Day 1: Tokyo
We made it to Japan! But boy was it a chaotic day...
It was a 12 hour plane ride to Narita which, overall, was not that bad. There were a couple of bumps in the air, I spilled ice cream and apple juice on my pants, and I felt super tired afterwards, but praise God for delivering my mom, my sister, and me safely to the airport. As we left Chicago and arrived in Narita, I noticed differences in the planning of the cities. Near the suburbs, Chicago's streets winded into cul-de-sacs with multiple streets branching off and most of the land was developed into highways, neighborhoods, corporations, and parks. Flying over Japan, I saw so many different landscapes in just one section of the island. There were heavily forested areas, grid-like farming systems, small neighborhoods, wide rivers, and even large patches of solar panels! Some of the more developed areas seemed to be sectioned off into perfect squares and the squares were each developed one by one. For anyone with OCD, your eyes would have been very content.
Once we arrived at the airport, it immediately got confusing. Since none of us know Japanese, it was quite hard finding where to go. Luckily there's English on the signs and many of the natives know a bit of English. We bought a three day train ticket and headed from Narita to Tokyo, about one hour on the bullet train. The train station was even more confusing than the airport! But we had a nice young lady point us in the direction of the taxis (after muddling through broken English), an extremely kind man who walked us all the way to the street exit, even offering us his umbrella, and a patient taxi driver who helped us with our five suitcases in the rain and trying to make small talk with us in the little English he knew.
Our last stop of the day was our hotel, Tokyu Stay, which was about a five minute drive from the train station. Our room is actually quite cute. It has two full size beds and a large sofa, the bathroom was spotless and we even had a washing machine! Everything is complementary too, including detergent, bath robes, and even a facial spa kit. Though, the best part of the room is definitely the toilet. It cleans your butt with water and the seat is heated! Wow, we sure are livin' the good life.
All of the people here are incredibly friendly, polite, and humble. Everyone greets you with a bow and leaves you with a bow. With each person that helped us, I wanted to give them something in return to show my gratitude but I had no money on me. All I could think was, "I wish I could just bake you cookies or something!" But I think that's where the bow comes in. You show the other person how grateful you are with the bow. It shows how humbled you are before them and sometimes it's the only way you can thank the other person. There may be many communication problems, but one thing that's universal is a smile (HAH. So cheesy, but true). You can truly tell the kindness of a person's soul through their endearing and warm smile.
It was a 12 hour plane ride to Narita which, overall, was not that bad. There were a couple of bumps in the air, I spilled ice cream and apple juice on my pants, and I felt super tired afterwards, but praise God for delivering my mom, my sister, and me safely to the airport. As we left Chicago and arrived in Narita, I noticed differences in the planning of the cities. Near the suburbs, Chicago's streets winded into cul-de-sacs with multiple streets branching off and most of the land was developed into highways, neighborhoods, corporations, and parks. Flying over Japan, I saw so many different landscapes in just one section of the island. There were heavily forested areas, grid-like farming systems, small neighborhoods, wide rivers, and even large patches of solar panels! Some of the more developed areas seemed to be sectioned off into perfect squares and the squares were each developed one by one. For anyone with OCD, your eyes would have been very content.
Once we arrived at the airport, it immediately got confusing. Since none of us know Japanese, it was quite hard finding where to go. Luckily there's English on the signs and many of the natives know a bit of English. We bought a three day train ticket and headed from Narita to Tokyo, about one hour on the bullet train. The train station was even more confusing than the airport! But we had a nice young lady point us in the direction of the taxis (after muddling through broken English), an extremely kind man who walked us all the way to the street exit, even offering us his umbrella, and a patient taxi driver who helped us with our five suitcases in the rain and trying to make small talk with us in the little English he knew.
Our last stop of the day was our hotel, Tokyu Stay, which was about a five minute drive from the train station. Our room is actually quite cute. It has two full size beds and a large sofa, the bathroom was spotless and we even had a washing machine! Everything is complementary too, including detergent, bath robes, and even a facial spa kit. Though, the best part of the room is definitely the toilet. It cleans your butt with water and the seat is heated! Wow, we sure are livin' the good life.
All of the people here are incredibly friendly, polite, and humble. Everyone greets you with a bow and leaves you with a bow. With each person that helped us, I wanted to give them something in return to show my gratitude but I had no money on me. All I could think was, "I wish I could just bake you cookies or something!" But I think that's where the bow comes in. You show the other person how grateful you are with the bow. It shows how humbled you are before them and sometimes it's the only way you can thank the other person. There may be many communication problems, but one thing that's universal is a smile (HAH. So cheesy, but true). You can truly tell the kindness of a person's soul through their endearing and warm smile.