This is the first photograph I took in Japan... I think. I'm not entirely sure because I haven't looked at my negatives yet, just the index print I got from the people who processed my photos. Essentially, this is one of the three Joshes riding the monorail things that carried people to the terminals at Kansai airport. If you haven't heard of Kansai at all, it's this big airport built on an artificial island in the Pacific ocean a couple miles away from Japan's coast. I didn't get a good look at it when we arrived because it was night when we arrived. The ride over was a grueling 14 hours for me with an hour or so delay. Basically, it was rough on me because I had an aisle seat and people kept walking by and bumping me every time I tried to get some sleep. I think I got something like 2 hours of not-so-good sleep.
As for my very first impression of Japan? I don't exactly remember what I was thinking about when I was trying to find my way around the airport. I was probably thinking that I wished I spoke more Japanese because I felt really bad to have to make the customs people there talk English. But I felt that way for the whole trip, so I guess it's no big deal.
This is one photo of Kansai airport, but the place is pretty big so I guess it doesn't say too much about it. This was also the site of my first exposure to Japanese advertising. Well, no, not really, but there was a big ad that I had no idea what it was for. I never did figure that one out.
Here are some people in my group waiting to figure out what's happening next. The two people in masks are Xavier and sensei. X and sensei had to wear masks for the first day because, for an as-of-yet unexplained reason, X fainted on the airplane and got pretty sick. Sensei helped him around so I imagine they put the mask on him too just as a precaution. As a small aside, there were people around Japan wearing masks because of the state of SARS in Asia, but there weren't many. But, getting back on track, in this picture we're all waiting for train tickets so we can get to Hikone and JCMU.
Once we did get our tickets we had to lug all our bags onto a crowded train that went through Osaka and Kyoto before it stopped in Hikone. It was a long ride and everybody was pretty ragged out. Another Josh, on the left, isn't looking too hot, and Betsy, in the right photograph, was definately not feeling well. But it was a long trip in a crowded plane, and even I wasn't feeling completely right. I think the trip by train from Kansai airport to Hikone is 40 or 50 minutes, so it's no short trip, especially for weary travelers who just got off the plane.
We did get to JCMU without incident, though, and then it was time for just a little unpacking and some much-needed rest.
This is a picture of my bedroom. The rooms at JCMU were quite nice for two people: two bedrooms, a kitchen and a table, and a bathroom. Oh, and the beds were the most comfortable things I've ever been on! Some people said the floors were softer than these beds. I wasn't about to complain, though: I like a firm mattress, and this was by far the firmest mattress I'd ever been on. It was fantastic! Another thing about the rooms at JCMU that I adjusted to eventually was that you had to turn the hot water on when you wanted any for any reason. I think this was to save on utilities, and it makes sense to me, but there were times when I forgot to turn the hot water on before I took a shower, so I had to grab a towel and run out of the bathroom to the kitchen to switch on the hot water.
I think I woke up at 7:30 or something that morning. For some reason, mornings in Japan seemed to start really early. I don't really know if the sun rose any earlier than in Michigan or not, but at 5 AM the sun would be up and I'd ask myself if I overslept, then I'd look at the clock and realize I had a good 2 hours or so of sleep left. Anyway, seeing as it was my first day in Japan, I decided to take some pictures. JCMU is located right on lake Biwa (the largest freshwater lake in Japan) and this is a kind of misty-morning picture that essentially characterized Japan in general: there was always a lot of haze in the distance, even on clear days. But I think it makes sense, seeing as Japan is surrounded by an ocean.
After waking up to an early morning it was time to see Hikone.
We signed out our own bikes to use for the duration of our trip and rode downtown to Al Plaza, a department store chain that's kind of everywhere around Japan. In Al Plaza they sell clothes, books, toys, bikes, and groceries. It's a really convenient place to go to find just about anything you need. I bought most of my souvenires there.
Oh, speaking of bikes: riding around the streets of Hikone was my first time riding a bike in probably 6 or 7 years. It literally became a crash refresher course in bike riding, because I actually did crash my bike. It rained a little bit while we were heading to Al Plaza and I slipped and ran my bike into a big metal barricade. Well, it's probably a good thing that was there because I might have fallen into a gutter or ditch or something otherwise... but I still cut my hand and bruised my leg. There was a lady walking the other direction who saw the whole thing, and I felt really stupid after I did all that not only because I crashed, but because I told her I was fine and I didn't even know I cut my hand until I saw some blood starting to run down my arm. I must've been the biggest, dumbest gaijin she'd ever seen.
...there was also a spider I didn't see on my bike when I first started riding it. As I was riding down a street I looked down and saw this big brown spider heading right for my leg. I say "holy shit!" right there with sensei in front of me and I use my foot to get the spider off my bike. I felt really bad for using such language in front of sensei, but I apologized and I think he understood.
...eh, anyway, those pictures above are ones I took in the first restaurant I ate at: a ramen shop: the left one being my first meal and the right one being sensei and Christie taking a breather.
Another nice thing about JCMU is that there's a restaurant right next to the building where are classes were. The restaurant was called Coco's and it was basically like a Japanese Denny's. There really wasn't any real Japanese food on the menu, but the other stuff wasn't exactly American or Italian or anything. But I guess things are like that anywhere: a Mexican restaurant in the states really isn't what Mexican people eat, so I guess it's to be expected. Anyway, the top photo is of a nice sign that essentially says "Japan center for Michigan universities." The left photo is of another guy named Josh making a funny face, and the right photo is of Betsy and Jessica figuring out what to order.
One thing I can tell you about essential communication in Japan: saying "kore onegai shimasu/kudasai" and pointing at what you want is infinitely helpful when it comes to ordreing.
So, these are the first few pictures I took of Japan and Hikone over my first day or two. There were plenty more adventures to follow: people getting lost; jellyfish; Japanese television; shrines and temples; and natto.
