 (bye-bye birthday plans!) so I get un-interrupted hubby time for the next week! No sharing with the lab equipment (something that NEVER happens, even in the States!) Hopefully, it will be up and running with enough time for him to finish what he came here to do. We're very thankful it's even going to be fixed at all! (Which was a big possibility.)

Life is good, God is great, and I'm off to enjoy another beautiful day! (You do the same!)

Ketchup

The last two days have been busy, so I'm hurriedly writing so I can crash and be rested for another eventful day.

So we'll play ketchup.

I had the best burger of my life today... who would have thought? We made a pit stop off the Japanese cuisine path for some Western food with an Eastern twist. A burger and fries with a side of yogurt and salad wrapped up with a tall glass of green tea.

I really couldn't tell you what was different about the western classic, other than the chef managed to make the meal without grease, without salt and without the need to take a nap afterward. If American chefs could learn to master this, we'd be in a totally different place.


I noticed today that despite the exorbitant amount of dining out I've been doing I haven't felt like I've been "eating out." You know when you go to your favorite restaurant, grab your favorite meal and stave off the urge to sink through the pavement for the rest of the day? I haven't had that here, not once. It's actually very difficult for me to eat enough. I'm starting to take serious caloric intervention because I'm just not getting enough. Portion sizes are where they should be, and it seems everyone here is full off of half a helping.


From the land of super-biggie-sized, this is a first: eating out twice a day and losing weight. That would be nice if that was actually my goal.


We had planned to visit two museums today, but a late start changed our plans. It was nice to just lay around and relax for a change. It's kind of a running theme: changing plans at the last minute for one reason or another.


Yesterday, the plan was to climb Mt. Tsukuba ("Tsukubasan," pronounced "Scuba-saun," the grandfather of Scuba Steve...) However, cloud coverage had us head on a different hike. Climbing 3 hours to the peak of a mountain to see nothing but fog just doesn't sound appealing.


So, we adventured to our childhood dream of space travel. Tsukuba is home to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency... I guess JAEA doesn't sound as cool). The tour was in complete Japanese, so for all I know they discussed how funny the white people look in their sweaters and scarves. (Side note: the Japanese don't dress their children in warm clothing during the winters as a means to toughen them up. I'm in eight layers and I'll see babies in tank tops and 8-year-olds in shorts. It's disturbing.) The advantage to taking the guided tour was that we were able to see the astronaut training center. Basically Tsukuba is the Cape Canaveral of Japan, so all their testing and research happens right here.

I always wanted to be an astronaut. I used to draw these horrible pictures of rockets and sit in my back yard moving my thumb back and forth over the moon. I mean, if Tom Hanks did it, it must be valid. It was a sad day when I realized to be an astronaut I'd have to climb up a million stairs to get inside the rocket and then fly up into the air. Between that and learn calculus, I decided to go another route.


Anyway, it was bitterly cold with a disgusting windchill and we were thankfully able to hitch a ride with the shuttle bus provided by Ray's lab. Today wasn't as cold, but the wind is still strong.


It ended up being a clearer day than anticipated, and we were able to see Mt. Fuji (Fujisan) from the top floor of Ray's apartment building. Typically cloud coverage prevents the peak to be seen, but we got an amazingly clear view today.

Taking yet another step off the Eastern Path we're on, we had taco night and went bowling with some friends. Ray had a record-setting night, bowling 5 strikes in his last game to come from behind in the 3-game, international tournament. I clearly bowled the best game of my life.

We went to a game-complex, similar to what you would find at a Dave & Busters, but with a full bowling alley, movie theater and onsen (Japanese hot spring.) You could basically move in and be set entertainment wise for a long time.



Tomorrow calls for an early start as we hope to climb Tsukubasan, an all-day affair. I really hope it's not cold and windy. Basically everything closes down tomorrow through January 3, as the New Year is the big celebration for the Japanese.


We finally got an adapter for our camera, as I left ours back in the States, so here are a few things that I missed uploading from our adventures since I've arrived.

Pork & Ramen dish... amazing

Japanese Gatorade?

The laziest fish ever... they beach themselves so they can reach the food easier when people throw it.

feeding squirrels

no idea what this says

Christmas morning!

It's Yak, not Yuck!

It's funny how we associate certain things with certain traditions.

Like Christmas, for example.

This was my first Christmas with just my hubby... no family, no screaming kids excited for their presents, no tree, no sausage-cheese rolls my mom makes every holiday. It didn't feel like Christmas.

But don't take my tone for downtrodden and depressed. Today was a pretty amazing day.

We visited the local baptist church (yes, "the"... there's not a church on every street corner like in the states.) They had Bible study in English, but the sermon was in Japanese. Luckily, they print out the sermon notes in English, so we were able to follow along.

The hymns were extremely interesting... Ray & I sang in English while the rest of the congregation sang in Japanese, and God understood us all at once!

Afterward, they had a potluck lunch- talk about amazing. It was like the who's-who of Japanese cuisine on my plate. I don't even know what I ate, but I loved every bite of it. I should have taken a picture.

A few things struck me today... quite a few, actually.

Imagine living in a country where Christmas isn't a holiday. Sure, the holiday has become commercialized and  "mainstreamed" to the point that even those who don't recognize Christ's birth as an actual event still celebrate it in some way.

But here, if Christmas falls Monday through Friday, everyone still goes to work. As a believer, that's a pretty tough pill to swallow and shows not only how lucky I am to be an American, but how sheltered I am from the realities of the world.

Not only am I sheltered, but I may just be dissociated completely. I ate lunch with a room full of people whose lives have been completely devastated in the last year.

One Japanese woman shared how different this Christmas felt to her because of the things she endured during the earthquake and tsunami because she was lucky to be alive. One man, who is an Australian living in Japan, shared in great detail the events of that day and how difficult it was to decide to stay. Another man, Japanese from Osaka, lost his wife from the tsunami. She didn't die, but left him and their young son for her home country of China because she couldn't bear to live in Japan any longer for fear of future quakes.

They had over 800 aftershocks in the months following that quake. Over 500,000 jobs disappeared. Yes, lives were lost, but we heard about that. Then we stopped hearing about it because our taxes might be raised and Air Jordans are inciting shopper violence. But imagine living for months-perhaps years-waiting for the next 7+ magnitude convulsion to jolt you from your bed and to the backyard in the freezing cold, because it's inevitably going to happen. Or imagine not being able to find work because half a million jobs just vanished not just because the economy suffered, but because the resources and materials no longer exist to produce what was once your source of income.

When was the last time any of us heard about the need for relief efforts in Japan after the tsunami and earthquake? I hadn't for months until today. Sure, we're all worried that nuclear vapor will some how beat all odds and travel more than 5,000 miles and reach the California coast.

But what if the 130 people who have read this blog donated $10 to the relief efforts. Text 90999 if you feel so led.

Somehow my Christmas blog has turned depressing?

Birds on sticks. That always cheers people up.

Nope.. we skipped KFC this year. Yes, I know... "How could you go all the way to Japan and miss out on the Christmas festivities?!" Well, Mom, because we upgraded.

Yakitori (焼き鳥/やきとり/ヤキトリ) is essentially meat skewers that are grilled. But they are amazing and not to be confused with "yuckatori." I don't know what that is.

We went to the restaurant Torikichi, which is this little hole-in-the-wall bar a block down from our apartment. (Yes, I'm taking ownership of Ray's place.) It literally looks like a shack from the outside but is cozy within. We sat at the bar and had sasami and sutamaina... which is what the English menu said and not reflective of the Japanese names whatsoever.

Menu

 

"Sasami" - grilled chicken breast w. sauce

"sutamaina"- slice garlic and chicken

A mystery dish... it was our "Merry Christmas" dish they surprised us with, but the server didn't know the name. Amazing, but spicy.

I also got my fist taste (FINALLY) of a Japanese gym. I wasn't too impressed. The set up brought full circle the fact that I have to explain in detail what I do for a living... the concept of a "personal trainer" is not well known among the Japanese.

I am also "reforming" my previous statements about the Japanese knowing English. I'm running into a lot of people who know a great deal of English. Not a ton, but enough to get me around.

I know I've made a million observations that have escaped me by the time I sit down to write my post. Perhaps they will come to me eventually. Tomorrow, we hike the twin peaks of Mt. Tsukuba.. if it turns out to be a clear day. Would be a shame to hike 3 hours to the top of a mountain and have no visibility.

I'm excited to be on a "normal" time schedule. It's 11:30 here and bedtime, which means I most likely won't be waking up at 5 am (or 12 am!) but at a normal hour for a normal human being on vacation. I get excited about the little things.

Merry Christmas to one and all! I hope your day has been filled with warmth and family and friends and blessings and, most of all, the reminder that Jesus is the reason for the season! It is his birthday, after all!

Dreaming of a Fried Christmas.

When I learned I would be spending Christmas in Japan, I quickly got excited for the opportunity to celebrate one of my favorite holidays in a new culture.

I quickly set out to research all of the Japanese traditions and decided that however the Japanese celebrate Christmas would be how I would celebrate Christmas.

I was not prepared for what I learned.

How could I? I knew that Japan was not a "Christian" nation (not like America is anymore anyway...) and that they were Buddhist/Shintoist, but Christmas is Christmas and America seems to push it's way onto everyone else in the world, so there had to be some type of tradition or practice that would set this experience apart from every other.

And, if we go through with it, it will definitely be different than anything I've ever done in the states.

No, it's not a ritualistic practice where we eat the face off some small animal while it's still dying, or chanting some prayer in our underwear in the snow, but it's just as bad.

Because we would be eating KFC.

Yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

My new Japanese friend told me that someone came to Japan from the States and found they couldn't get their traditional Christmas dinner here because they don't have turkeys here. So, they went with the next best thing, which apparently was KFC, and it caught on.

According to KFC, it was their mastermind plan (and profound marketing success) that they convinced an entire nation that the only way to have a happy Christmas was to order one of their chicken boxes. Sales weren't doing so great before this marketing scheme, probably because the Japanese knew better than to feast on oil-drenched chicken covered in artery-clogging batter.

"It’s like a Christmas standard,” Yoshiaki Hirose, a Tokyo businessman, said. “KFC holds a premium position [over other fast food chains], so it’s nicer for celebrating, without being overly expensive" Read an article from last year's here.

I promise you Ray wants to jump on this.

They also do these Christmas cakes, which are some kind of Angel food cake (my favorite) iced with whipped cream and fruit.

Ray was going to order one, but has been swamped with work, so when the sun rises (it's 6 am Christmas morning as I type this) I'm going to check out the French cake shop that reportedly makes the best Japanese Christmas cake around. KFC is a little far to walk, but we'll see.

Right now, I'm just angry my fantasy team is currently tanking in the championship match.

I think our new friends were a little perplexed that we didn't eat KFC as a US Christmas tradition. We spent the day with them touring Tsukuba, and saw something pretty famous- a 120 meter-tall Buddha.

The Ushiku Daibutsu is of the the largest statues in the world (just under 400 feet high and 3 times the size of the Statue of Liberty). It's maybe 30 minutes from our apartment. It sits on these beautiful grounds (which were barren from the cold) that is probably full of blossoms in warmer weather. You can take an elevator to the top of the Buddha and look out for miles around Japan. We saw Tokyo Tower (I think) among the most notable.

There's also a petting zoo, where you can feed squirrels and rabbits and pet goats an warthogs. There was also a wallaby. I would LOVE to upload pictures of this adventure, however my camera cord is in the states and until I can locate one here, pictures are flat out.

I am a blogging failure, but here's a shot from the web.

We had lunch at his fantastic lunch of pork ramen, which is nothing like what you have had when you break open (literally) a package of Top Ramen and throw in some hypertension seasoning. The pork was probably the most tender and flavorful I've ever had. They cook it right in the soup broth, along with these mushroom-like veggies that were described to me as bamboo root. I also tried the seaweed...

I forgot to mention yesterday that I survived my first earthquake! It was very tiny- so small that it hasn't even popped up on the world earthquake map, and so small it may have just been a dream. But, it woke me up and Ray felt it.. it had this tiny roar to it and shook for a couple of seconds.

Pretty exciting.

But not as exciting as the fact that I slept all the way until 5 am this morning. Friday, I went to bed at about 4 and woke up at midnight... last night I made it all the way until 8 pm, so I'm making progress. Tonight might just be the night I get on a real Japanese schedule!

I know Ray told me what today's plan was, but I was too tired to remember. I think we are going to a church here for a Christmas service, then hopefully eating cake! I definitely miss my family, but it's great to be here with Ray.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout-out to my beautiful Grandma and my step-mother-in-law!! Happy Birthday Nana & Patti!! :) I wish I could spend the day with you two!

It's Christmas Day here.... whooooop! I think I'll go wake Ray up so I can open presents. muahaha

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas Eve!

The days are quickly running together.

Perhaps that's because I'm sleeping during the day and wide awake during the night.

This whole time change thing has me extremely off kilter. I went to bed at about 5 pm last night and woke up at about midnight. It's now 7 am local time, and I'm wide awake... still.

But I am sure I will adapt.. eventually.

I took my first trip around town yesterday. It's freezing cold, but a super cute town.

It's so similar to American towns, but for every similarity there is a striking reality that it's nothing like home.

We stopped into the electronics store to pick up an adapter for my computer, and I was shocked to see the sticker prices on appliances. For 300,000 yen you can have your very own refrigerator/freezer... which comes out to about 4,000 USD. Cameras and small electronics were much less expensive. Nice cameras run for about $80 or less.

We have to grocery shop just about every day to keep the apartment stocked with food. The refrigerator is very small... about chest height on me. I'm pretty sure I could lift it.

The grocery store was not what I would have expected at all. It's not this humid, dirt-floor market with dead animals hanging from the ceiling. It could have been a Winn-Dixie for all I knew. Except everything was in Japanese and I didn't know what 90 percent of the items were.

There were octopus legs, which were purple, and carrots the size of a paper towel insert. Not quite ready to get too adventurous, we selected some kind of sprouts, soba noodles and Japanese ice cream, which is nothing like the American version.. at least not the kind I bought.

The whole shopping process is somewhat different from in the states. There's no one to bag your groceries, and you have to purchase your own plastic bags. The cashier rings up your items and puts them back in your basket, then you bring it to this table where you load everything up into the bags. I always liked bagging my own groceries, to be honest.

They also sell complete dinners, just like your neighborhood Publix, and Ray has become quite fond of them (surprise, surprise.) He picked us out some chicken katsu (his favorite), which came with rice covered in some kind of seed. A delicious dinner.

I don't know that it was quite as good as lunch, which Ray made at home. Gyōza (ギョーザ, ギョウザ) is a Japanese version of Chinese dumplings. It's meat or veggies (in our case, meat) wrapped in a rice-type dough and boiled. Amazing. I hope to learn these recipes and take them home to the states... too good to leave here!

We tried to see Mt. Fuji from the rooftop, but the weather wasn't quite cooperating. In the absence of clouds, you can see Fuji clear over the horizon just to the west of the town. The entire city sits somewhat in a valley. I found out we can hike Mt. Tsukuba, which has twin peaks and a restaurant on top. It takes about 6 hours to hike up and down. There's also a running trail that cuts through the city that I hope to explore one of these days.. if my knee ever decides to recover. I may rent a bike... less stress.

We're meeting up with a couple of Ray's friends today to tour and explore Tsukuba in detail. I have no idea what there is to see or do here. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we'll check out a church for a Christmas service and most likely head to Tokyo.

Being a Buddhist/Shinto, Japan doesn't celebrate Christmas as a national holiday, so everything will be open-but decorated. They celebrate the "fun" parts- gift giving and Santa Claus, and that's about it.

New Year's is their big holiday (not to be confused with Chinese New Year.. that's different), so I am looking forward to that.

The sun is up and the gym is finally open... the boredom of sitting and waiting for the sun to rise has ended!

Heat where you want it

I'm learning quickly that luxury is a relative term.

A luxury to one is not the same as luxury for another.

Then there is a totally different category: heated toilet seats.

Ray's apartment is about the size of our living room back home, and it's about twice the price. It's essentially a studio apartment, with the kitchen and bathroom connecting and the bedroom, living room and office merged into another room. The street-facing wall is a large sliding glass door that opens up to a balcony and overlooks the town and high-rises of downtown Tsukuba (pronounced "Scuba") and overlooks the twin peaks of Mt. Tsukuba.

It's just like being in a foreign country.

The Japanese way of living is simple, and it's quite refreshing. Nothing's extremely over the top or showy. The bed is hard, and a twin size, just big enough for two to fit and one to fall off.

I called the wall side, so I won't be the one on the floor.

The sleeping area is divided off by sliding doors covered in rice paper, which are very easy to break through when fumbling around in the dark.

But it's cute and cozy, and it's home for the next 23 days. It's crazy how a place a third of the size of our apartment back home can still rack up the same cost in utilities.

Food is expensive, too.

I ate my first authentic Japanese dish in the Narita airport, which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. The Japanese take pride in their work, so you're getting great quality whether you eat in the airport, mall or sit-down  restaurant. Ray & I had 小カツとじ共おそば, which is a dish of soba noodles and katsu (fried pork).

I'm still learning how to make literal translations sensical.

Cold Soba Noodles

Warm Soba Noodles

I had warm noodles, and Ray had them cold. They were interesting to say the least. They weren't the best tasting thing in the world, but they weren't the worst. They supposedly have all the essential nutrients the body needs, but since they are  noodles I question their nutritious value.

The katsu didn't taste fried. It was covered in bread crumbs, cooked in eggs and served over rice. I didn't need soy sauce to make the rice taste good, which attests to how well the dish was prepared. It's a recipe I'm dying to make and take back home with me.


It wasn't heavy or greasy, which was good since by the time I ate that I had been awake for 43 hours with only three 20-minute naps in between. I slept most of the way on the bus ride to Tsukuba, but caught a few glimpses of the town as we rolled in.

It's about the size as Gainesville, but with a big-city feel. There are some high rises, and the streets are small and close to the buildings (as opposed to large parking lots separating the road from the store.) People do a lot of walking here, which probably attests to the healthy look of the Japanese.

They drive on the "wrong" side of the road here, which makes my heart stop every now and then when I feel we're about to collide. I can tell language is going to be a huge barrier. Even though English is becoming very popular, it seems rare that "working class" people in this area speak it fluently, or much at all. So, bus drivers, servers, cab drivers, etc use a lot of hand gestures to communicate with us. It will probably be different in Tokyo and large metropolitan areas we will visit.


I have just been informed that they don't really have cake here, which is going to be a bummer come January 5. Today is the Emperor's birthday, so a national holiday. A lot of things are going to be closed, so I think it's a nice excuse to recover and plan our trip!

It's 5 am here now, the time difference is really difficult. It's definitely going to be interesting to switch my entire circadian rhythm to the opposite of what I'm used to. (It's 3 pm EST).

Gruel and Unusual Punishment

The final 18 hours of my trip was pretty painless.

Not.

To say that a 14-hour flight is the most boring experience of my life doesn't do the situation justice.

I didn't' sleep a wink.

Well, that's a lie. I slept for about 20 minutes after we boarded, but that was quickly interrupted by food service. Yes, at 2 am PST I was served dinner.

It's odd waking up from a nap to find a tray of food in your lap. I felt I had fast forwarded 80 years and my unborn children had checked me into a nursing home.

I was sitting there, with a blanket on my lap and small compartmentalized dishes of various food items. It was too dark for pictures, which is probably a good thing.

Mile-high club food isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I had some kind of beef tips with carrots and potatoes in this odd gravy sauce, with a fruit cup (consisting of a square piece of watermelon, one square piece of cantaloupe, and one square of honey dew) and some kind of dessert, which I think was some kind of cheesecake-brownie hybrid.

The flight itself was extremely painful. My Brandon Roy knees ached so severely I found myself in tears about a quarter-way through the trip. It made sleep impossible, which gave me the opportunity to chat with others on the flight who were having my same problems (they were in their 80s) and see every watchable movie on my TV screen.

I saw Japan from 30k feet high, and wished for a parachute. See, when we flew over Japan there was four hours remaining on my flight time, a three hour layover and another three hour flight right back to the spot that was directly below me.

I wouldn't have jumped to save 9 hours.

Breakfast was another interesting experience. I made the mistake, again, of making a "safe" selection. I went for eggs an sausage over the Rice and Fish Gruel they were serving. Well, they presented it as fish and rice gravy, which sounded as appetizing as gnawing off my left thumb.

I really thought I had made the right choice when my seatmate opened her dish. Imagine oatmeal, grits, gravy and diced fish fillets mixed in this soup.

There's no way it was worse than my eggs and sausage (which I couldn't bite into). That's as far as I'll go.

By far the most interesting experience of the entire flight was the landing. Like my American Student Pilot, this captain decided to point the nose straight for the ground and go for it. We had significant turbulence the entire flight, and the landing was no exception.

The interesting part came when they started to play symphonic orchestra music. It was a scene taken from Titanic, when the ship is sinking and everyone is dying but the violin is still strumming.

I was convinced death was imminent and they were just trying to keep us calm, but it turns out that was just what Taiwan airlines do.

When safely on the ground in Taipei, with no intention of ever getting back on another flight, I was corralled into a massive line of travelers to transfer to another flight. I wasn't allowed to get out of the line, and, since I don't speak any language above an 18-month-old level, I had no idea what was going on.

My movie scene day continued with a scene from Taken.

While in line, I met an American man who was on his way to Singapore to see his wife and son for the first time in three years. They met and were married in Singapore, where he was a teacher and his wife was a native. When the job market crashed and he lost his job, the man  moved back to his hometown, LA, to find work, hoping to bring his wife and child over after he found a job. That didn't happen, because he couldn't find steady work here, either.

And I thought 6 weeks away from Ray was tough.

I did make my first foreign purchase in that airport. I bought a bottle of water for 25 TWD (Taiwanese Dollars). Before you go freaking out about how expensive that was, it was less than 1 USD. The Coca-Cola vending machine wouldn't take paper money, so I had to sweet talk a cashier into exchanging my paper dollar for her coins.

The last plane ride was a breeze. Kind of.

The last remnants of my protein shake spilled into my carry-on, getting chocolate egg protein all over my laptop, books and more. I decided to venture out and try something new when it came to mealtime, and boy was that the right choice.

I have no idea what it was, but it was some kind of fried seafood wrap over the thinnest noodles I've ever seen. There was some kind of fried hard-boiled egg which I skipped ingesting, but boy was that meal good.

Customs was another interesting experience. For the first time I experienced what it was like to be a foreigner in a country where you don't speak the language. I got a good laugh when the female Japanese security guard tried to corral me into the right line... She started speaking to me in Japanese, and, when I didn't respond to her liking because I didn't know what she was saying, she started saying the same thing but louder.

I got my first visa stamp in my new passport! Well, it's some kind of sticker stapled to the Visa page, but it's exciting nonetheless.

Seeing Ray for the first time in 6 weeks was really great, too. Really great :)

It's 4 am now Friday in Japan (2:10 pm EST), and I've been wide awake since 2 am.

This time change conversion is a real beast.

Until next time!

Day One and Nine-Tenths

I can't even begin to describe how utterly exhausted I am.

My teeth, knees and shoulders are throbbing. I don't know why my teeth hurt, but they do.

I'm stiff from all the sitting but too tired to move. I knew it was going to be a difficult trip, but I didn't think it would be this tiresome.

No complaints, though... I'm SOOOOO close! It will all be worth it when I arrive.

I'm pretty sure the woman beside me on the last flight had tuberculosis. She tried to play it as if the heater was drying out her throat, but I saw right through that ploy. I don't know how one passes TB, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it's easily spread through casual contact when outer garments brush against each other.

I also met an MMA fighter. Well, I met the girlfriend of an MMA fighter. He wasn't there, but his family was going to pick her up so ipso facto I met him.

At least I'm having better "luck" with my fights than the two brothers I ran into at my favorite brew house (which yes, happens to have a spot at SFO!) They are on a quest to visit every NFL stadium, which is super cute in my opinion. They had a two-fer weekend, seeing the Raiders play in Oakland Sunday and the Niners play in San Francisco on Monday night. Unfortunately, their flights were delayed three hours on the way to the Bay Area, and when I met them they were four hours into a second delay... 3 1/2 of which where spent on the plane in the runway.

Not only have I made all of my flights, but they've each arrived early.

I did, however, manage to leave my wallet in the first plane today, along with all my identification and a small fortune in cash. Praise Jesus, it was returned without a cent missing. Amazing.

Traveling alone certainly has it's disadvantages. Like the fact that there is no one to watch your bags while you visit the restroom, and no one to make sure you don't get taken while you take a nap. There's also no one to carry the 75 pounds of luggage you managed to bring along, or ensure you haven't dropped your life near seat 29C.

I found a new secret to flying stress-free. With United, you can listen to all the radio communication between flights when you tune to the proper channel on your arm rest. It's comforting to know that when the plane drops a few hundred feet and starts jiggling that the pilots aren't screaming "MAYDAY MAYDAY," and I can breathe a lot easier.

This is a normal thing for me to be doing... right?

Anyway, when I got to Seattle I had hoped to check my luggage and do a bit of exploring near the airport, but that just wasn't in the cards. I lugged my baggage clear across the airport (I got off the plane on the north end and had to make it to the ticket counter on the south end...) I made it here only to find out that the counter doesn't open until 9, which is ten minutes from now, but when I arrived it was 6:30.

At this point, I just want to rid myself of this luggage, get through security, put food in my belly and sweet talk a flight attendant into waking me up before my next flight leaves.

Maybe I'll nap right in front of the gate door... that way they'll have to wake me up?

14 hours to Taipei, 3 more hours to Japan, 7 hours of layover. I'm so close!

I did, however, get to see the sun rise and set over the US today. I have to give a shout-out to my row-mate who had the window seat and took this amazing picture for me. In hindsight, the photo doesn't do the live scene justice. I was watching the sun set over the Pacific and I honestly couldn't tell what I was looking at... ground, mountain, ocean, sky, or something different altogether. It was absolutely beautiful.

Day One Continued: Time change is really weird.

I'm a firm believer in the fact that there should be one central time zone that the entire world goes by.

And it should be Eastern Standard Time, because that's where I'm from.

It's 2:12 pm by my watch, 5:12 where I came from and 7:12 am tomorrow where I'm headed.

If that's not enough to give you a headache, try flying five different planes in one day.

The last flight was a nightmare, albeit a short one. It only lasted 45 minutes, but my life flashed before my eyes on multiple occasions. I made the mistake of not looking at the plane before I boarded. It's something I try to avoid, because when I end up on a tiny pedal pusher I am more apt to switch flights than actually get on board. However, had I peeked today, I would have seen it was a normal sized-flight (well, the same size plan that took me across the country) but I would have noticed the "Student Flyer" sign that was most likely on top of the plane.

If you've never driven with a student driver, don't make your maiden voyage behind one 30,000 feet in the air.

The landing on my first flight earned a 9 out of 10. Smooth landing with a slight jump. A bit of turbulence, but it wasn't the worst I've ever endured. The pilot on flight #2 pointed the nose straight beneath us and hit the brakes. All sarcasm and exaggeration aside, the sudden change in altitude brought me dangerously close to fainting.

But, yet again, I survived. Exhaustion is setting in, but my goal is to make the "time change" switch while I'm doing my travel, which means staying awake until it's time to go to bed Japan time. Ten pm Japan time is 8 am Florida time, meaning I will have been awake for 27 hours straight if successful. (5 am Pacific Time)

Switching over like this serves two purposes: (1) it may keep me from sleeping through my boarding in Seattle to head to Japan, and (2) it will hopefully help jump start my time transfer and make it as seamless as possible.

If the whole world was on the same time zone, this wouldn't be an issue. I don't see why it's an issue for people in Japan to go to work at "9 am EST" everyday. Yes, they would be working through the middle of the night, but it makes my travel plans so much more convenient.

Oh, the world doesn't revolved around me? Crap... I guess I'll head to my favorite brew house, a native of San Francisco which happens to have a location in the airport. Lucky me! :)

Day One: 8:18 am

8:18 am (5:18 am by my watch): Leg 1 of 5

One take off down, four to go. Brain damage free according to my examination.

The biggest problem for me is getting through the first eight minutes of the flight. They say that you suffer irreversible and deadly brain damage after depriving your brain of oxygen for seven minutes, but the fact that I’m still cognitive at this point in the flight calls that fact into question.

I hold my breath from the moment we pull out of the gate until the flight attendants serve beverages. I figure by that point, the worst is over.

There are few things in this world that I hate more than flying. Luckily for my husband, there are few things in the world I love more than him, which is why I’m on this flight in the first place.

I hate heights, I hate sitting next to strangers and I hate being seated for a long time.

And, for future reference, don’t buy your travel pillow at Walmart. It’s a neck issue waiting to happen.

I’ve already set my watch for landing time, three hours behind east coast time. This way I’ll know how much longer I have left each time I glance at my watch. It’s a sinking feeling when you look at your watch that is set for east coast time to see you are 30 minutes from landing time, only to realize that you must add 3 hours to that time to balance out the time difference.

I’m experimenting with my watch this trip to see if this will make it any more bearable. After this morning, it can only go up from here.

After a wonderfully ("romantic") weekend with one of my favorite people in the world, Rachelle Gross, I arrived at Orlando International Airport to find my checked luggage was 1.7 pounds too heavy. After removing two pounds of pistachios (requested by my hubby as a gift for a friend) my bag weighed in at exactly 50 pounds and I was good to go.

The excess weight was only the start of my packing problems. And, if you do the math, the reliability of the nut-weighing system is now called into question.

I made a huge error in judgment by packing a small “personal” item, rather than the large backpack that I could have carried. I brought a small purse-sized backpack and my gym bag, which does not have wheels.

Since the plane was full, the flight attendant (who, actually, carried my duffel bag from the security checkpoint to the gate!) strongly suggested (hear: demanded while saying please) that I check my bag because of its bulky size and the maximum capacity status of the plane.

I sat in the middle of the terminal unpacking all of my belongings that I would need for my 36-hour trip so they could check the bag itself. The bag was empty once I was carrying all of its contents.

It was only then that they finally realized that the bag’s sole purpose was to carry the entertainment (18-pounds of science books and iPod) that I would need for the five flights I’ll be taking today.

I tried to warn them; they didn't listen.

Needless to say, they let me carry it on and I had to re-pack my bag. I was the last one on the plane.

::awkward::

I’m excited for the trip, even though I know it will be a long one. The plane is bouncing like a Mexican jumping bean and I could really use a stiff drink: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. The flight attendants are still accompanying the beverage cart, so I think the turbulence should be fine. (Ray taught me that one.)

During takeoff, I was reminded of a verse in the Bible that talks about how perfect love casts out fear. It’s referring to the love Christ has for us, and how it is strong enough to eliminate fear, and I’m seeing that is true today: flying clear across the world by myself, doing it because I love my husband more than I’m afraid to fly.

I think it’s okay to have fears in this life; that’s what gives us our humanity. Fear only becomes dangerous when it becomes the most powerful emotion in your life. When it dictates your comings and goings and the experiences and chances you take, that’s when you stop living.

[Which I might just do if the woman to my right doesn’t stop farting]

Four hours left by my count… time to jump into the first two pounds of my entertainment.

Day Zero

27 hours on 5 planes and 36 hours in transit separates me from perhaps the most exciting trip I've taken to date!

Well, that and a long weekend.

It's nice to have everything finalized, but I'm anxiously awaiting my reunion with my hubby! He's been there for 5 weeks already working on research for his PhD. So proud of him :)

So far, we have a general idea of what we want to see and do. We will spend a weekend seeing Kyoto and Osaka, another weekend in Tokyo, and we will also explore Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, we can't climb the mountain due to an imminent threat of death and/or serious bodily injury from the snow. However, Tokyo Disneyland is a stop on our list so Space Mountain will be my consolation prize.

It will be interesting to experience first hand how most, if not all, foreigners feel when they come to Orlando to visit Disney and can't figure out where to go or do.

But the the million dollar question remains: to eat Fugu.... yes or no? I'm leaning towards yes.

I'm having significant difficulty filling a suitcase with enough clothes for the 3-week trip. This could be potentially hazardous to my level of comfort, since the half-empty suitcase is a testament to my lack of warm clothing. It will be in the 20's-30's and snowing in some places. In case you've never spoken to me and don't know this fact, I'll lay it out for you: I hate the cold.

I did purchase a warm jacket last weekend, however my level of trust for a jacket that's originated in Florida is equal to my trust for politicians and most doctors.

However, that half-empty suitcase (and entirely empty carry-on) leaves me with plenty of room to travel with some extras.. and return with goodies, too! I need to figure out how to take some supplements over there, which I'm having problems finding out their legality. It's not that they're sketchy in any way, but Japan has more stringent policies about what you can bring into the country than other places.

The fact that my post-workout shake mix is a white powder doesn't make me feel too comfortable. I was told to call the Japanese consulate to find out what is permissible. Unfortunately, they only speak Japanese and didnt' have any 18-month-old children to interpret at the Japanese I speak. So, I got nowhere.

As of now, I have all the essentials: 5 pounds of whey protein isolate, an unopened container of Vitargo, my Stick, 2 pairs of sweat pants, all 4 of the long-sleeved shirts I own and 18 pounds of reading material. (Yes, I weighed my reading material.)

All I have to do is kick this cold, drop 5 pounds from my suitcase, and the adventure begins... tomorrow morning, to be exact.

I'm going to miss my bed, for sure.

 Follow Me! on this adventure. It's going to be fun. 

Have I mentioned I have a severe hatred for flying?