After a long and relatively sleepless day (if day is the right word for it) - I have arrived.
Harrisburg airport set me on a seventeen (17!) minute flight to Washington, DC. The amount of time that portable electronic devices could be used was two minutes long. There wasn't even a beverage cart. Considering the nude pics that the TSA took of me... it kinda felt like a cheap date.
The flight to Japan however... wow. If you ever, ever get the chance to fly Air Nippon (ANA)... do it.
This was dinner. There is sablefish hiding underneath the vegetables on the left.
(including this one because you can't see the Miso soup in the first one)
French wine, American ice cream.
ANA treated the economy section like first class; at least as far as I'm concerned. Hot towels, constant drinks (hot and cold). I at some point had to start saying no to things... which if you know me, is crazy.
My Kindle Fire was a great source of entertainment. I read some, but mostly played Super Nintendo. I've got this crazy hope that the movie selection will be different on the return trip (and I figure with 90 days in the middle... it could be). The most captivating part was right before landing, where I could see the landscape. Rice farms everywhere. No sprawling townhouses. The thickest, greenest foliage.
After touching down, the passport check in was expedited on account of my Official US Government passport. I had to wait in line with everyone else; but the time I spent at the counter was next to nothing. I didn't have to get fingerprinted, retina scanned. Customs was fast, luggage pick up was fast.
To get from Narita to Yokosuka, I was signed up for a shuttle bus; this gave me an on the ground view of what I was seeing from the plane. One of the most striking things about the highways/roads, is that there is no trash. Not a single errant water bottle, cigarette pack, or fast food bag. As I thought about it, I realized - you couldn't have the amount of heavily water-based agriculture everywhere if there was the threat of trash blowing in to it, and turning it into a cesspool.
I meant to get a picture of the sunset while on the bus. To me, it was the first sunset in nearly twenty-four hours of constant sunlight. However, the darkening sky cued my body to go the fuck to sleep, and I did.
So here is clipart.
While my trip was only 10 days long, I will agree with you that the lack of trash on the streets and, well, anywhere, was quite surprising.
ReplyDeleteIf the streets going from Narita to Yokosuka surprise you, wait until you actually step into one of the cities. In Tokyo's Asakusa district we saw a man in a suit out on the street cleaning up while others were opening up their shops.
Also, good luck finding trash cans, it's surprising how few and far between they are outside of major tourist areas, yet there's no trash to speak of.
Is there some reverse hammerspace thing going on here?
DeleteSo the Japanese are responsible citizens and pick up after themselves. That's nice. And makes Americans look pretty dumb.
ReplyDeleteI feel like that's going to be a recurring theme, yes.
DeleteHow did our country get this way....?
ReplyDeleteYou're making me miss Japan now! I've never flied ANA (was supposed to for last year's trip but weather caused some changed flights), but United is their alliance partner and they treat you just as well. As well they should for a 13-15 hour journey (depending where you embark). For each of my 3 journeys the jetlag affected me roughly 5 days - I managed to stay up late no problem, but I'd shoot awake around 5am every day. I hope you find yourself eased into the timezone quickly :) And yes, the cleanliness and politeness ("summimasen!" / "excuse me") is amazing - so enjoy it while you're there. You'll definitely miss it when you get back. Anyway, I'm anxious to read about your journeys! At this point I don't know the next time I'll get to visit again so post LOTS of pictures please!!! ~Meg
ReplyDeleteThis morning I was up at like... 4:00am. As long as I stay awake later then 7:00pm tonight, it'll be progress!
DeleteI'll do my best to post lots, and take lots of pictures! I have the unfortunate limitation of not being able to take photos in my workplace; so that's limiting them so far. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get out a little further.