abbytakestokyo

[abbytakestokyo]

よかった: Thank Goodness

After one blink-and-you-miss-it short flight to Toronto and a brief layover, including some bonding with fellow Tokyo-goers over the mess of a line to get on our plane, I was on a much, much longer flight to Tokyo. Now I’ve done the Europe flight from the US three times roundtrip now. 8 hours was long. 13 and a half? In my head I’d told myself it wasn’t that much longer. Spoiler alert: It was. But, I still managed to get a bit of sleep here and there, and was seated next to a lovely guy who was on his way to Japan with his armor-cosplay-building son! 

After I got my suitcase (not getting mine that one time on the way back to the US has always made me a bit paranoid), customs was quick and surprisingly easy, none of the “where are you staying what are you doing when are you leaving” questions I got coming into the UK every time.

And, as my travel experience continues to prove to me, the things you always worry about the most end up going by fine, it’s the things you take for granted as easy that’ll get you. I spent less time trying to find my subway connections than I did trying to get my SIM card in the airport! I had a map and all, but didn’t realize the Sakura Mobile kiosk I was looking for didn’t exist: they just left my package at the post office! I thought they had a kiosk next to/inside of it. But after a kind Japanese information woman took pity on me and approached me with my probably perplexed face, I found the appropriate venue, acquired and popped in my SIM card! I didn’t read the email close enough to realize I needed to install an APN on my phone before using it though, so my data didn’t work until I activated it back at the Airbnb with Wifi...But luckily, my hosts supplied me with a picture guide of how to get to the Airbnb, which I had screencapped on my phone, so getting there was a breeze! I got there later than I expected, close to 6:30, after my 3:30 arrival time. My hosts got to the place shortly thereafter, showed me around, and I signed my lease. Success! 

I’ll have to do a separate post about my house, but so far, so good. It’s a traditional Japanese style home that is remarkable spacious, and only a 10 minute walk from two stations, one of which on the JR line! The futon is totally  great with a bit of extra padding under it, and the pillow super firm and super comfy. The shower is a perfect 40 degrees C, and heats up remarkably fast, with the best water pressure I’ve ever had.

But I digress! For my first night, I just grabbed a few things to eat at the nearby supermarket, Life, mostly French pastries because they were at the front and I Trusted Them. But I also got some gyoza! I managed to stay up until 10pm with the help of amazing Japanese TV programming: I don’t know what the heck was going on, but at one point they did a countdown of best karaoke songs and performed “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” from NGE, so I was Hype.

I had a late start yesterday, not managing to get my act together until around 11AM, but after just set out to explore the nearby Ikebukuro! I could take the subway, but decided to walk, and man, was it HOT! I still need to get a hat/umbrella because yeah the humidity wasn’t that bad actually, but the sun veryyy warm and my skin veryyyy pale. I did put on some sunscreen, though!

Ikebukuro has a section called “Sunshine City” which now I’ve been, I completely get. It had a bunch of game centers and various clothing/department stores, and I was bombarded by cute music walking in and among all the UFO catcher games. I also just wandered a random department store to get a notebook and pen for my class on Monday: and yeah, their stationary game is up there with France. They also have a love for random French phrases, much to my amusement. Some were surprisingly on point, others just left me going ??? One of my Ikebukuro goals was to buy a smaller backpack for class/walking around that was less obtrusive than my travel backpack: I found a winner at Jeansmate, which I had found in looking up backpacks popular in Japan! I ended up going with the brand Anello, because you can use it as a backpack, but it has straps that let you easily hold it like a purse: perfect for the subway!

I made myself eat that afternoon, a sandwich, some curry-ish thing with potatoes? But honestly my appetite is the thing thrown off the most by this time zone shift! My sleep schedule is okay (well besides the whole “wake up at 4:30 with the sun” thing), but my body still thinks I’m eating in the middle of the night! It’s okay though, it’ll get there! I took it easy after lunch, making my way back to the Airbnb and napping, before getting a yummy dinner of plain rice and edamame at the store. 

Today, in honor of Sailor Moon’s birthday, I’m going to a café that has Sailor Moon desserts with some new Japanese friends I met via Twitter, so I’m very excited!!! I’ll take way too many pics! また ね !

[abbytakestokyo]

おやすみ: Goodnight

Before I travel almost anywhere, it always hits me right before I go to bed. My brain thinks through it like, “How many sleeps do I have left in this exact place?” as I then wonder what the next place I rest my head will be. Sometimes it’s simple: I’m staying home with family, I’m visiting a friend out of town, and I know I’ll be headed back to my apartment the next day before the next night. Sometimes, it’s not so simple. Tonight, as has been hitting me for many of the past few nights, the next time I go to sleep will be on a plane. Well, that’s not really the panic part. The next time I’ll be going to bed, it’ll be on a futon in a Japanese style AirBnb I’ve rented for the next month.

Cue panic.

Now, panic isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Anxiety is a common and almost-constant companion of mine, and I always tend to get a bit nauseous and sleep worse before any sort of trip. But once I’m on the go, anxiety becomes more adrenaline, as that fight-or-flight instinct is literally able to well, take flight. I love traveling: last year I travelled all over Europe as I taught as an English language assistant in France, and I adored it. It also gave me much experience with international flights, something I’m really grateful of as a stand on the precipice of the next great adventure: my first trip to Japan. 

Japan is a place I’ve wanted to visit for over a decade, when I first read the manga Fruits Basket and fell headfirst into what I’m sure will be a lifelong love of manga and anime. But beyond that, as long as I’ve loved Japanese pop culture, I’ve also always had a deep love for the culture and especially the language. Everyone always says French is the most beautiful language, but to me, that honor may very well go to Japanese. My hodge-podge knowledge of the language, held together by a not-for-credit community college class I took in high school and Duolingo for the past few months, is even enough to appreciate the way the phrases are stung together and the melody of them. And hey, their numbers may be kinda weird sometimes, but at least they don’t have four-twenty-tens (really, France?). 

So tomorrow, I start a journey first to Canada (my first time, and it will be in the Toronto airport as a connection) and then to Tokyo itself. For the first time, I really won’t have a contact person there: I’ll have other students at the summer school session I’m going to, but I’m really going to be solo. I like to think this is the next big step after my European escapades, featuring quite a few solo jaunts to London, but this capital will be a lot more daunting. But as much as I know I won’t understand (especially the kanji. So many kanji), I also know that won’t really matter. I’m there for the experience: to experience this city I’ve dreamed of going to and get just a taste of what it has to offer. And with that as my goal, I know I can’t fail. In the words of Sakura Kinomoto, “Zettai daijoubu da yo,” “I’m sure everything will be alright.”

For now, I’m off to pack away my last few things and get ready for an early morning tomorrow for a very long day. I’ll also explain a bit more why I’m in the city for the next month, but if you can’t try to quell pre-travel anxieties by quoting anime characters, are you really going to Japan? じゃあね!