Entering a foreign country can be the most emotionally taxing experiences in a human being's life. The routines are different, and rarely is there somebody there to fill you in. One is thrown into an environment where they don't know what they don't know. One doesn't have the answers, because they weren't privileged the questions, and never is it more apparent then when attempting to find, and pass through, immigration services at an international airport.
Having morphed into a tangle of pain and discomfort over the 10 hour flight, I collected my carry ons and proceeded out of the plane and into Narita International Airport. Looking back on it now, I realize the first thing I should have done off the plane was report to the health office; perhaps the staff there could ease some of my suffering, or at least untangle some of the mess I had become. Instead I made my way directly to immigration, telling myself "if I can just get to Sakie, everything will be alright".
I have never been through immigration in the U.S. but I am willing to guess that, thanks in large part to homeland security, getting into the United States is a complicated, intensive, and time consuming affair. Getting into Japan was nothing of the sort. After waiting in a 20 minute line, I was pointed towards one of the 10 desks up and running, I showed my passport, handed over whatever paperwork they asked for, and gave them fingerprints and a photo on one of their little white machines(national security brought to you by Hasbro).
Being spat out the other end of immigration in less then 5 minutes left me in a state of shock. I spent what felt like hours looking around, afraid to move, like if I did security was going to tackle me to the ground screaming "We're not finished with you yet!". Realizing I was simply in the way of others trying to get out gave me a new reason to make my way down the escalator towards baggage claim.
It was no big surprise when I reached the baggage routundra and saw a white sign saying "Abraham Haskins-Murphy please report to Baggage Claim Services" after all, I had flown United Airlines, famous for breaking guitars, stealing anything of value from, and then losing check luggage, and just all around terrible customer service practices. Sure enough, my check bag containing all my clothes was somewhere in Vancouver B.C. In a stroke of luck, however, the woman handling my claim may have been the friendliest woman on the face of this earth. After locating my luggage and taking my information so that it could be sent to me once it arrived, she personally assured me it would be to where I was staying by Sunday night. Often you hear people say "I will personally see to it..." but it never seems to carry much weight anymore, but this woman was sincere in that her idea of personally seeing to it meant she would see to ever detail: Collecting the bag when it arrived at Narita, Getting Sakie's address so they could deliver it, and sending it off; at any other airport you might expect this to be handled by a team of people. Her kindness didn't stop there, as she proceeded to take me through customs, all the while asking me questions about AIU, PSU, and the sights I would like to see while in Japan. After following me to the exit of the airport, I turned around in preparation to say my goodbyes and thank her for her help in the matter of my bag, but instead, before I could say a word she said "Now, lets find out the fastest way to get you to Akita". This woman came with me from baggage claim, to money exchange, and then showed me the train station, what line would get me there the easiest, and how much it would cost, stopping just short of buying the ticket for me. I myself am still not convinced it wasn't a fever induced apparition.
Finally, an hour after returning to land, I was really alone. Alone in a very strange sense of the word, surrounded by a half million people, but not able to talk to a single one, with nobody there to help me, no phone to call for help, it was just me and what I had in the bags slung over my shoulders. To tired to think about anything for to long a period of time, I let my cement feet carry me where they wanted. Hop on the Narita express, off at Tokyo Station, drag my heavy body to the Shinkanzen ticket office, lift my leadin hands to the counter to get a ticket to Akita Station, find my train, and pour myself into the rough felt upholstery of the economy class seat. I have never been able to really sleep in situations like this. Even during an 15 hour drive to California, where sleeping was an essential part of the plan, I could rest my eyes, doze, but never for more then 15 minutes at a time, and never the kind of sleep that does anything more then confuse the mind. The bullet-train to Akita was no exception, stuck in a hazy half-reality for 5 hours with Japan flying by my window at 200 miles an hour.
My arrival in Akita was a sweet relief. The sun has set and the temperature had settled in at 0 degrees. After making my way to the main lobby I picked up the receiver of a bright green payphone and began to dig my notebook out of my breast pocket for Sakie's cell number. No sooner did I get it open then I heard my name being called by the front door. Sakie had been there waiting for me, lucky for me too, I never would have figured that phone out.
The last few days have been spent in and out of the hospital and under heavy blankets trying to regain a small part of my humanity before orientation on the 2nd, but I have been able to see bits and pieces of the city I will be calling home for the next year. Akita is a unique place, unlike many other places in Japan that I've visited. Yasunari Kawabata couldn't have chosen a better name for this part of Japan then YukiGuni or snow country. The snowbanks are part of the natural scenery here, but every morning the sun raises, and melts the snow from the past night, opening the city to the people that live here, and every night the snow falls to tuck the city in to sleep. The study abroad advisers like to say that Akita City is alot like Portland, and they are right. Its not like downtown, but alot like Southeast Portland with its mix of small shops, larger chains, and privately owned food stops, my favorite so far being the Ramen shop just down the street from Sakie's apartment we hit after she picked me up from the station. I hope to regain my health quickly, so that I might start to really explore all that this place has to offer
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Rough and Tumble Beginnings
I’m writing this entry knowing that it won’t be published for at least another week. Here in Sakie’s apartment in Akita City there is no Wi-Fi for me to connect to, and using her Japanese keyboard to write anything at all has proven far to frustrating a task to partake.
To say I started this grand adventure, my new life, on a rough note would be an understatement. From the moment I woke up the morning of the 25th thing began rolling downhill. Still hung-over from my send-off party the night before (I said I wasn’t going to drink, why do I even bother?) I stumbled out of bed and quickly brushed my teeth, took my meds, and hopped into my dress slacks and white button down shirt. Right about that time I realized it was 0 degrees in Akita, and these thin polyester pants were not going to cut the mustard. Having no time for a plan B (I needed these dress clothes for the AIU opening ceremony) I threw all 3 of my bags over my shoulder and ran downstairs.
One thing I had not been expecting was my dad waiting for me in the living room. This guy is a freakin wild card. I woke up 3 hours before my flight so I can ride the max to the airport and hopefully arrive with 2 hours to deal with all the things that go wrong at the airport, but here is dad waiting and eager to give me a ride. Many would say this is a good thing, a ride to the airport instead of public transportation, but from my perspective, I had steeled myself for the crazies and nutzos on the train, and not having to go through with it left me with a feeling of awkwardness and tension, like going to the hospital and waiting for a shot that will never come.
The ride to the airport was pleasant enough, but arriving at the airport I realized I didn’t remember what airline would take me to Vancouver B.C. for my connecting flight to Tokyo. Reaching for my flight itinerary…nothing. I had forgotten my itinerary at home. If one could ever see the very point in which their day took a downward turn, that was what I had just observed, my day flipping over on it’s belly, giving up the ghost, because it knows its all uphill from here.
One hour of asking around and flight checking later, I found that my name was registered at Air Canada (go figure). My relief was short lived however, as although my name was registered there, they found no ticket reservation. If my psyche had a gauge, the mercury would have just dropped out the bottom. I decided it was time to start making some phone calls (from the payphone of course, my mother wanted to use my cell while I’m in Japan, so it was sitting in my room). Taking a detour into the men’s room to make sure I didn’t look like the walking dead, which I did, turned out to be a good move, because as soon as I finished washing my face, I was paged over the loudspeaker, they had found my reservation, and are waiting for me at the front desk.
For the sake of length, let me jump ahead about 2 hours and 15,000 feet. Because this is where I found out that my hangover was a little bit more then it appeared to be. What started out as a nagging main in my head turned into a full-blown ear infection at altitude. I’d say it was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, but that would have only been valid for an hour before I had to do it all over again after transferring to the flight that would take me to Tokyo.
My arrival in my new home deserves it’s own entry, so I think with my travel coming to an end, so should this journal entry. I hope you all understand why there are no photos to go along with, as I was to busy with the chainsaw boring into my skull to take snapshots. From here on out, however, I’ll begin taking photos, and as soon as I can find a clear, flat spot, I will be supplementing these journal entries with audio blogs that you can hear at www.jonandabe.com, so stay tuned for more! I’m sure the next 9 months will be a lot more positive then the last 48 hours ;)
To say I started this grand adventure, my new life, on a rough note would be an understatement. From the moment I woke up the morning of the 25th thing began rolling downhill. Still hung-over from my send-off party the night before (I said I wasn’t going to drink, why do I even bother?) I stumbled out of bed and quickly brushed my teeth, took my meds, and hopped into my dress slacks and white button down shirt. Right about that time I realized it was 0 degrees in Akita, and these thin polyester pants were not going to cut the mustard. Having no time for a plan B (I needed these dress clothes for the AIU opening ceremony) I threw all 3 of my bags over my shoulder and ran downstairs.
One thing I had not been expecting was my dad waiting for me in the living room. This guy is a freakin wild card. I woke up 3 hours before my flight so I can ride the max to the airport and hopefully arrive with 2 hours to deal with all the things that go wrong at the airport, but here is dad waiting and eager to give me a ride. Many would say this is a good thing, a ride to the airport instead of public transportation, but from my perspective, I had steeled myself for the crazies and nutzos on the train, and not having to go through with it left me with a feeling of awkwardness and tension, like going to the hospital and waiting for a shot that will never come.
The ride to the airport was pleasant enough, but arriving at the airport I realized I didn’t remember what airline would take me to Vancouver B.C. for my connecting flight to Tokyo. Reaching for my flight itinerary…nothing. I had forgotten my itinerary at home. If one could ever see the very point in which their day took a downward turn, that was what I had just observed, my day flipping over on it’s belly, giving up the ghost, because it knows its all uphill from here.
One hour of asking around and flight checking later, I found that my name was registered at Air Canada (go figure). My relief was short lived however, as although my name was registered there, they found no ticket reservation. If my psyche had a gauge, the mercury would have just dropped out the bottom. I decided it was time to start making some phone calls (from the payphone of course, my mother wanted to use my cell while I’m in Japan, so it was sitting in my room). Taking a detour into the men’s room to make sure I didn’t look like the walking dead, which I did, turned out to be a good move, because as soon as I finished washing my face, I was paged over the loudspeaker, they had found my reservation, and are waiting for me at the front desk.
For the sake of length, let me jump ahead about 2 hours and 15,000 feet. Because this is where I found out that my hangover was a little bit more then it appeared to be. What started out as a nagging main in my head turned into a full-blown ear infection at altitude. I’d say it was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, but that would have only been valid for an hour before I had to do it all over again after transferring to the flight that would take me to Tokyo.
My arrival in my new home deserves it’s own entry, so I think with my travel coming to an end, so should this journal entry. I hope you all understand why there are no photos to go along with, as I was to busy with the chainsaw boring into my skull to take snapshots. From here on out, however, I’ll begin taking photos, and as soon as I can find a clear, flat spot, I will be supplementing these journal entries with audio blogs that you can hear at www.jonandabe.com, so stay tuned for more! I’m sure the next 9 months will be a lot more positive then the last 48 hours ;)
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