Headachey, and very tired. Excitement for our arrival mingles with delirious travel stupor.
Now that we’ve been on this plane for six hours or so, it has dawned on me that international flights are essentially a species of cultural limbo. Multiple languages, multiple cultures, multiple peoples all homogenized into the experience of jet travel. Neither here nor there. Weird.
Headachey, and very tired. Excitement for our arrival mingles with delirious travel stupor.
Now that we’ve been on this plane for six hours or so, it has dawned on me that international flights are essentially a species of cultural limbo. Multiple languages, multiple cultures, multiple peoples all homogenized into the experience of jet travel. Neither here nor there.
Weird.
But at least there’s in flight movies. And we brought Charlotte’s Web, which I am in the process of reading to the Princess.
Four more hours to go!
UPDATE: We have now landed in the Land of the Rising Sun.
So tired…
Traveling like this is incredibly exhausting. But like the song says about the big ‘ol jet air liner, “You’ve gotta go through hell before you get to heaven…”
The Japanese equivalent of TSA is much more civilized than our American counterpart, or so it seemed to me. I was even able to interact with the very polite finger scanner lady entirely in Japanese. Everyone seems so surprised that I can speak a little.
Winning points already.
GO ME!!
The fact that I’m in Japan hasn’t quite set in to full effect. I have no sense of outsiderness, but rather feel like I am just in a different part of the Airport Travel Theme Park.
There are very interesting, and remarkably soothing, bell-like chime half tones that play periodically through the airport PA.
The Princess and I sat down for a bite to eat. So many little food shops all tucked in together—some are big chains, and some are little one-offs existing here in the cultural limbo land that is the airport.
Between weariness and bleariness, I honestly don’t even know what we were eating, but damn was it good! I really wanted to eat an apple, but nary an apple could be found.
Oh well, the moment will come eventually!
Hisachan of course went for a Japanese beer straight off, but I went around the corner and made my first Japanese purchase—a peach, orange, pineapple, apple, milk smoothie for ¥400 (that’s about four bucks)! It was delicious, and my limited Japanese served me flawlessly.
At this point, it will be a push to be adequately energetic when I meet Hisako’s father in Kyoto in a few hours. But I’ll try my best!
Ganbarimasu ne!
As our bus from Osaka to Kyoto departed Kansai Airport, the attendants on the ground bowed in unison.
It was the most magical thing I’ve yet seen.
We even caught a glimpse of a huge neon lit Farris Wheel on the Osaka waterfront—I don’t know if it will be possible, but if I get a chance, I want to ride on that thing with the Princess.
Kyoto Station is replete with J-Pop, senseless splashes of random Engrish, department stores, and the weirdest fucking toilets I’ve ever seen!
I think I’m going to have the time of my life!
Love that you’re using your Japanese already! Your descriptions make me feel as though I’m there with you.
Love it all. More! More! More!