Hi all!
I made it! I am here on the other side of the world! I figure I should update since it's been 5 days and most of you haven't heard much from me. So the updates will probably take a while.
Firstly, the morning of departure.
I woke up at 5:15 a normal time for my new life but a foreign time to my old. As I was in the shower, I was excited to see the world but like a train it hit me. What in the world was I thinking? Traveling to a new country? For a guy? For an experience? How much was I going to hate it? I quickly shook those thoughts away. This was an experience I needed, and one I very much so wanted. But was it possible that I was too excited? That my hopes would be too high and that I would hate it once I got here? Possibly. But I just needed to go and find out. No need to question the "What if's" later in life. Besides, i was going to be on the plane in 5 hours anyway. No turning back. I packed and put out the notes I left for my family. I wanted them to know how much I will miss them. And I've learned a thing or two about being in long distance relationships... This time it is just reversed. I know I can handle long distance, I will be curious how my family holds up.
The plane rides.
Flight #1: O'Hare to DFW 10am-12pm
I got to the airport super early just to be safe. Even after I went through security and everything I still had 2 hours of just waiting but it was good because I was super nervous and needed to work on calming down a bit. I talked to a few of my friends and family to help me get over the fact that I really was doing this.
The first plane ride was fast. I had a window seat and was able to watch the city disappear into the clouds like it was getting lost in a wave. The flight was only 2.5 hours to Dallas. I was nervous about connecting to my Narita flight. I only had 50 minutes between the two. On the plane I was listening to music, reading and working on some Word Searches thanks to Mr. Hanna. :) The time flew by. Before I knew it electronics had to be off and the flight was landing.
The best news was that we arrived a whole half hour early which meant I had more time to get to my next flight. The stress was flying away from me.
I hoped off the plane and ran around the airport and went to the next. My last meal on American soil was a pepperoni pretzel and hot cheetos. Mmmm.
Flight #2: DFW to Narita, Tokyo Japan 120pm-5pm (Japan time) ((3am US time))
This flight sounds dreadful. 13 hours. I popped a sleeping pill Mom gave me, didn't help at all. So I watched 21 Jumpstreet, CSI (2 episodes), slept on and off for a total of 5 hours and read an entire book and wrote a bit in my notebook so I wouldn't forget anything. It was long. And ironically light the whole time from 515 when i woke up until 315am (your time) it was light. But when all was said and done it wasn't too bad or even as long as it seemed. I can read for 8 hours straight anyway so I was able to break it up pretty nicely. They fed us 4 times. Mostly different Japanese foods. Meatballs (of some sort) and rice, sushi, chicken and rice. It was surprising how often they fed us. I brought all these snacks from home and didn't open them. But its okay, it gives me American food here.
I got off the flight (which was the biggest plane I had ever seen by the way.) Went through the airport following signs and other people hoping I was going the right way. I found customs and my luggage. And before I knew it, I was out with the normal people of Tokyo. I found Mike. He was starring at his phone probably bored since he was waiting a good 3 hours for me to land. (We were an hour and a half late to Tokyo). I snuck up and just starred at him and said "Boo!" With a big smile on my face. We hugged after I stopped the luggage but thats it. The Japanese are very anti-physical contact people and we didn't (I didn't) want to disrespect them. It wasn't until we were at the train station that we had our first kiss (again).
So all in all, the flights could have been worse. My experience was stressful and nerve-racking but it couldn't be more exciting and dreamlike. It is wonderful being with Mike. Getting to really dive into this relationship and this culture. I couldn't be more ecstatic about this opportunity! I will update more tomorrow! :) Love you all and miss you!
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