Greetings from Nihon! If you're reading this, allow me to start by warning you to keep your expectations for this blog low. I'll try hard to make it interesting, but judging by my recent loss of cleverness and wit (okay, maybe not so recent), it's destined to fail.
Anywho...onto the nitty gritty. Travis and I arrived in Japan Wed. evening. We looked absolutely ridiculous lugging our 7 bags onto the train. We opted for the $8.50/person train ride over the $160 cab ride to the hotel so the embarassment was well worth it. We both struggled with the stairs and at one point, my shoe went flying, but whatev. We made it to the hotel and have been here ever since.
So far, our stay has been great. We purchased the furniture for our apartment and learned how to use the appliances. Our place is decked out with heated floors, remote controlled heat and air, a programmable bath filler-upper and an automated toilet seat. Not too shabby. We won't move in until Mon. when our air shipment hopefully arrives so for now, the Hilton will have to do. Life's rough, I know.
We've already met several individuals doin g our same program. It's pretty neat because they come from all over the world-UK, Australia, China, Pakistan, and more. Several of the Americans are married, too, so I have hope for friends!
We're also hooked up with Jetson-style cell phones. Travis and I both opted for the free ones, which surprises no one, I'm sure. They're nuts, though. Apparently they have a billion different features including acting as portable televisions, cameras, translators, and more. But, so far I haven't figured out how to actually make a call on mine. All in due time, I'm sure.
This post is pretty lame for my blog world debut, but allow me to leave you with a favorite Japanese phrase (also the only one I know), "sumimasen." When you come to visit me in Japan, you'll hear it about every two seconds. It means, "thank you," "excuse me" and "I'm sorry." And, when you are in Japan, you're sorry for EVERYTHING. Trust me on that one. You should basically apologize for your mere existence for it undoubtedly inconvenienced someone. So mom, sumimasen! (Surely 9 lbs. 13.5 oz. calls for it.)
2 comments:
Jessica, your blog debut is great! I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. I especially like the name. mom
I agree with your mom, Jessica. Very good debut. The twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat. Two thumbs up. A+. Will read again! Best blog of the summer! Academy Award winner, get your speech ready! Okay, I'm done.
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