2007 JET Podcast
Some helpful hints from folks already on the JET Programme. It covers all of those very specific things that you really need to know but may have forgotten to ask or that you just couldn't find answers to. Click here.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

In Tokyo


Arrival in Tokyo. Very tired. Very dirty. It’s amazing how grimy you can get just by sitting in a seat on a plane. I think the flight was about 15 hours though I may be exaggerating. I sat next to another JET and a Japanese businessman who lives in America. He was very chatty and I was glad because the flight was boring – even with a Nintendo DS and my Archos player.

NEVER EVER fly Northwest Airlines if you can help it. While the flight attendants were great, the plane was horribly cramped, the food was poor (but plentiful) and the amenities were nearly non-existent.

After getting to Narita airport, we had to go through customs which didn’t take very long. Turns out they didn’t give a crap about my bee sting medications or my prescription ibuprofen. So much for all that hassle from before.

We then shipped the majority of our bags to our homes as soon as we got out of the airport then got on a chartered bus and headed to Keio Plaza Hotel. Here I am now, tired as crap. Our handlers at CLAIR keep handing us more things – books, bags, tickets, papers…too much stuff.

No duh, everything is in Japanese (which I can’t read) but I am surprisingly not worried about it. What’s wrong with being illiterate?
I fall asleep on the way to Keio which is 1 1/2 hours away.
Keio turns out to be very, very swanky.
My first impressions of Japan: bright, foreign, busy. All in that order.

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