Day One

The plane ride was long and tiring. I watched most of the movies that were listed on the plane. Then when we landed customs was a breeze and i didn't have to get checked for H1N1 or anything. I feel okay nonetheless. We arrived at the airport and then met up with somebody who directed us to another hour of riding on the Skyliner to get to Ueno. Then from Ueno, we lugged our luggage to Asakusa and then to the hotel. The one thing i hate about traveling anywhere is that you have to take your luggage with you until you get to the place you are staying, and when you do not have a car or some sort of personal transportation, it gets hectic with you bumping everyone on the subway. After getting to the Hotel i pretty much got my important things unpacked and hanged took a shower and just laid down for a while. I did not want to sleep so i stayed awake. So at 5 pm i and a person who i met on the plane in the same job went out to see Asakusa and saw the temple. I was disappointed because Sensoji is being renovated and the whole temple has a big housing over it so you can't see anything. It was sad. Then we went street walking and into a few stores. I wanted to go into a market to just see what exactly is here, and for the most part i think it will be okay buying groceries in Japan. i just hope that i have a good market in the town that i am assigned to. Everything was a little smaller and a little more expensive but no too bad. The only thing that is horribly more expensive in comparison to the US is meat. they sell it by the 100g in stores and it is like 200-300 yen just for that little much or more. Then we ate at a noodle shop and came home. I did some paperwork and then i went to bed at 7 and got up officially at 5 am. There was a tremor from the earthquake yesterday that woke me up. The one thing about earthquakes here in Japan is that though they are well equipped and there is rarely any danger or damage, I do not like them because there is always the little question in the back of your mind during it all, “Is this going to get worse?” or “Is this the big one?” I know that I would be very safe in an earthquake, especially in Tokyo, and I am not that scared of death, but still earthquakes are scary because of their potential for disaster. I start training today at 830 am.