So I've clearly been procrastinating on starting this blog that I promised myself as well as everyone back home that I would start while here. If the recent events in Japan didn't kick me in the ass to get it going, then I don't know what would have soooo here it goes! After starting to write this, I realized it is way too damn long for one post so I'll break it down into events wherever I can - starting with my leaving Canada/getting here.
Enjoy!
(disclaimer - if you're easily offended, beat it.)
(disclaimer #2 - this is being written as much for myself as it is for my friends and family (/randoms who want to read?) ...soo if it's cheesy and you don’t like it, also beat it. :) )
(disclaimer #3 - smiley faces are cool again in Japan ;) :P >_< )
True to form, I left all of my packing until the night before I left...the same night that I also had to use to say a few more final goodbyes. Those were made easier by some of the boys (Tom, Paul, Tony) coming to hang in my room while I slowly gathered my life into two suitcases. It lightened the atmosphere for me for sure...the DEADMAU5 we were rocking out to after seeing him live a couple days earlier sure as hell didn't hurt either, seeing as we were pretty much still riding a wave of euphoria from that show.
Bright and early the next morning, I was breathing my last breaths of crisp Canadian winter air for what will be some time. A part of me was pretty damn happy to be moving to such a more temperate climate, but of course being Canadian at heart, I realized I'd miss it maybe just a little. Being the absolutely pleasant person that I tend to be in the mornings, I think I had one final bickering with my mom waiting to check my bags in the airport (no idea what it was about,) and from there on it was a fun time with her and Carl at the airport with a looming sadness that we probably won't see each other for nearly a year kind of being the elephant in the room. We ate some breakfast, and then Josty called me from the airport hotel to meet up for some last minute bromance and life-talking before I got on my plane (I think he was going back to Trinidad?)
Had my heart-felt goodbyes with my family and Jost (him being there actually made the emotions a lot easier on me, and my mom later said on her too,) and next thing I knew I was the last one to walk onto this massive plane that was about to cross the Pacific in one shot, totalling around 12.5 hours in the sky. I think being sleep deprived helped me to not have a panic attack as the reality of leaving everything/everyone I knew behind was setting in and I strapped that seatbelt on. Also knowing that I planned on stumbling off of the plane after more than a few mile high rums were in me, kind of relaxed my nerves. In the end, I was neither rested nor drunk by the time the flight was done, but the excitement of everything had just kept me in a zen state the whole way through as I walked off of the plane.
I got off of the plane in a state of awe. I had to get my fingerprints scanned right away in customs, so there goes all those brilliant heists that I'd planned. Shit, what a waste of time. Guess I'll have to make a living the decent way after all. The airport was pretty status quo as far as airports go. Busy as hell. Clean as it gets. You figure out that Japan pretty much operates under those circumstances at most times pretty quickly after getting here. A sigh of relief really hit me as I navigated the airport too, as I saw nearly as many Engrish signs as I did Japanese. At least one of the two info desk girls always spoke enough to help us foreigners find our way too.
As fate would have it, I'm waiting for the hotel bus out front of the terminal, and I see a girl with only one carry-on (just like me - we used baggage delivery,) waiting for what seems like the same bus (it must have been the last one to come and we both were waiting the whole time.) So we get on and say hi to each other...turns out her name is Amanda and she is from OSHAWA! Anyone reading this probably knows that Oshawa is right beside my hometown Whitby, so this is a pretty ridiculous coincidence. We're both going to teach for the same company, so we've officially made a friend. Just as importantly, someone to drink with in the hotel that first night to get the ball rolling and start Japan on a fun note! We had some sake, highballs (lowballs? i can’t remember,) beer, and maybe some vodka. After that and being awake for...I don't know, a lot of hours (its confusing with the time difference)..it was finally time for bed. The next day we navigated the airport together and swapped contact deets to keep in touch over the next few days until training started.
This is the story of like the 24-48 hours surrounding my departure and arrival. Any future posts will probably not be this long, but anyone that talks to me on the computer knows that I type like a madman and can rip something like this out way too quickly..of course I'm never rambling though, I'd never do that.
I'm going to go drink a glass of wine, figure out how many hours the news is giving us to live, and then come back and write about what I remember from my first couple of weeks here (warning: they're quite hazy.)
