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Reading charlie's journal

Friends are the people fate gives you. If someone would have told me four years ago that my best friends would be Japanese and that I would fly to visit them twice (and probably more to come) I would have told them they were crazy. As it is, I feel incredibly lucky to be in the situation I am.

My friend Zack took me to the airport on Wednesday. It saved me a lot on parking, but it cost him half his lunch break. He's a good guy, pretty generous, but he wouldn't even let me buy him lunch.

The day is uncommonly cold and cloudy here. It’s supposed to be the same weather in Tokyo. But I'll be above it all soon enough.

Security checks are okay, except for the taking your shoes off. I think that's just demeaning. I feel like a prisoner coming in from recess. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is for people with smelly feet? When they ask, "Sir, do you mind taking off your shoes?" in a very loud and authoritative voice, I should just say, "Yes, I do." Seriously, just because some suicide bomber used his shoes, that doesn't make me a suspect. They could at least slow down the line and give you some slippers or something.

A friend from college was on my connecting flight. He's headed to the east coast for more extensive training on international adoption. He's working for an adoption agency and loving it. Don't ever underestimate jobs you love.

I lied and told him I was still in software (a job I didn't love, but I liked it a lot). Traveling is kind of like working. It takes time and preparation, and it kind of sucks to do it alone.

I wore my glasses so that I wouldn't have to take my contacts out in the tiny 747 bathroom. In hindsight, I should have put my contacts in before or shortly after arrival. Is it just me, or is Japanese smaller and harder to read?

The guidebook says Tokyo has a growing senior population, and it's evident on this flight. About 80% of the passengers are Asian adults who are 50 and over. Granted the woman next to me is Pilipino, and the man across the aisle is Vietnamese, but I think most of the people on the flight are Japanese.

There are two Americans sitting near me. They're the kind of people who make me wish I was Canadian. They sing loudly to all the songs on the movie, even when the people next to them are trying to sleep. They're horribly overweight, and they block the aisles and walk over people while saying "Excuse me" with complete disregard. I'm sure my 40 pound backpack and I have been a pain too, but this is ridiculous.

On a side note, I noticed I'm missing a digit in the cell phone number of the friend I'm staying with. Japanese cell phone numbers have one more digit than American numbers. I only noticed when I compared it to another friend's cell number.

The great thing about traveling is that it takes you down to the basics – like camping. Toothbrush, shirt, shoes, jacket. You can't help but feel alive. It feels so, human.

When you travel, you're really only two paychecks away from having nothing. You could very quickly have no food, no roof, and no place to go. But hopefully you have friends to call. The friends fate gave you so that you have a reason to cook a decent meal. So you could get some people together and laugh, and enjoy some good company without having to worry about the stress of job and money.

While I share no commonality with this Pilipino woman - except destination - being gracious, sharing gum during take off and descent, letting each other in and out, sharing airplane food in little boxes with tiny wine, it makes me believe that there may still be hope for the greater human race.

When we arrived I grabbed her suitcase from the other side of the aisle. "I still have three more hours to the Philippines," she said. "I'll take me about two hours to get across town from here," I said. "Then I guess we'll get there about the same time."

Why is the distance from the international gate to customs so long at Narita? I travel light, which means I get to carry two carry-ons all the way. I think I sweated off five pounds on the way to customs. But at least the security check is easy.

"Do you have any firearms, narcotics, or contaminated biological organisms?"
"No."

"Do you have anything to declare?"
"No."

They open the bag, shuffle it around a bit.

"Okay. Next."

It never fails. I always feel ugly when I fly into Narita. I haven't showered, or shaved in a day and a half. And everyone here looks so fabulous. They all have their cool boots and cell phones with lots of color-coordinated accessories. Even people I knew in the states look better here.

So I stand outside the customs gate and look around for the currency exchange, then the bus counter.

I was hoping to speak a lot more Japanese on this trip, but you'll trade your dreams for safety when you're tired and in a foreign country. At the bus counter I used Japanese to ask the attendant if she spoke English. When she said "chotto" (a little), I asked her in English if this was where I could buy a ticket to Sagami-Ono. She said no and directed me to the other bus counter.

At the bus stop I asked the baggage handler if this was the bus to Sagami-Ono. He pointed at the side of the bus, which clearly read in English "to Fun-bashi station".

So I got on the next bus to Sagami-Ono. It'll be nearly 10 pm by the time I get there. That's about 7 AM CMT time. This has been the longest day ever. I feel sorry for the guy next to me. He has to sit next to a sweaty, smelly, unshaven guy for two hours.

Please contiune to vote AND post.

I love the discriptions of the americans on the plane. It reminds me of how much we are like strange disjointed figures always in a rush to get to the next stop light.

You said when you travel your two paychecks away from having nothing, that is also true when you don't travel.
Something to ponder on.

I'm glad you made it safely there. I know your going to drink in the country like someone who has been wandering in the desert and finally makes it to the oasis.
:)

By the way, these Japan travelogues are sort of past tense. I took a lot of notes and these journals are my first try at some sort of travel writing.

Thanks for the encouragment. Did I tell you one of my Japanese friends thinks I would make a good travel writer too?

You said when you travel your two paychecks away from having nothing, that is also true when you don't travel.

True.

I know your going to drink in the country

Ms. Maude, I love you. But could you please spell "you're" correctly for the situation? I see you do it a lot. And it kind of bothers me.

And yes, I did do some drinking while I was in Japan. :)

Please contiune to vote AND post.

...with a very big grin on my face as I read you're request...
yes..I will work on my grammer. :)

It's funny how when there is something there that works well lots of people see it, even if you've never thought about it. :)

Thank you. :)

I have no doubt that while you are there, other things will begin to talk to you about the idea of "home",
which I'm of the opinion that you have been just visiting the u.s. and japan is really home for you.

Where you are now has a feel of being "right". You know, everthing is where it should be kind of feel.
And that is truely awesome. I'm not sure how else to explain it.

If I'm understanding right, you've come back to the states?
I just re-read your post, and it occured to me that you are back from your vacation.
I feel like I'm in a time warp here...:)

This post was edited by harold_maude on Oct 31, 2005.

So you like Japan. And you talk Japanese a little? Did you learn it in America? Sorry, if I asked this before, I remember I asked this a NAOee before, but forgot, who.

"Sie wollen nichts anderes. Sie wollen kämpfen! Sie sind Soldaten! Fucking Wahnsinnige!" - Noel G.

Yeah, I learned Japanese from my Japanese friends at college. One of my Japanese friends has a degree in Japanese as a Second Language, and she a fountain of knowledge.