I'm back! A friend I stayed with in Tokyo interrogated me over IM, and I think that makes a better summary than I would have written:
(10:25:33) Friend: did you meet Bob yet?
(10:25:39) Me: Not yet
(10:25:59) Me: My cell phone won't charge, and I think I put the charger in a box of stuff I mailed home that won't get here for weeks.
(10:26:21) Friend: aww
<...>
(10:29:31) Friend: so how was your bus ride?
(10:30:17) Me: The bus ride was fine. I was the only person to get off at Terminal 2, and I took a little bit of time to get off the bus because of all those little plastic bags [ed: souvenirs], so the guy unloading luggage looked a little confused and a little annoyed.
(10:31:04) Me: Narita airport is one confusing place when you first get in. None of the counters say "check-in" and all of them say "American Airlines," even though less than half of them are.
(10:32:15) Me: I bought souvenirs, but the store looked closed, so I asked, "aiteimasuka," and she just stared at me until I asked, "Is this store open?"
(10:32:30) Me: But then another guy walked up and asked a question in Japanese, so I was really confused.
(10:32:41) Friend: lol
(10:33:06) Me: I got home late, and I haven't had any meal since getting here.
(10:33:18) Me: I hope Mike gets my message soon. I haven't called yet.
(10:33:21) Friend: whaaaaaaaaat!?
(10:33:46) Friend: did you eat those chocolate cigaretts?
(10:34:00) Me: Not yet.
(10:34:03) Me: Maybe I should.
(10:34:03) Friend: oh
(10:34:12) Friend: how about copan
(10:34:21) Me: I think I'm going to put all my candy together to decide which ones I want to share with family.
(10:34:32) Friend: lol
(10:34:34) Me: I didn't eat that one yet either because I was afraid I would be too thirsty. :-D
(10:34:43) Friend: I see
(10:35:06) Friend: I thought after you left that I should have bought two cc lemons for you
(10:35:29) Friend: I am sorry that I didn't
(10:35:30) Me: heh
(10:35:43) Me: I had exactly the amount of liquid I needed, so thanks.
(10:36:11) Friend: how was your airplane ride?
(10:36:21) Me: Long, but well-timed.
(10:36:52) Me: I read HP, then watched Fullmetal Alchemist until my battery died, then read more, then slept, then read more. That flight ended before I knew it.
(10:37:33) Friend: I see, so you didn't do any Kanji training?
(10:38:12) Me: Transferring to the next flight in Chicago was pure madness. I had to fetch all my luggage (!!), go through all the customs lines, drag my luggage to the next check-in, and then find my new gate. They had to put me on a later flight because moving through all those lines took too long.
(10:38:24) Me: No, I haven't done any of that yet. I should. I did play some Bleach last night before bed. :)
(10:38:40) Me: I wonder if I have the reflexes for that game
(10:39:21) Friend: oh yeah, you had to pick up the luggage at Chicago...
(10:39:37) Friend: I have to remember that too, since I am going to do that in 21st
(10:40:02) Me: It's no fun at all.
(10:40:10) Friend: yeah, I know
(10:40:29) Friend: well I have a trip tip for you
(10:40:47) Me: Pack less?
(10:40:55) Friend: yep
(10:41:03) Friend: only need one suitcase
(10:41:12) Me: haha
(10:41:15) Friend: and one carry-on
(10:41:16) Me: You lie!
(10:41:20) Me: I need seven suitcases!
(10:41:23) Friend: no I am not
(10:41:30) Friend: I have only one suitcase
(10:41:35) Friend: that is all I need
(10:41:54) Friend: 9days of clothing, and you wash them little by little
(10:42:11) Me: That's no fun at all.
Two days ago, I was up very late talking with friends, and only got two hours of sleep. Yesterday, I was up very late because we had a closing JTW dinner, and then I had to finish packing, so I again got only two hours of sleep. I woke up at 5 AM so that I could catch a 5:30 AM taxi to the airport (and have my room completely cleared out -- sorry Mack!) for a 7 AM flight to Tokyo. My host mother and father were there to see me off, and my conversation partner meant to be, but he accidentally slept in.
When I got on the plane, I immediately fell asleep, and didn't wake up until it landed around 9 AM. I then bought train tickets to my friend's house, slept for most of the express train trip (until around 11:30 AM), and navigated the local trains until 2 PM when I finally found my destination. I should have been there at 12:30 PM, but I took the wrong train, then I didn't get off when the train turned around, and carrying around 4 bags was a huge pain. But I finally made it.
After that we tried to go to Mr. Donuts, but there wasn't enough room for my bags, so we waited an hour for a bus to his house, rode the bus for about an hour, then rode the bus back and had some とんかつ (tonkatsu) for dinner instead. Then we walked around for a bit and eventually wandered into a book store where he bought a joke book and I bought Harry Potter (!!) and a tiny English comic that had Japanese translations. Then, after stopping for some breakfast bread, we came back and, of all things, Facebooked until 11 PM. Then I couldn't take the lack of sleep and more and collapsed. I slept for 12 hours, and now I feel pretty refreshed.
I took a bath here, which means sitting on a stool and pouring water over yourself, which was a rather unique experience for me. Life in a traditional Japanese setting is still awkward for me.
There you go, you've made it to the present.
Well, you will be after seeing this: goodbyes from JTWers after the closing ceremony.
