Travelling to Japan + First Day
Flight
Flight details:
- All Nippon Airway
- Depart 11am from ORD
- Arrive 12 hours later at NRT
- Sleep, eat, watch movies
I left campus way early because I was afraid of the supposedly long TSA lines at the airport. I was so early to O’Hare that the ANA check in counter wasn’t even open. They opened at 7:45am, I arrived at 6am, and that was after a 3 hour bus ride from Champaign. You do the math.
Regardless the check in was super simple, TSA took 5 mins, and everything else was on time. I fell asleep on the plane as soon as it took off.
I watched Wolf Children later on during the flight, despite having seen it for the first time maybe a week ago. I also watched some documentaries about Japanese culture things, like food and ceremonial masks. All good stuff.
The in-flight food was fantastic. ANA just has great food and service.
There’s a 14 hour time shift between Chicago and Tokyo. So if it’s noon in Chicago, it’s 2am (the next day) in Tokyo. Right now it’s 8:30pm Japan time as I type this, so in Chicago it must be 6:30am. Technically it’s like I just pulled an all-nighter, but I don’t feel ridiculously tired. Maybe the intermittent sleep on the plane helped out.
Dorm
All of the interns (all 3 of us) are staying at the company apartment complex, located about 15 minutes walking distance away from the main company building. We’re in Matsudo, in the Chiba prefecture; we took the train from Narita airport to the Higashimatsudo station (that’s “East Matsudo” for the English speakers) then a taxi to the company apts. It’s very quaint, very nice, I like it so far.
Some of the more interesting features need a bit of investigation though. Like the robo-toilet. It has a little notice on the wall detailing some of the important bits in English. Like how to use the bidet portion, or how to choose water pressure or bidet direction. And the seat is heated! That’s going to take some getting used to.
There’s a small kitchenette, a washer/dryer, a bath/shower, a toilet, and a bedroom. All the essentials. Also there’s a common area in the apartment complex with an N64, ping pong, SEGA Genesis, and all sorts of other things. Time to get good at Super Smash Bros again.
Food
We went to an izakaya (居酒屋) for our first official Japanese meal. Basically it’s a pub-style restaurant with semi-private tables and lots of food variety. Apparently the “ya” part in “izakaya” means shop. So book store is “honya” and that sushi place back at UIUC is called “sakanaya”. No idea what “izaka” means but regardless you have “izakaya”. Anyway, we got a bunch of chicken dishes, which included regular chicken breast, then deep fried cartilage (nankotsu, 軟骨), gizzard (zuri, ずり), liver (reba, レバー), and more chicken bits I can’t remember. There was also cabbage in a vinegar sauce, some edamame green soybeans, and tomatoes with mayonnaise. The vegetables were excellent, but the chicken got a little questionable at times. It was all very much edible though. And I can see some sort of acquired taste aspect, maybe with enough time and effort I’ll love that food too.
In terms of drinks, we ordered the draft beer which was nothing in particular. Maybe it was Asahi, or Sapporo, or whatever other Japanese beer there is. Either way it was really refreshing after 20 hours of travel. To order, we had to say “なまベールください” (nama beeru kudasai) where “nama” is the draft beer. “なまふたつください” also works, which would order you two beers. As it was explained to me, apparently each bar/restaurant has something different on tap that’s a bit cheaper. So you’re not picky and you just order the draft beer, the nama.
After dinner we stopped by the local Family Mart before heading home. Family Mart is essentially 7-11 in Japan. It’s open all the time and has all sorts of convenience items. Fun fact, Japanese people love to shorten everything, so Family Mart is shortened to “Famima”. And the other store chain, First Kitchen, is shortened to “Fakin”… I bought toothpaste and shaving cream. Turns out I’m going to have to remain clean shaven all through my internship.
明日 (tomorrow)
Tomorrow it’s unpacking, getting settled, figuring out food stuff, finding my way around the town, finding my way around the robo-toilet in my apartment… But for now it’s sleep.