Round 2: Finally Home?

So after a lengthy story blog on my first one, I wanted to break it up a little bit, so here's day 2 of trying to get to Japan. This date should be July 18th, 2007:

After staying up all night, trying to get the pictures together on my website from the event I went to on Sunday, it was time for me to head to the airport, again. Again, I was a little late, and arrived at about 5:15, even less time than the 2-hr window from the day before.

I did basically the same thing on day 2, got a ticket, went through security and sat at the terminal. Luckily this time, my flight wasn't delayed. Since there was much less drama this day, I can paraphrase everything that happened. I got on the flight, it was an hour, and I landed in Atlanta.

Good thing I didn't try to rush the day prior. I began walking to my terminal in the Atlanta International Airport. I saw a sign the indicted that my gate was in this direction and I was off. I went downstairs to find a subway system, but the doors were closing. The sign above me said my gate was 6000ft away. That's not bad I thought, I'll just walk. Of course I got about halfway through and remembered that 5,280 ft was a mile. No big deal, I'm almost there might as well keep walking. I got the escalator that took me to the floor I was supposed to be on. I hear a call on the loudspeaker:

"Attention all passengers on flight D55F from Jacksonville, FL, please return to the terminal to claim your belongings"

I looked at everything I was carrying. I had it all, and there was no way I was making that walk back to the terminal. I found my way to the appropriate terminal for my flight to Narita. Of course, it was only 7:50AM and the flight was at 10:15, the terminal was basically empty. I set up my computer, ready to complete my post to my website, so that everyone could see my fantastic pictures. I turned on my laptop and I had full green service bars for the internet I clicked connect and went to my design program. The internet didn't load. I clicked home, and got a link to PAY for my internet time while in the airport. I guess the free stuff is only limited to the smaller less international airports. This was OK, I could still set up my design program and have it ready to upload once I got to my destination.

I started noticing more and more people at the terminal, a lot of them with short hair cuts and tattoos. They must be in the military, I'll just ask them what to do. I was running up the minutes on my cell phone trying to get my last phone calls in, knowing that it would be the last time I ever use this phone, or this service. As the time grew closer to boarding I realized that I had all this American money, and I'm getting ready to go to a foreign country. So I found one of those stand out military guys and asked him. Which he told me, it's easier to just exchange here, and not worry about it once I got to Japan.

I boarded my plane, found my seat, and it finally hit me. I was going to Japan. The land of the rising sun. A place that I've wanted to visit since I was 10 years old. Now I'm going to live there for 3 years.

For anyone who has never been on an international flight, here's the scoop. The pillow, blanket, headphones, eyemask and wetnaps were free. That was just the beginning. There was a TV monitor on the seat in front of me, ready for me to play with. I started pushing buttons and found that all the movies were free. Good movies too, recent movies. So once we were airborne, I knew it was going to be on. I got comfortable in my seat and selected my first movie, 300. About 10 minutes into the movie, the cart came around and I got my money ready to buy some snacks. Only these snacks were free! So much for the customer service the day before, or the delay in flight, who cares! Free snacks and movies, how could you be mad at that.

I finished my movie and decided it was time to take a nap. It was at that point I realized that my flight would never be dark, even though it started at 10:15AM and it was a 14 hour flight. I think I was able to sleep 4 hours, I woke up, only to look at my on demand screen and see there was still 8 hours to go.

"Well, I guess I have time for one more movie," I thought.

It was at that time I realized that the plane knew that I was awake, because here came the lunch cart. Chicken Parmesan and some buttery noodles, can't go wrong there. I ate my dinner while watching my second movie, The Number 23. Not a bad movie, but not a great one. Gets your mind going on different things in the world that could add to the number 23.

Once that was over, the flight clock still said 6 hours and some change. What else is there to do on this plane? Can't exactly go outside for a stroll. I feel bad for the people that smoke. I guess I get to watch another movie. This time it was Disturbia. Another half scary/creepy movie. Not bad, again, not great. It was at this point that is was time for another snack. Here came the snack cart and it was a free for all. No peanuts on this flight, only sandwiches and chicken.

I finished my movie, and my snack and saw that I only had 2 hours to go. I looked at the map and realized we were flying over Alaska. Of course, my own local time felt like 8PM, but it was who knows what time there, because the "Local Time" on the map said 8PM, which was obviously Atlanta time. So I picked another movie and realized it would be my last, hope it's a good one. I picked Shooter, the Mark Wahlberg version of Bourne. It was decent, action packed and had you paying attention. Dinner time! Dinner was served throughout the cabin, and this was either Ravioli or some type of noodle dinner. I stuck with Ravioli, at least I know what's in there.

The movie came to a close, my dinner was done, and it was 20 minutes from landing. The captain came on and gave his speech about thanks for flying, have a safe time in Japan, please put your trays in the upright position, remember Delta next time you fly.

Since we were the only flight coming in at the time, the airport was mostly empty, it was 12:30PM local time almost a full hour ahead of schedule. I had filled out my customs forms, ready to produce everything I owned, and get naked like the security check point in Jacksonville. No such luck, they looked at my passport, took my form and pointed me in the right direction. I picked up my baggage, and made it to the bus ticketing office.

Had it not been for the information my wife found on the internet, I might have been lost when I got there. It told me exactly where to go, and what to ask for when I got there. I got a bus ticket to Haneda, to catch my 6:15PM flight to Misawa. I was hoping to bust out my camera and take lots of pictures, but it appeared as if I was in the back of the aiport, there was nothing to take pictures of. Construction maybe, but everyone has seen that.

The bust ride was about an hour to Haneda, and there wasn't much site seeing on the way. I did see the top of a "Super Autobacs" which is a WalMart for car parts if you don't already know.

When I got to Haneda, it seemed as if I really stepped into Japan. The women were wearing kimono's, the guys were bowing, an everyone had "hachi" (chopsticks) in their hair. The woman at the counter said "Hello" and there's about where her English stopped. Somehow she was able to tell me I need to go to window 30 to get my ticket. I was that special case from the day before, and my ticket wasn't available.

I learned to say a few things in "Nehongo" (Japanese), like "Hello, goodbye, sorry, excuse me." It's a shame I didn't learn how to say "I missed my flight yesterday from Atlanta to here, so today I am supposed to be on a flight out of here to Misawa. I spoke with "some guy" on the phone and he told me it was good to go." The woman at the counter spoke no English at all, just made sounds that seemed like English, maybe she thought it was English. Somehow I got my ticket, and I headed to my terminal. It was only 2:45, and my flight wasn't until 5:45. Maybe I'll take a nap.

When I woke up, the terminal was completely full, and there were buses waiting. Some girl was rambling on the loud speaker in Japanese. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and I just got into the line that said "Misawa." I got on the bus and I was shuttled to my plane. A small MD-87, much smaller than the 777 I flew in on. I fell asleep on the flight, so I couldn't tell you what happened.

I got to a cold, muggy, foggy Misawa at around 6:45. I entered a room with a baggage claim that looked like it was from the 1950's. They locked the doors and once we collected our baggage, which surprisingly mine was there from the day before, they collected our tickets. I went through the doors to find a sign with my name on it. "This must be the guy picking me up, how cool is this to have a sign!" I thought to myself.

We got in his car and he took me to the base to check in. I got into my room, got my stuff unpacked and just wanted to sleep.

As I layed in the bed, I thought about the days previous, all the headache just to get here. I thought about my family that I had left behind, my wife and step-son and wondered if they would follow me soon. I thought about my friends and wondered if they would keep in touch with me, or would I just one day be forgotten. All these things were going through my head, all the while I couldn't stop thinking about, I was in Japan! How cool this is going to be. The weather is 70 degrees in July, unlike the 100 degrees in Jacksonville. It was a bittersweet feeling. I knew that the negative feelings would pass in days time. I knew my friends wouldn't forget me. The situation with my wife and son would work itself out. The my family would miss me, but they would understand that I just wanted to be here. In the end it can't take away from the feeling I get being here in Japan. The faces, the signs, the sounds, the smell, it's all new, a new world, so many things to explore. This place is mine for the taking, and it won't be taken for granted.